The Backstory: Your teams track revenue in different ways, and a single forecast view cannot capture renewals, new business, and deal count all at once. Rather than forcing everyone into one rigid layout, you create Forecast Types that each define their own opportunities, measures, columns, and calculations. This lets every team analyze its pipeline in the format that fits its process without affecting anyone else's view.
Forecast Types define how revenue and key business metrics are tracked, displayed, and predicted in Backstory Forecasting. Each one controls which opportunities are included, how forecast values are measured, who owns those values, and which columns and calculations appear. You can create multiple Forecast Types to support different forecasting views, business processes, or configurations across your organization.
Note: Creating and editing Forecast Types requires a Backstory administrator account.
Create a Forecast Type
These steps walk you through navigating to Forecasting and creating a new Forecast Type.
Prerequisite: Before creating a Forecast Type, you must create a Forecast Hierarchy that defines which forecast data is shown to users based on their position. For more information, see Forecast Hierarchy Management.
Log into the Backstory App as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
Create or duplicate a Forecast Type:
To create a new Forecast Type, click the + icon next to FORECAST TYPES in the left navigation panel.
To duplicate an existing Forecast Type, open the Forecast Type, click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner, and select Duplicate Forecast Type.
In the editable name field at the top of the new Forecast, enter a descriptive name that clearly identifies the purpose of the Forecast, like “New Business ACV Forecast” or “Enterprise Renewals Revenue Forecast.”
Click Create.
Continue to the next section to configure General Settings.
Note: After you click Create, an Activate button will appear in the top right of the Forecast Type. Do not activate your Forecast Type until all settings below are configured. Activation locks the core settings, preventing further changes.
Configure General Settings
General Settings define how forecast data is measured, assigned, and filtered.
In the Forecast Type, select the General tab.
In the Hierarchy Type dropdown, select the forecast hierarchy that determines which forecast data is shown to users based on their position. For more information, see Forecast Hierarchy Management.
In the Measure Field dropdown, select the metric used to display forecast values, such as ACV, Revenue, or Deal Count. This is the field that will be rolled up.
In the Ownership Field dropdown, select the field used to assign opportunities. This field is available only after you select the Hierarchy Type.
In the Date Field dropdown, select the opportunity date used to determine whether an opportunity falls within the displayed forecast time period, such as Close Date or Renewal Date.
Under Filters, add one or more filters to define which opportunities are included. Filters apply to all forecast data, including the Drill-In Sheet and Pipeline Changes.
Click Save.
Continue to the Select Forecast Fields section.
Select Forecast Fields
Forecast fields control which columns appear in the forecast and how forecast values are calculated, displayed, and compared. Before configuring, decide which fields your team needs. You can keep the defaults, remove fields you do not need, or add custom fields.
In the Forecast Type, click the Forecast Fields tab.
Review the default forecast fields and decide which fields to keep:
Quota: Target value for a forecast period, used as a fixed benchmark against which other forecast fields can be compared.
Closed Won: Deals successfully closed with revenue secured.
Commit: Deals with a high probability of closing during the current forecast period.
Commit Call: Manager-adjusted commit estimate based on judgement.
Best Case: Deals with a moderate probability of closing if everything goes to plan.
Open Pipeline: Early-stage deals that require further qualification and development.
To remove a field your team does not need, click the field to expand it, click Delete Field, and click Delete to confirm.
To add a field, click + Add Field, enter a Field Name, and optionally enter a Description. The description appears as a tooltip next to the field name in the forecast.
Continue to the Configure Forecast Fields section.
Configure Forecast Fields
After selecting your fields, configure how each one is calculated and displayed.
In the Forecast Fields tab, click a forecast field to expand its settings.
Check the Diff Column box to add a column showing how the field's value has changed since the previous reporting period. Leave it unchecked to hide this column.
Check the Visible box to show the field as a column in the Forecast Table. Leave it unchecked to hide the field while still allowing it to be used in calculations and comparisons.
From the Field Type dropdown, choose how the field's value is calculated:
Rollup: Aggregates values from lower levels of the forecast hierarchy.
Adjustment: Lets managers override rolled-up values without changing the underlying data.
Static: Stores a fixed value (such as quota) uploaded via the Custom Data Loader. The value remains constant until updated.
Formula: Calculates values from other forecast fields and updates as inputs change.
Set the field-specific options that appear based on your Field Type:
Measure Field: Select the field to summarize (such as ACV).
Aggregation: Select how values are combined (such as Sum).
Submission Field Default: Select the value that pre-populates forecast fields when users create a new forecast submission.
Current rollup: Populates forecast fields with the latest rolled-up values. Select this option if users should begin each forecast period with the current pipeline values.
Previous adjustment: Populates forecast fields with the values from the user's previous forecast submission. Select this option if users typically update their previous forecast instead of starting from the latest rollup.
Filters: Click Add filter to limit which records are included, then set the Field, Operator, and Value. Click Clear all filters to remove them.
Repeat for each forecast field you want to configure.
Click Save.
Continue to the Configure Forecast Field Comparisons section.
Configure Forecast Field Comparisons (Optional)
Forecast field comparisons show how one field tracks against another. For example, you can compare Closed Won against Quota to show progress toward a target. If you do not need to configure field comparisons, continue to the Configure Drill-In Views section.
In the Forecast Fields tab of the Forecast Type, Identify or create the forecast field you want to use as the reference point.
If the reference field is a Static Field, upload values for the forecast period using the Custom Data Loader. Repeat this upload each forecast period or whenever the data changes.
To avoid showing the reference field twice, clear its Visible option if the value will already appear through the comparison field.
Open the field you want to compare and click the Show Comparison toggle to enable it.
Click the Field dropdown and select the reference field.
Click the Display Type dropdown and choose how the comparison appears. Select Gap to show the difference between the two fields or Progress Indicator to show progress toward the reference field. Gap displays the numeric difference, while Progress Indicator displays a progress bar.
Click Save.
Continue to the Configure Drill-In Views section.
Configure Drill-In Views
Drill-in views are detailed Backstory Sheets that show a list of individual deals when users click into forecast fields.
In the Forecast Type, click the Drill-In Sheet tab.
Select the desired fiscal period from the dropdown menu in the top right corner.
Select All Deals, Open Deals, or Closed Deals to filter which opportunities appear.
Customize the drill-in view further by managing columns, sorting your rows, and grouping your data. See Creating and Customizing Sheets for detailed instructions.
Click Save.
Continue to the User Assignments section.
User Assignments
The User Assignments tab allows you to assign users to specific levels in your forecasting hierarchy and define their permissions. You can add users manually or in bulk via CSV.
Update Forecast Users Manually
We recommend updating users manually if you have only a few users to add or adjust.
In the Forecast Type, click the User Assignments tab.
In the Hierarchy panel on the left, click the hierarchy where you want to add a user.
Click Add User.
Search the name of the user you want to add.
Select the user’s name.
Select the user’s permission levels:
This Level: Select Submit to allow the user to submit forecasts at this level, or View only to allow them to view forecasts without submitting.
Descendants: Select Submit or View only to define the user's permissions for all lower levels in the hierarchy.
Click Add [Name].
Update Forecast Users with CSV
We recommend updating users with a CSV if you have several updates to make and would like to make them in bulk.
In the User Assignments tab, click Update with CSV.
Click Download Assignments to download a CSV file with the current assignments, or to download the template with headings if there are no assignments yet.
Make edits in the CSV to add, delete, or modify assignments. The CSV includes the following fields:
Node Ownership External Id: Salesforce ID of the Territory (if using Enterprise Territory Management) or User (if using Users)
Node Name: Territory/User name
User External Id: Salesforce ID of the User who should be assigned
User Name: Name of the User who should be assigned
Permission: “submit” or “view”
Descendants Permission: “submit” or “view”
Operation: “add” (add or update this assignment) or “delete” (deletes this assignment). If blank, then this row is skipped.
Drag and drop the file or click Browse to upload it.
Click Update User Assignments.
Review and fix any errors or, if there are no errors, click Done.
Notifications
The Notifications tab allows you to configure Weekly Forecast Trends Email, an automatic email that shows how one forecast field has changed since the prior week in both dollar value and percentage.
Note: If you do not see the Notifications tab in your Forecast Type, this feature is not currently enabled for your organization. Contact your Customer Success Manager to request it.
In the Forecast Type, click the Notifications tab.
In the Hierarchy panel on the left, click the hierarchy where you want to change email settings.
Search the user whose email settings you want to adjust.
Click the Send email toggle to the on position to start sending emails or click it to the off position to stop sending emails.
Click the Forecast Field to Report dropdown and select the Forecast Field the email should be based on.
Click Save.
Activate the Forecast Type
When configuration is complete, you must activate it for it to be available to users.
Review the Forecast Type configuration to ensure all settings meet your team's forecasting requirements.
Click Activate in the upper-right corner.
A confirmation dialog warns that activation is permanent and that core settings cannot be changed afterward. Click OK to activate and lock the configuration or Cancel to keep the Forecast Type editable.
After the Forecast Type is activated, it appears in the left navigation panel for users who have permission to view it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I edit a Forecast Type after it is activated?
No. After a Forecast Type is activated, its core settings are locked and cannot be changed. If you need to modify the configuration, create a new Forecast Type with the required settings.
Can I delete a Forecast Type?
Yes, but only before any submissions have been made. Once users have submitted to a Forecast Type, it cannot be deleted.
Need Help?
Contact your Customer Success Manager or email support@backstory.ai.