Pipeline Forecasting

Your pipeline tells you what is in progress, but the forecast tells you what is actually likely to close. Rather than treating every open deal as equally likely to land, pipeline forecasting weights each opportunity by its probability, so your expected revenue figure reflects reality more closely. It also surfaces data quality issues (like missing close dates or stale deals) that can quietly skew your numbers, so you can clean things up and trust what you are looking at.

1. From the main Ivorey menu, go to Pipelines > and click on the [Forecast] tab

2. Click the drop-down, in the top left corner, to select to show data for [All Pipelines] or select a specific pipeline > and click [Advanced Filters] to filter data by the opportunity owner, expected close date or more (useful when you want to focus on a specific segment of your pipelines)

3. On the Summary tab, you will see a high-level dashboard showing key revenue metrics across your pipelines at a glance

   1. Along the top of the page, review data for total Max potential revenue, total Expected revenue, total Won revenue and number of Open opportunities
      
      Note: Expected revenue is calculated by multiplying each opportunity's Opportunity Value by the probability percentage assigned to its pipeline stage. This gives you a weighted forecast rather than a raw total.

   2. Under At-risk Opportunities, review the risk labels on your opportunities:

      1. High Risk - opportunities showing significant slippage or overdue status

      2. Medium Risk - opportunities showing some delay or movement

      3. Low Risk - opportunities progressing on track
         
         Note: Slippage refers to a opportunity that has stayed in the pipeline longer than expected, or has had its expected close date moved multiple times. High slippage typically triggers a High Risk label.

      4. Click on any risk level to drill down into the individual opportunities behind that number, to view the opportunity details, number of Days slipped and Times slipped > and click to open an opportunity

      5. To adjust what counts as a risky opportunity for your business, click Adjust risk settings > and update the thresholds for each level to reflect your typical sales cycle

         1. Times pushed - how many times its expected close date can shift

         2. Days past close date - how many days past the close date an opportunity can sit stagnant before it’s flagged

         3. Use or/and logic to select whether only one condition or both conditions should be true

         4. Click the [Apply] button to save changes

   3. Under Fix your forecast data, review data hygiene cards which help you spot and address data gaps, that may be affecting your forecast accuracy, including: Missing close dates, Missing opportunity values, and Overdue opportunities

      1. Click into any card to see the specific opportunities affected > then update them directly from the drilled down view

   4. Review your Won, Expected and Max potential revenue data > and select the Group by option, from the drop-down:

      1. Owner - to compare across your team

      2. Status - to view opportunities compared by status

      3. Expected Close Date - select the timeframe: Month, Quarter or Year > and tick the box to show All close dates or leave unchecked to only show current opportunities
         
         Note: This data will display in a bar graph showing relevant revenue intervals, and a more detailed table below where you can also see the number of opportunities and total potential revenue for the selected grouping, and click to drill down into the relevant opportunities.

4. On the Forecast Timeline tab, you get a visual, time-based view showing when opportunities are expected to close

   1. Click [+ Add Opportunity], in the top right corner, to create a new opportunity

   2. Use the drop-down, in the top right corner, to set your preferred timeframe: Week, Month, or Quarter > use the [<] back or [>] forward arrows to see past or future periods, within the selected timeframe > or click [Today] to return to the current period

   3. Hover over any time period, to see data within that period for Potential value of open opportunities, Value of won opportunities, and Total potential value of open and won opportunities

   4. If you have opportunities that are missing expected close dates, they will appear in a No close date column, on the left-hand side

      1. Drag and drop an opportunity card from the No close date column or from one time period to another, to set or update its Expected Close Date directly, without leaving the forecast

Lost or Abandoned opportunities are removed from your Expected Revenue calculations to keep your forecast accurate. They will still appear in your historical data but will no longer count toward future revenue projections.