Opportunity Forecast General Tab

Use the General tab to select report options for the Opportunity Forecast report and to save sets of options for reuse.

Contents

Field Description
Report Name You can change the default report name.
Create Activity To create activities in the Calendar/Activities application when you generate the report, select this check box. When you generate the report, Vision displays the Activity dialog box so you can enter the activity information. Vision then creates an activity for each opportunity included on the report.
Grid Type Select the type of data for which you want to show additional columns.
Report In Select the currency to use for amounts:
  • Opportunity Currency — The currency specified in Currency on the General tab of the Opportunity Info Center.

  • Presentation Currency — The currency you select in Presentation Currency.

Presentation Currency If you selected Presentation Currency in Report in, select the three-character ISO code for the currency. (The list includes only the currencies that are enabled for your enterprise.)

All amounts on the report will be presented in this currency. Vision calculates the exchanges between the opportunity currency and the presentation currency based on the date you specify in Exchange Rate as of.

Exchange Rate as of If you selected Presentation Currency in Report in, specify the date Vision should use to calculate exchanges between the presentation currency you select and the opportunity currency. Vision determines the correct exchange rates in the daily exchange rate table based on this date.
Start Date Enter the starting date for the data to be displayed on the report, or click the calendar icon and select the date.
Display Period Select one of the following options to indicate the periods for which you want display forecasted revenue:
  • Daily

  • Weekly

  • Bi-Weekly— A bi-weekly period is a two-week period that starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday.

  • Semi-Monthly — One semi-monthly period runs from the first day of the month to the fifteenth day of the month. The other semi-monthly period runs from the sixteenth day of the month to the end of the month.

  • Monthly

  • Quarterly

  • Yearly

For example, if you select Monthly, the report shows forecasted revenue by month.

Display Range Enter the number of periods for which you want to display forecasted revenue.

For example, if you want to review forecasts for six months, you select Monthly in Display Period and enter 6 in Display Range. The report then displays forecasted revenue in six monthly columns. The first column is for the month in which the date in Start Date falls.

Revenue Allocation Select one of the following methods for allocating revenue to periods:
  • Spread Evenly Across TimescaleVision allocates estimated revenue evenly from the start date of each opportunity to its completion date.

  • Allocate All Revenue to Estimated Start DateVision allocates the total estimated revenue to each opportunity's start date.

  • Allocate All Revenue to Close DateVision allocates the total estimated revenue amount to the opportunity's completion date.

  • Use Allocation Method on OpportunityVision allocates estimated revenue using the allocation method specified for each opportunity on the Estimated Revenue tab of the Opportunity Info Center. The allocation methods available there are the same as those listed above, with the following addition. In the Opportunity Info Center, you can also choose a Specific Dates method and allocate the estimated revenue to specific dates on which you expect to receive revenue. This allocation method is designed for companies that receive revenue for projects at irregular intervals, rather than monthly, quarterly, and so on. Be sure to select the Use Allocation Method on Opportunity option for this report, if you want it to show the dates on which payment is expected.

Calculation Period If you select Spread Evenly Across Timescale in Revenue Allocation, use this option to specify the period for which Vision calculates the revenue. Vision then uses that unit of revenue to calculate the revenue forecast for the period displayed on the report.

Select the calculation period from the following options:

  • Daily

  • Weekly

  • Bi-Weekly — A bi-weekly period is a two-week period that starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday.

  • Semi-Monthly — One semi-monthly period runs from the first day of the month to the fifteenth day of the month. The other semi-monthly period runs from the sixteenth day of the month to the end of the month.

  • Monthly

  • Quarterly

  • Yearly

Vision first determines how many of the calculation periods exist for the opportunity. For example, an opportunity has an estimated start date of 1/1/13 and an estimated completion date of 1/1/14. If the calculation period is daily, the opportunity date range has 366 calculation periods.

Vision the calculates how much revenue will be earned during one calculation period of the opportunity. If the estimated revenue for the opportunity is $100,000, the daily revenue amount is $273.224 ($100,000/366 days).

Vision uses the revenue amount for the calculation period to calculate the forecasted revenue for the display period you select for the report. If you specify a start date of 1/1/09, select Monthly in Display Period, and enter 3 in Display Range, the report displays three columns containing forecasted revenue for January, February, and March. The amount for each month is the number of days in that month multiplied by the daily revenue amount. For example, the forecasted revenue for the opportunity for January would be $8469.94 ($273.224 x 31).

Column Width Specify the width of the forecasted revenue columns, in inches or millimeters based on which one you selected in the Unit of Measure field on the report Options Layout tab.

Enter inches and millimeters with decimals. For example, enter one and a half inches as 1.5.

Show Time Scale Graph Select this option to display the Opportunity Time Series graph at the end of the report.

The graph shows the type of revenue you specify in Calculate Forecast by for the periods you specified in Display Periods.

The data points on the graph are based on the first grouping you specify on the Sorting/Grouping tab. If you do not specify a grouping, the graph is based on opportunity name.

Height Specify the height of the graph in inches or millimeters based on which one you selected on the report Options Layout tab.

Enter inches and millimeters with decimals. For example, enter one and a half inches as 1.5.

Width Specify the width of the graph in inches or millimeters based on which one you selected on the report Options Layout tab.

Enter inches and millimeters with decimals. For example, enter one and a half inches as 1.5.

Client Hierarchy Lookup If you are using client hierarchies and you want to generate the report for a client hierarchy, select a client in that hierarchy.

The report includes the entire hierarchy of which the selected client is a part.

Example: If you select Navy, the report includes Navy and the entire hierarchy associated with Navy. That is, it includes both parent records and child records. If Department of Defense is the parent of Navy, and Navy is the parent of NAVSEA, the following are true:

  • If you select Department of Defense in the Client Hierarchy LookupCustomer Hierarchy Lookup, the report includes detail for all clients associated with Department of Defense, Navy, and NAVSEA.

  • If you select Navy in the Lookup, the report shows a header but no detail for Department of Defense and includes complete details for Navy and NAVSEA.

  • You cannot select NAVSEA, because it is not the parent of another client.

Calculate Forecast by On the General tab of the Opportunity Info Center, you specify the opportunity's estimated revenue. The estimated revenue is the amount you expect to earn if the opportunity results in an awarded project.

On the same tab, you also specify a percentage that represents the probability that the opportunity will become a project.

In Calculate Forecast by, indicate the type of revenue you want Vision to use as the basis for the forecasts:

  • Estimated Revenue — On the General tab of the Opportunity Info Center, you specify the opportunity's estimated revenue. The estimated revenue is the amount you expect to earn if the opportunity results in an awarded project.

  • Weighted Revenue — On the General tab of the Opportunity Info Center, you specify a percentage that represents the probability that the opportunity will become a project. Vision calculates the weighted revenue as follows: Estimated revenue x Probability / 100. (Example: $100,000 estimated revenue x 80% / 100 = $80,000 weighted revenue)

Print Final Totals Select this check box if you want a line at the end of the report that shows total amounts for the entire report.
Summarize Opportunity Detail Select this option to generate a summary version of the report.