Working with Forecasts

Working with Forecasts

Forecasts play a crucial part in the financial planning of your business. Sales forecasting is projecting the short-term and long-term sales performance of a company.

Sales forecasts are  an important measurement of your company's growth and success. Factors such as previous sales forecasts and revenue, competition, economic conditions, sales team and their performances, industry trends are considered while predicting  monthly or quarterly sales targets. If your company meets consecutive sales forecasts, then you are assured that the company is growing!

Forecasts in Zoho CRM provides a real-time insight to tracking sales and helps your organization fine-tune the sales processes and monitor sales pipeline. It provides an overall picture of the company's sales pipeline, as well as individual performances of the sales team.


​Availability
Permission Required
Access to the Forecasts Tab. Territory/Role Managers & Administrators can create forecasts. 

Understanding Forecasts in Zoho CRM

  • You have to define the start and end month of your organization's financial year, before you create forecasts.
  • The new Forecasts are based on either Role Hierarchy or Territory Hierarchy. We recommend you to switch to the new improved forecasts for more forecasting options. See Also: Switch to New Forecasts 
  • Role Hierarchy- You can create forecasts based on the role hierarchy in your organization's CRM account.
  • Territory Hierarchy - You can create forecasts and set targets for territories and it’s users based on territory hierarchy, only if territory management is enabled in your organization's CRM account. Check the availability of this feature in your Edition. See Also: Territory Management 
  • Details you will need, to create a sales forecast the very first time:
    • Forecast's Period (Monthly/Quarterly).
    • The month the Financial year begins.
    • Field values based on which forecast targets are set.
  • You can create one forecast for every quarter/month.
  • In each quarterly/monthly forecast, you can set targets for the following:
    • Roles/Territories
    • Roles/Territories Managers
    • Users in the roles/territories
Forecasts in Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM offers sales forecast options based on roles and territories.
Old Forecast based on Role Hierarchy  | New Forecast based on Role Hierarchy  | New Forecast based on Territory Hierarchy 

SEE ALSO

    • Related Articles

    • Creating and working with forecasts

      If you are currently using the old forecast, it is recommended to switch to the new forecast on or before June 31st, 2022 to have uninterrupted access to the forecast module. What is a sales forecast? A Sales forecast is similar to a weather ...

    • Standard Fields in Forecasts

      Following are the list of Zoho defined standard fields available in the Forecasts module: Field Name Description Year Select the fiscal year from the drop-down list. Forecast Period The period for which you can create forecasts can be either ...

    • Forecasts Based on Role Hierarchy

      The CRM records are accessible to the users in an organization based on their roles. The user at a higher hierarchy will be able to view the subordinate's record, that is, the record visibility is per the role hierarchy. A role hierarchy has multiple ...

    • Who can create forecasts?

      Users with administrator profile can create forecasts. Territory Managers can set targets for their territories and sub territories and the users in them.

    • FAQs on Forecasts

      1. How do I ensure each Rep can only see the Forecast they own? In Zoho CRM, you can set up an organization-wide hierarchy using the Roles module. When it comes to data sharing, users at a higher hierarchy, such as Sales Managers will be able to ...