Managing Pipeline and Sales Forecasting

Administrators use the General Settings to configure the Pipeline Management and Forecasting and set the defaults to show the data in the system.

General Settings 

The previous sections discussed Pipeline Management and Forecasting for sales representatives and sales managers. This section explains how an administrator configures pipeline reporting settings to meet business needs and requirements.

KPI Definition: Select how to show aggregated totals. There are two options:

• Sum by Forecast Category: Add opportunities in a specified category. For example, the best case is only the sum of all best case opportunities, not any other category.
• Cumulative Sum Across Forecast Categories: Add opportunities across applicable categories. For example, the best case is the sum of all opportunities in the best case, committed, and won categories.

Amount Field for Totals: Select the use of total types to calculate aggregated totals in Pipeline Management. There are two options:

• Expected Value of the opportunity
• Total Negotiated Value of the opportunity

Select how to add the sales forecasts. Assign every opportunity to a sales unit node so it shows in the system. There are two options:

• Territory Hierarchy: Based on sales territories
• Sales Unit Hierarchy: Based on organizational structure assignment

Revenue Splits: Activate this option to control whether revenue splits defined in opportunities affect opportunity values and the pipeline data.

View Opportunities: Define which date type the system uses to show opportunities:

• Close Date
• Revenue Start Date

Opportunity Notes: Activate this option to allow users to submit notes in an opportunity.

The sales hierarchy automatically filters submitted notes based on role and reporting structure. Only managers at the same level or above can view notes from subordinate units or sales representatives. This visibility restriction applies only to Pipeline Management and Forecasting.

Benchmark Currency: Choose the default currency for currency conversions.

Default Currency: Choose the default currency for pipeline and forecast reporting for business users.

Set Decision Maker: Select a default decision maker for the contact role. There are three options.

• Approver
• Decision maker
• Influencer

Score: Configure the type of opportunity scoring the system uses.

Opportunity scoring uses machine learning to predict whether the system will win or lose an opportunity in open or in-process status and expresses this prediction as an opportunity score. The pipeline manager module uses the opportunity score to create the visual representation of the opportunities in the pipeline. There are two options:

• Probability
• Opportunity Score

If you choose opportunity score, also have access to intelligence features, such as predictive roll-up in the forecast tracker.

Opportunity Export: Turn off the option for users to export opportunity data when running the pipeline and forecast reporting.

Forecast Category Mapping: Map forecast categories in the system to their equivalents in the Pipeline Management and Forecasting.

The system split the Forecast Tracker into two areas:

1. Forecast Type Configuration
2. Mass Upload Targets

Forecast Type Configuration

The Pipeline Management and Forecasting supports various forecast types, including new business and renewals. It also allows for entering various targets for these forecast types. By default, it's an empty configuration.

1. Select the plus icon to create a new Forecast Type Configuration.
2. Select from these four default fields:
   • Document Type Code
   • Priority Code
   • Source Code
   • Reason for Status Code
3. Finally, enter the value from the drop-down menu.

Administrators download a CSV template to fill in, save, and upload the sales target information to the SAP system. Download to generate a template CSV file. The system includes details needed to set targets for the selected node and each sub-node.

This data includes:

Forecast Type: The Pipeline Management and Forecasting supports various forecast types, including new business and renewals. It also allows for entering various targets for these forecast types.

• The forecast type ID is mandatory.
• Enter one if you only use the default category.

Fiscal Period Date: The start date of the relevant fiscal period in the format is YYYY-MM-DD (2023-05-01).

Fiscal Period Type: Enter the month or quarter, depending on whether setting the target for a fiscal month or quarter.

Amount: Target the amount for the relevant node.

Currency: Use the Currency when storing the target amount.

Monitor the upload progress by clicking the arrow next to the Upload button. If errors happen, download a CSV file including error details.

If a target already exists, the system populates the ID column in the downloaded CSV. When you upload a modified version of the file, the system updates the existing targets.

The following demonstration shows the default settings for the Pipeline and Forecasting, and how to create new fields for the Pipeline Manager.

In this lesson, we covered the following configurations:

• General Settings: Configure key pipeline and forecasting settings, including the KPI aggregation method, the amount field for totals, the forecast hierarchy (territory or sales unit), and the benchmark and default currencies. Also, it includes revenue splits and opportunity scoring options. 
• Forecast Tracker Administration: Explore how to set up various forecast types, configure forecast type criteria, and do mass upload of sales targets using CSV templates. It includes requirements for the fiscal period and currency. 
• Pipeline Flow Configuration: Set historical data start dates, apply filter criteria using the Adaptation Tool, and customize filters for pipeline flow analysis. 
• Forecast Categories: Identify the importance of configuring forecast categories and mapping them for correct opportunity aggregation and reporting in pipeline and forecasting dashboards. 
• User Access and Services: Review prerequisites, including enabling deal intelligence, keeping user approvals, and activating relevant services for opportunity, pipeline, and forecasting management. 
• Extra System Configurations: Cover extra setup steps, including fiscal year definition, currency configuration, and delegate access for sales units to guarantee a comprehensive pipeline and forecasting management.