Create and edit forecast boards

RevOps, Business admin

Gong Forecast*

Configurable forecast boards let you control how forecast data is structured, displayed, and calculated, so you can match your board setup to how your team actually forecasts. This setup works for any forecasting motion, including new business, renewals, and hybrid models.

This article details the process of building and managing configurable forecast boards.

Deals > Forecast

Before you start

Before you start building a forecast board, make sure the metrics and targets required for your board are configured. You can go back and build new ones and make changes as needed.

Build a forecast board

1. Go to > Add board  

   

   Note:

   Until legacy forecast boards are fully retired, both configurable boards and legacy boards are available.

2. Give the board a meaningful Name and a Description for some context. When team members forecast, the name of the board appears where they pick the period and what they’re forecasting for:

   

3. In Board columns, add columns to the board columns. You can add metric, forecast submission, or target columns.

4. In Period, select the period your company forecasts for: monthly, quarterly, or both.

5. In Cadence, turn on/off Send a reminder when forecast is due and set the day and time of the notification. Notifications are sent to everyone via Slack (if your company has a Slack integration) and via the Gong desktop and mobile apps when it’s time for them to forecast or review their team’s forecast.

6. In Company snapshot, set the day and time when forecast numbers are locked for the week, typically right before the weekly forecast meeting.

   Warning:

   The selected snapshot time applies to all forecast boards, not just the one you’re currently editing.

   Note:

   Team members can change their numbers at any time, but the numbers taken at the time of the snapshot are submitted and used to calculate progress in forecast trends, week over week.

7.  In Deals drilldown view, set the view that opens when team members click to inspect deals in this board:

   1. Click +Add column.

   2. Click   to remove a column. Columns with next to them can’t be removed.

      The drilldown view is displayed when team members click a cell > <#> deals:

      

8. In Update CRM, add CRM fields that require team member updates. These fields appear under Update CRM when a cell is clicked, and all inputs sync with the CRM.

9. In Warnings, turn on/off the warnings to include in the board, and the threshold for each warning.

10. In Deal analytics, turn on analytics to generate out-of-the-box trends, changes, accuracy and pacing reports.  

    Note:

    Deal analytics give you insight into pipeline trends, including forecasting accuracy and reasons behind changes in forecast amounts. Analytics isn’t supported for boards with multiple fields, opportunity teams, opportunity splits, and multi-currency.  

    

    1. Turn on analytics: Turn on if this board tracks open vs. closed-won pipeline based on consistent user, date, and amount CRM fields.
    2. Set deal attributes: Set the CRM fields associated with deals included in the reports.

    3. Define deal status indicators: Define the conditions for open and closed-won deals.

    4. Target: Set the target to measure your bookings against, and track performance and attainment in trends and pacing reports.

    5. Define forecast categories: Define the conditions for deals in each forecast category.

    6. Show projection in deal categories and trend reports: Select which column to display projection in, and set reference periods. Turn on projection to help team members see where they are likely to land by the end of the period. Projection is based on deal attributes (2) and status indicators (3).

    Note:

    Projection is based on deals that were expected to close in the reference period, and whether they were won or lost by the end of the period. They are based on deal attributes (a) and status indicators (c).  

11. Click Save.

Once saved, the board can be edited, duplicated or hidden.

Note:

To align your reports with changes made to your data, reach out to your Gong CSM after your board is set up. Learn about historical data backfill

Edit a forecast board

1. Go to Deals > Forecast, click > Forecast settings and follow the instructions above.

Duplicate a forecast board

1. Go to Deals > Forecast, click > Manage boards.

2. Select the board to duplicate, click> Duplicate.

Edit the duplicated board by following the instructions above.

To hide or unhide a board and clean up your view:

1. Go to Deals > Forecast, click> Manage boards.

2. Select the board to hide/unhide, click > Hide/Unhide.

Best practices

• Start simple: Build a basic board and iterate. Many teams begin with one board before branching into others.

• Keep logic centralized: Reuse existing metrics and filters from your dashboard environment to avoid duplications.

• Building a renewal board? See this recipe from the Gong Academy.

• Building a new business board? See this recipe from the Gong Academy.  

Visit our Academy and find out how to utilize your dashboards to boost efficiencies and refine revenue operations

*The features available to you depend on your company’s plan and your assigned seats.