Options Page of the Calculate Forecast Wizard

Use this page to select the options that you want to use when calculating the forecast.

Validate Forecast Dates

Field	Description
Stop process if any invalid dates exist - Forecast, Early, or Late	Select this option to instruct Cobra not to run forecast calculations if it finds any invalid forecast dates for the control accounts or work packages.
Slip all invalid dates that are earlier than the status date - Forecast, Early, or Late	Select this option to instruct Cobra to advance any invalid forecast start date to the day following the status date. Cobra also advances the forecast finish date by the same number of days, thereby maintaining the original duration of the control accounts or work packages. Cobra will immediately run forecast calculations after the dates are slipped for the invalid dates.
Skip Control Accounts/Work Packages when dates associated with the classes being calculated are invalid.	Select this option to instruct Cobra to calculate the forecast only for control accounts or work packages that have valid forecast dates. Cobra will not calculate the forecast for control accounts or work packages with invalid dates.
Allow negative ETC	Select this option to instruct Cobra to calculate all negative ETC (Estimate To Complete) values for statistical forecast methods. Otherwise, Cobra sets all negative ETCs to zero during forecast calculation. Cobra calculates ETC by subtracting Budget At Complete (BAC) from Earned Value (EV) during forecast calculations. If EV is greater than the BAC because of a negative current spread in a control account or work package, the calculated ETC will be negative. This option allows you to specify whether negative ETC should be allowed.
Spread ETC according to	Use this field to select the statistical forecast spreading option. Budget: If you select this option, Cobra spreads the forecast according to the current spread. Existing ETC Spread: If you select this option and a spread curve is assigned to the resource assignment, Cobra uses the assigned spread curve when spreading the forecast. If Manual spread curve is assigned to the resource assignment, or the spread curve specified does not exist, Cobra uses the existing profile of the resource assignment when spreading the forecast. Attention: For more information, see How Cobra Spreads ETC.
Scale Retain EAC	Use this field to select the option for scaling the Estimate At Complete (EAC) values. None: If you select this option, Cobra does not use a scaling method in forecast calculation. Hours: If you select this option, Cobra updates the control accounts or work packages that contain labor (hours) resources only during forecast calculation. Currency: If you select this option, Cobra updates the control accounts or work packages that contain non-labor (currency) resources only during forecast calculation. Hours and Currency: If you select this option, Cobra updates the control accounts or work packages that contain both labor (hours) and non-labor (currency) resources during forecast calculation. Selecting the Hours, Currency, or Hours and Currency option instructs Cobra to retain a particular EAC value for manual forecasts that use the forecast method Manual Forecast (Retain EAC). If you select the Hours, Currency, or Hours and Currency option for the Scale Retain EAC field, you need to set up the appropriate forecast class that contains the correct classes, cost set, and project forecast options. You also need to make sure that the Forecast cost set contains the forecast class.