Has anyone successfully created a rolling forecast that has a template that is minimal effort? We have 9 companies, and MANY departments. So updating 100+ documents monthly, while possible, is just a bit much. I have seen the support article about Rolling Forecasts, but they don’t discuss execution, best practices or how to. Any tips/insight would be appreciated. (Currently forecasting once a year, looking to move to rolling)
I would think using a Named Set called Forecast and link to the template. So you just need to update the named set in Time to change all the templates you are using. Unless I am not fully understanding what you are needing, you could have one template and filter on the company and and department to change to the one you want to work on.
We use named sets for all of our reporting. Updating takes no time at all as you are only updating time once in the named set and not for each template. Named sets also ensure that you do not miss a template when moving from month to month or year to year.
We currently don’t do rolling forecasts at this time.
We don’t use rolling forecasts but I would say to use namesets as well
Name sets would be the only thing that comes to mind.
Hi,
I have created rolling forecast in my previous role with following method.
Statistical Account: IsActual to show if the value is Forecast or Actual in Heading
Version: CurrentForecast
For Reverting Back: Backup Forecasts (Month by Month) [Backup Forecasts and Current Forecast are placed in same folder]
Period Settings [Start Period / End Period ]
Carry Forward; Actual
Version Name Set: CurrentForecast [If you need comparison with Planning than you need CurrentPlanning nameset too]
LastForecast [Previous Forecast Version, if needed]
BackupForecast [Backup of CurrentForecast if needed]
Time Name Set: ActiveForecastMonths [All the Months for Rolling Forecast] [Should Match Version Start / End Period]
Every Month you would to change these name sets as well as Version Start Month.
For Current Forecast
Every Report Template should refer to these name sets(CurrentForecast) for reporting, hence would not need have separate report for each month.
For LastForecast
Every Report Template should refer to these name sets(LastForecast) for reporting, hence would not need have separate report for each month.
I hope this is helpful.
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We currently don’t have a rolling forecast but it is interesting to learn about this. Thanks
@emily.bowling, we are currently doing rolling forecasts at USA Properties, and it seems like we’re taking a very similar approach to what @ali.arsalan.1 presented. We do quarterly reforecasts, and we have basically 2 main templates (one for department executives, one for other budget owners) and the template stays the same each time…we just used TIME dimension named sets to indicate which months to include in the forecast, VERSION dimension named sets for reports that compare forecasts, and we have the WPLAN version set to use the Carry Forward From option to show and lock down actuals for months prior to the forecast. Our template shows the budgeted amount, the YTD costs, and the latest forecast for the future months (we do rolling forecasts through the end of the following fiscal year, so it ranges from 15 months in October to 24 months in January).
We are still annual-budget based at heart, so we haven’t converted to strictly rolling forecasts. As a result, we have a number of reports that compare:
- Budget to Current Actuals/Forecast (aka WPLAN)
- Last forecast to current forecast
- Restated budget per the latest Actuals/Forecast
This makes for a LOT of reports…but once the reports are setup, we don’t have to change them because everything is managed through either TIME or VERSION named sets.
If a phone call would help, ping me on direct message.
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echoing what other people have said, we use named sets and always start with the last version in case a department does not have changes, and we infoflex our actuals in before we start.
We use named sets also and take Ali’s/Bob’s approach. We also have a previous forecast whereby we copy the latest forecast into this. This is just in case there was an anomaly in the data and we can go back and check where the issue lies.
Sorry, I have not attempted this.
Have used namesets to distinguish versions.
Name sets work for us but need to be careful when using for multiple efforts.
Named Sets and versions. Ali’s response is the best route here.
Thank you, I am happy to help if someone needs help, please reach out to me with private message.
Regards,
Sorry, we do not use rolling forecasts.
Carry forward function on version and name sets is what we have used to get at least 75% of the way and then we use excel from there on wards.
Wondering … what is that 25% prophix is not able to handle 
Completely agree with the group, name sets have been working for us. Bob & Ali’s responses are perfect for those trying to create within Prophix.