Important 
This article covers legacy Flux Capacity functionality.
- If you are in the beginning stages of setting up resource management functionality in your org, or if you are already using TaskRay Resource Management features, refer to the new Resource Management documentation.
- If your organization currently uses Flux Capacity for resource management, use this article if you need to get information on Flux functionality.
This article helps Flux users understand how Salesforce Opportunities create Forecast Projects that drive utilization forecast reporting in Flux Capacity.
Forecast Project Definition
Flux Capacity sees Opportunities in your sales pipeline as “TaskRay Projects waiting to happen”. We harness the wealth of data in your sales pipeline to create actionable intelligence in the form of Forecast Projects.
A Forecast Project is a special TaskRay Project created by Flux Capacity for the purposes of forecasting resource needs.
Flux Forecast Type & TaskRay Templates
With Flux Capacity, each Opportunity in your sales pipeline can be mapped to a TaskRay Project Template. The template specifies the resource types and estimated hours required to complete a project, assuming the Opportunity is won.
This template mapping is initially set up by your Salesforce System Administrator. Once set up, the Flux Forecast Type picklist field on the Opportunity object drives the creation of the Forecast Project.
Each value in the Flux Forecast Type field corresponds to a TaskRay Template. Interacting with the field will result in the following expected behaviors:
- Setting a value will create a Forecast Project, cloned from the corresponding TaskRay Template.
- Updating the field from one value to another will remove/delete the prior Forecast Project and create a new one, using the newly selected TaskRay Template.
- Updating the field from one value to a blank or unmapped value will remove/delete the prior Forecast Project. A new one will not be created until a new value is selected.
The Flux Forecast Type field can either be added to your Opportunity page layout and edited by your sales users or it can be set via your own custom Salesforce.com automation (via Process Builder, Flow, etc).
Close Date Alignment
The Forecast Project’s Start Date is aligned in real-time with the Opportunity’s Close Date.
As the sales cycle advances or hits delays, any changes to the Opportunity Close Date are captured by Flux Capacity, and the related Forecast Project Start Date and all of its Tasks are updated to stay in alignment.
This gives you real-time Task dates to run a true resource-based forecasting model.
Forecast Category Alignment with Opportunities
The Forecast Project’s Flux Forecast Category is aligned in real-time with the Opportunity’s Forecast Category field, or a different custom field you can specify.
As the sales cycle advances or hits delays, any changes to the Opportunity Forecast Category are captured by Flux Capacity, and the related Forecast Project’s Flux Forecast Category is updated to stay in alignment.
Other updates to TaskRay Projects may also impact how Flux Forecast Category is set.
Forecast Category drives scenario-modeling in the Flux Forecast Dashboard.
Closed Opportunities
When an Opportunity is Closed Lost (NOT WON), its related Forecast Project’s Archived field is set to true and the Exclude from Flux Forecasts is set to true. When this happens, the Project is still visible in Salesforce, but it will not show up in Flux Capacity report results or in the TaskRay App.
When an Opportunity is Closed WON, its related Forecast Project is “converted” into a live project. Conversion consists of setting the Flux Forecast Project to false and updating the Project Name.
How to Differentiate a Forecast Project
You can distinguish a Flux Forecast Project from other TaskRay Projects in the following ways:
- Project Name: Flux Capacity sets the Forecast Project name to begin with “FORECAST:” followed by the name of your Opportunity.
- Flux Forecast Project: Flux Capacity sets this checkbox to true for Forecast Projects.
Other Helpful Articles
Sync Flux Forecast Projects with Opportunities Using Flow
***article provides instructions if you wish to customize the above-described forecast project behavior***