Rolling Forecast Checklist

A rolling forecast has YTD actuals + forecast for the rest of the year. When an additional month of actuals is available, a new rolling forecast should be created. Complete these 5 steps each month to roll forward your forecast.

Create a POR Clone of the Current Plan
Update Actuals in the Current Plan
Reconcile Staff
Update Actuals Custom Data
Update Budget Accounting & Custom Data
Update other Assumptions, Drivers and/or Manual Inputs

☑️ Step 1: Create a POR Clone of the Current Plan

Before the forecast is rolled forward, it is recommended to create a clone of the current plan and make it a POR (plan of record). These actions create a snapshot of that plan as of this point in time. This gives you the option to revert back to the previous plan (without updated actuals) and/or compare it to the new plan as needed.

Go to Plans > Select the ∨ next to the current Active Plan to open the context menu > Select Manage Plans > Select the . . . the left of the current Plan (here: 2024 Rolling Fcst) and select Clone
1. Cloning the 2024 Rolling Fcst Plan will create an exact copy of that plan in the Archive section named 2024 Rolling Fcst_1
Click on the . . . next to 2024 Rolling Fcst Plan_1 and select Make Active
Rename 2024 Rolling Fcst_1 to something like 2024 Rolling Fcst_Feb Actuals
Save
Select the . . . to the left of 2024 Rolling Fcst_Feb Actuals Plan and select Make PoR
You can keep the 2024 Rolling Fcst_Feb Actuals Plan Active if it is still needed for Reporting purposes or Archive it

☑️ Step 2: Update Actuals in the Current Plan

Now that a clone of the current plan has been created for reference, the current plan can be updated to include YTD Actuals. Updating the current plan that is already referenced in forecast Reports & Dashboards should result in no additional action needed to update your forecast Reports & Dashboards since they already reference the current plan.

1. From Manage Plans (Plans > Select the ∨ next to the 2024 Rolling Fcst Plan to open the context menu > Select Manage Plans), you can update the name of the current Plan or keep it as it is
2. Update the Actuals Period for the 2024 Rolling Fcst Plan to include YTD Actuals (here: March 2024)
3. Save

☑️ Step 3: Reconcile Staff

Since an additional month of GL Actuals is now in the plan, the staffing roster should be updated to include any Actual New Hires & Terms for the same period. Importing a new roster only replaces the Actual Staff (white rows) in plans that are not a plan of record and do not have any impact on Planned Named Hires (blue rows). After uploading the latest roster, it should then be reconciled against the current plan accordingly.

Import the updated roster from the Workforce section of Settings > Integrations
Reconcile Staff from Plans > Staffing
To quickly identify what happened in the most recent month of actuals, click on the Hire Date column to sort by date
- If a planned hire (blue row) was actually hired (white row with black text), they should be removed from the plan so they are not double-counted
- If a planned hire was not hired, their planned hire date should be pushed into the future.
- Add additional planned hires & terms as needed

☑️ Step 4: Update Actuals Custom Data

Custom data is often used to drive the forecast. For example, if you are forecasting Revenue using a MRR Rollforward, the Ending MRR for the new month of Actuals must be imported to properly roll forward the plan.

Import Custom Actuals from Google Sheets or Excel
- Update your Google Sheet or Excel import template to include the new month of actuals
- Go to Settings > Integrations > Actuals section and click on Import next to Google Sheets or Excel for Custom Tables
Go to Plans > Custom and review the imported data as well as any assumptions, drivers, and/or manual inputs used in your Custom Tables.

☑️ Step 5: Update Budget Accounting & Custom Data

If the Forecasted data related to both Accounting (Income Statement & Balance Sheet) and Custom Tables are imported from Excel, it's required to review and reupload all the planned months under the updated roll forward Plan.

Import Accounting Budget from Excel for planned Income Statement and Balance Sheet accounts
- Update your Excel Accounting Budget Import template to include required updates under all the planned months
- Go to Settings > Integrations > Budget > Accounting click on the Import next to the Excel Budget Import
Import Custom data Budget from Excel for planned custom data brought as additions for the Trial Balance or Workforce
- Update your Excel Custom Budget Import template to include required updates under all the planned months
- Go to Settings > Integrations > Budget > Custom Tables click on the Import next to the Excel Budget Import
Go to Plans and review the imported data within the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Custom Tables.

☑️ Step 6: Update other Assumptions, Drivers, and/or Manual Inputs

The new rolling forecast should be reviewed to see if any additional updates should be made to assumptions, drivers &/or manual inputs. One way to quickly identify & prioritize the areas that should be looked at first is to run a report that compares the previous forecast to the same period of actuals, e.g., January Forecast vs January Actuals. For line items showing larger variances, drill into the drivers and assumptions associated with that line item to see if they should be updated.

Go to the Assumptions area and update Assumptions as needed. For example, if a new employee benefit has been added since the previous forecast, you could change the Benefit Rate % assumption in the model.
Go to the Drivers tab and check to make sure there are no driver errors.
If collaborating with other users, invite them into the new Rolling Forecast to make their updates.