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Freeze Forecast

Use the Freeze Forecast process to freeze a forecast and retain historical forecast data for the purpose of comparing actual costs to a forecast in the future.

The Freeze Forecast process lets you freeze specific actual cost and forecast entries. You can freeze a forecast and continue to report the same value. This is useful during the labor-intensive process of reevaluating the remaining work.

When you run the Freeze Forecast process, Cobra copies the selected forecast and all included actual cost classes to the class type Frozen Forecast. This class type can be updated selectively over time. When forecasts are frozen, the loading of actual costs or forecast calculations does not affect the frozen forecast. This option is very similar to what is known as gated actuals, where the forecast does not include the most current period's actual costs.

Once a forecast has been frozen, some reporting issues may become more complex. For example, it is possible that the difference between actual costs and forecast costs will increase over subsequent periods, resulting in reports that show divergent curves for actual costs and the forecast. It is also possible for actual costs to exceed the forecast. In addition, when updating a frozen forecast by selecting specific control accounts, the gate period will no longer be consistent for the entire project.

The forecast method Retain EAC is the preferred method for the following reasons:

  • Actual costs can be longer than forecast costs.
  • In the succeeding month, when the actuals are not equal to the current month's ETC (Estimate To Complete ), there will be a gap between forecast costs and actual costs.

Use the Freeze Forecast Wizard to freeze specific actual cost and forecast entries.