Setting Up Forecasting

Revenue Forecasting

If you are an administrator, take the following action to configure Revenue Forecasting:

1. Ensure the projects you want to run Revenue Forecasting on have a start date and an end date.
2. Ensure the projects you want to schedule Revenue Forecasting on have all of the following:
• A start date and an end date
• The Active checkbox set to true
• The Include In Forecasting checkbox set to true
3. Ensure the opportunities you want to run Revenue Forecasting on have the Is Services Opportunity checkbox set to true.
4. Ensure the opportunities you want to schedule Revenue Forecasting on match all of the following criteria:
• No associated active project
• A value in the Stage field that is not "Closed Lost"
• The Is Services Opportunity checkbox set to true
5. Check that monthly time periods are set up for the duration of any projects you want to run Revenue Forecasting on. This is because Revenue Forecasting uses monthly time periods by default.
6. Mark the time period record that relates to the month before the current month as Closed for Forecasting. This is essential for Revenue Forecasting to work correctly.
   
   Warning:

   As a regular part of the Revenue Forecasting process, when revenue recognition is completed for a time period, the Closed for Forecasting field must then be selected on that time period record. For information, see Marking Time Periods as Closed for Revenue Forecasting.

7. Check the Timecard_Split_Time_Period_Types configuration option in the Timecard configuration group includes a value of Month.
8. Assign one of the following permission sets to users who need to run Revenue Forecasting:
• PSA - Forecasting - Project Manager
• PSA - Forecasting - Regional Manager
9. Assign the PSA - Forecasting - Setup permission set to users who need to configure the settings used for Revenue Forecasting. For more information on the permission sets available, see Revenue Forecasting Overview.
10. If you are using the "Deliverable" or "% Complete" recognition method, ensure Generate Monthly Records is set to true in the Est Vs Actuals Settings custom setting. For more information, see Est Vs Actuals Settings.
    
    Note:

    If you only have Generate Weekly Records set to true, these EVA records are not included in the forecasts. The forecasts will not include any assignments or timecards that fall within the time period of the forecast but were created on a project before you set this checkbox to true.

You are now ready to configure the settings you require in revenue forecast setup:

1. Navigate to the Revenue Forecast Setup tab and edit the revenue forecast setup record that is active. If a revenue forecast setup record does not already exist, you can create one. If you do not, the default values will apply.
2. If you are using the "% Complete" recognition method, from the Total Hours Field on Project picklist, select the field you want PSA to use when calculating the value in the % Hours Completed For Recognition field on a project.
Tip:

If you do not want to use the Estimated Hours at Completion field or the Planned Hours field on the Project object, you can create your own field on the Project object and add it to the Total Hours Field on Project picklist on the Revenue Forecast Setup object so that you can select it here.

3. [Optional] To exclude revenue relating to held resource requests on projects and milestones, set the Exclude Resource Requests on Project checkbox to true.
4. [Optional] To exclude revenue relating to opportunities from your scheduled revenue forecasts, set the Exclude Opportunities checkbox to true.
5. Ensure the Active checkbox is set to true and save the revenue forecast setup record.

For more information on configuring the batch settings for revenue forecasts, see Scheduling Revenue Forecasts.

For more information on the revenue forecast setup record, see Revenue Forecast Setup Fields.

Identifying Records to Include in Revenue Forecasting

If you want to use the integration between PSA and FinancialForceRevenue Management, you will need to perform some configuration in Revenue Management first. No additional setup is required in PSA. For information, see Revenue Recognition Integrations.

Note:

If you have Revenue Management installed, you must configure the integration between Revenue Management and PSA for revenue recognition actuals before starting to use Revenue Forecasting.

If you do not want to use the integration between PSA and Revenue Management, see No Integration with FinancialForce Revenue Management for information on how to configure your PSA records for use with Revenue Forecasting.

Setting up PSA to Determine Expected Project Duration on Opportunities

To enable PSA to determine the expected project duration for use in revenue forecast calculations run at the opportunity level:

1. [Optional] On the Opportunity object, add a new field called Expected Project Start Date that can be used to store the expected start date for projects created from opportunities. If you want to use the date in an existing custom field or the date in the existing Close Date field on opportunities, there is no need to create this new field: go to step 3.
2. If created, add the new Expected Project Start Date field to the Opportunity page layout.
3. [Optional] On the Opportunity object, add a new field called Expected Project End Date that can be used to store the expected end date for projects created from opportunities. If you want to use the date in an existing custom field, there is no need to create this new field: go to step 5.
4. If created, add the new Expected Project End Date field to the Opportunity page layout.
5. From the Revenue Forecast Setup tab, edit the revenue forecast setup record that is active. If a revenue forecast setup record does not already exist, you must create one, ensuring that you set the Active checkbox to true. For more information on the fields available, see Revenue Forecast Setup Fields.
6. In the Opportunity Settings section of the revenue forecast setup record, complete the following fields:
• Expected Project Start Date Field on Opp: Enter the API name of the field you created at step 1, the API name of an existing custom field that contains a suitable date, or the API name of the Close Date field on the Opportunity object.
• Expected Project End Date Field on Opp: Enter the API name of the field you created at step 3 or the API name of an existing custom field that contains a suitable date.
Note: Dates must be entered in both specified fields on opportunity records for PSA to be able to determine the expected project duration for use in opportunity revenue forecast calculations.

7. Ensure the Active checkbox is set to true and save the revenue forecast setup record.

For more information on Revenue Forecasting, see Revenue Forecasting Overview.

Billing Forecasting

If you are an administrator, take the following action to configure Billing Forecasting:

1. Ensure the Include In Forecasting checkbox is set to true on each RPGAbbreviation of region, practice, group. or project you want to run forecasting on and that the relevant projects are active.
2. Ensure that each opportunity to be included in Billing Forecasting has a probability of more than 0%.
3. If your business has services products, ensure that each opportunity has one of the following:
   • The Is Services Opportunity checkbox set to true
   • Opportunity Product lines with IsServicesProductLine set to true
   • Products with IsServicesProduct set to true on the product itself
4. Ensure that users who are to carry out forecasting activities have the appropriate permission sets assigned and have access to the objects used in forecasting. For information on the permission sets available, see Permission Sets for this Release. For information on the objects required, see Objects Used in Billing Forecasting.
5. Create billing forecast curves for use in your billing forecast calculation and make sure you have specified default curves for use on opportunities and projects. For more information, see Managing Curves for Billing Forecasts.
6. Enter details on the Billing Forecast Setup page to configure billing forecasts for your organization. For more information, see Configuring Billing Forecasts.
7. Use the Billing Forecast Batch Settings custom settings to specify settings for forecast batch processes, including notifications. For further information, see Billing Forecast Batch Settings.

For more information on Billing Forecasting, see Billing Forecasting Overview.