Forecast Category is the group within the sales cycle to which an Opportunity is assigned based on its Opportunity stage. It is a forecast of revenue from your sales team relating to Opportunities. The standard forecast categories in Salesforce are: Pipeline, Best Case, Commit, Omitted, and Closed.
Ebsta Forecast Insights uses forecast category within its reporting. This articles guides you through the process of setting up Forecasting in Salesforce, enabling users to be able to forecast, how to customize the default forecast categories and amend their mapping to the Opportunity stage.
Set up Forecasting in Salesforce
1. Click the Gear icon and click Setup.
2. Type forecasts settings in the Quick Find box and select Forecasts Settings.
3. Check the Enable forecasts box.
4. To let forecast managers adjust the forecasts of their immediate subordinates and territories, check the Enable manager adjustments box. To let all forecast users adjust the amounts of their own forecasts, including the territory forecasts they own, check the Enable owner adjustments box.
5. Click Save
Now you need to enable users to use Forecasting.
6. Type users in the Quick Find box and select Users.
7. For each user you want to enable, click Edit.
8. Under General Information, check the Allow Forecasting box.
9. Click Save.
Customize Forecast Categories in Salesforce
1. From Setup, click Object Manager.
2. Click Opportunity > Fields & Relationships > Forecast Category.
3. Click Edit next to the value that you want to edit in the Forecast Category Picklist Values.
4. Enter a different category name in the Label field, then click Save.
Customize Forecast Category Mappings in Salesforce
Forecast categories map to Opportunity stage values. An Opportunity stage value is the current stage of an opportunity, such as Prospect or Proposal. Opportunity stage values correlate with Forecast Category values to determine how the Opportunity contributes to a forecast amount.
Salesforce includes default correlations, but you can customize them to suit your needs by following the steps below.
1. From Setup, click Object Manager.
2. Click Opportunity >Fields & Relationships > Stage.
3. In Opportunity Stages Picklist Values you can see each Stage Name and what Forecast Category it’s currently mapped to. Click Edit next to the Stage Name you want to change the mapping of.
4. Select the Forecast Category that you want mapped to that stage from the dropdown menu, then click Save.
