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- Sales Forecasting
- Features
- Forecast calendar
Forecast calendar
Give the forecast cycle clear periods, submission deadlines and quota targets through final reconciliation.
OverviewActive Category Rules×
Sales Forecasting · Forecast calendar
New
Active Category Rules
Forecast category rules
| Rule code | Name | Priority | Match stage type | Match stage name | Match probability min | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RC-436 | Rule 844 | 60 | Open | Match Stage 461 | 45 | |
| RC-671 | Rule 547 | 140 | Won | Match Stage 664 | 85 | |
| RC-787 | Rule 700 | 190 | Lost | Match Stage 408 | 45 | |
| RC-286 | Rule 869 | 920 | Open | Match Stage 208 | 70 | |
| RC-958 | Rule 253 | 390 | Won | Match Stage 919 | 70 |
6 of 6 records
RC-436Forecast category rules · FCR-80997
OpenNameRule 844
Priority60
Match stage nameMatch Stage 461
Match probability min45
Match probability max90
What you can do
Start every call from the same period
Sales Operations prepares the calendar that tells the team which opportunities and submissions belong in the forecast discussion. Each period has a grain, fiscal label, start and end dates, submission deadline and currency. Open, Locked and Closed distinguish an editable cycle from a frozen call and a reconciled outcome.
Opening a period creates the rep’s Draft submission with its responsible manager and category lines. The manager comes from the user’s management relationship. A repeated opening run keeps the existing rep-period submission, so the team can prepare the cycle without creating another call for the same person.
How the work is organized
- Period boundaries. Sales Operations sets the week, month or quarter and its submission deadline. Sales Rep uses those dates when checking expected opportunity closes and preparing the call.
- Quota basis. Quotas connect a rep and period to the target amount, type and source. Finance Analyst checks that the target basis matches the forecast measure being compared.
- Quarter completion. CRO oversees the guarded quarter schedule. An ended Open quarter becomes Locked, and the final forecast is reconciled with actual outcomes before the quarter becomes Closed.
What to agree during setup
Agree the fiscal calendar and which grain the team uses for its formal submission. The period records use a calendar-year fiscal basis, so confirm the intended dates and labels before opening the pilot. Set the submission deadline and the operating time convention together, particularly when reps work across time zones.
Decide how quotas enter the cycle. A target can be maintained manually or supplied through an agreed territory or import connection. Keep revenue and bookings targets identifiable, and compare attainment with the matching quota type. Agree the submission currency before combining calls in a leadership review.
Check the management chain with Admin. An incorrect manager relationship sends the review handoff to the wrong person and affects later rollups. Have Sales Operations inspect the newly prepared submissions before the first live call. At period end, agree who checks the variance evidence with CRO before the cycle is treated as reconciled.
Check the handoff on an actual case
Prepare a sample quarter with a deadline and a quota for a pilot rep. Open the period and confirm that the rep receives a Draft submission assigned to the intended manager. Run period opening again and verify that the same rep-period submission remains. Ask the rep to locate the deadline and target before preparing any amounts.
Rehearse the close path with a quarter that has genuinely ended. Confirm that its submissions become Locked and no longer accept rep edits. Compare the final call with the resulting variance evidence. A Locked quarter should become Closed only when the required variance records exist. Repeat the lock attempt with an unfinished quarter and confirm that the calendar guard prevents an early freeze.
What your team sees
- Forecast Calendar — Period boundaries, submission deadlines, currency and lifecycle state in the same schedule.
- Active Quotas — Rep targets with their period, type, source and effective dates.
- Material Variance Review — Missed outcomes that need discussion after the final forecast is reconciled.
Follow the work through
Start with Prepare the forecast cycle and finish with Lock and reconcile the period.
What it keeps track of
Data model- Forecast periods
- US fiscal forecast periods on a calendar-year basis (Week, Month, Quarter) with submission deadlines and open/lock/close lifecycle.
- Forecast categories
- The category taxonomy reps use to classify open opportunities: Closed, Commit, most likely, best case, Pipeline, Omitted.
- Forecast category rules
- Priority-ordered auto-classification rules that map opportunity stage, probability and amount to a forecast category.
- Quotas
- Per rep per period attainment target, sourced from territory management or entered manually by sales operations.
- Users
- Users
- Forecast submissions
- Per rep per period forecast submission carrying the commit, best-case and pipeline call to the manager.
- Submission lines
- One line per forecast category and revenue type on a submission, holding the rep number and the system auto amount.
- Forecast variance
- End-of-period reconciliation of commit and best-case forecast against actual closed-won revenue per rep per category.
Who uses it
Permissions- Sales Operations
- Prepares the cycle.
- Admin
- Maintains the user hierarchy.
- Sales Rep
- And Sales Manager work to the deadline.
- CRO
- Oversees the quarter lifecycle, and Finance Analyst reviews the target and outcome basis.
Set up Sales Forecasting your way.
Start free, then use Proto to change fields, steps and approvals before your team goes live.