Including Opportunities in Forecasts and Closing Opportunities

This section provides an overview of including opportunities in forecasts and closing opportunities, and discusses how to:

Include opportunities in forecasts.
Close opportunities.

Understanding the Inclusion of Opportunities in Forecasts and Closing Opportunities

To include an opportunity's potential revenue on a sales forecast, the sales representative must update forecasting data on the opportunity. The sales representative can copy the products from the opportunity's proposal to the forecast for the opportunity.

Some companies offer products that generate recurring revenue. For example, an internet service provider may offer a one-year service contract that generates $20 per month in revenue. Other companies, such as wireless companies, offer products with both one-time and recurring revenue. For example, a wireless company may offer a package with a cellular phone (non-recurring revenue) and a monthly calling plan (recurring revenue). PeopleSoft Enterprise Sales enables you to forecast for both of these scenarios.

If an opportunity has multiple sales representatives assigned to it, the sales manager uses the Revenue Percentage tab on the Opportunity - Assign page to specify how to allocate the forecast among the sales representatives.

After the customer has made a decision, you can close the opportunity. If you have open forecasts for an opportunity that was Closed-Won, you can specify whether you want to continue to forecast revenue for the opportunity.

Including Opportunities in Forecasts

This section discusses how to:

Use the forecast summary.
Copy products to the forecast.
Use recurring forecasts.
Specify revenue percentages for forecasting.
Include forecast items in compensation calculations.

Pages Used to Include Opportunities in Forecasts

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Opportunity - Discover	RSF_OPP_DETAIL	Sales, Search Opportunities Select an opportunity, select the Discover tab	Enter information for the forecast summary.
Opportunity - Propose	RSF_OPP_PROPOSE	Sales, Search Opportunities Select an opportunity, select the Propose tab	Include an opportunity in the forecast.
Copy Products to Forecast	RSF_OPP_COPYFCAST	Access the Opportunity - Propose page. Click the Create Forecast button.	View and verify products to copy to forecasts.
Distribute Recurring Revenue	RSF_OPP_DISTRIB	Click the Distribute link from the Recurring tab of the Copy Products to Forecast page.	Enter recurring revenue.
Send to EIM	RSF_SENDTO_EIM_SEC	Access the Opportunity - Propose page. Click the Compensate Selected button.	Send forecast information to PeopleSoft Enterprise Incentive Management.

Using the Forecast Summary

If you want to include an opportunity's revenue on a forecast, but don't want to specify the actual products, you can use the Forecast Summary section on the Opportunity - Discover page. Access the Opportunity - Discover page.

Forecast

Select to include this opportunity in generated forecasts. When you save the page, the system copies the estimated revenue into the Forecast Amount field on this page, and it adds the opportunity in the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page.

Type

If you select Forecast, you must select the type of forecast use.

Define forecast types on the Sales Forecasts page.

See Defining Forecast Types.

Est. Revenue (estimated revenue)

Enter the amount of revenue that is anticipated from the sale.

Currency

Enter the currency code for the revenue. The default currency code is the code that is associated with the sales user on the Sales User page.

If no products are associated with the lead, you can override the default currency code. Doing so changes the currency here and on the Product page.

Confidence % (confidence percentage)

Displays the average degree of confidence (expressed as a percentage) that the assigned sales representatives feels that the opportunity will result in a closed sale.

The system calculates the average of all confidence percentages that are entered for the opportunity in the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page.

For example, if there are three products identified for forecasting from this opportunity—the first with a confidence of 70 percent, the second with 80 percent, and the last with 90 percent—the system calculates the average, as follows: (70 + 80 + 90) ÷ 3 = 80. The system displays the result here.

If you do not enter forecast rows on the Opportunity - Propose page, you can manually enter the confidence percent here.

Close Date

Enter a date that the system uses to determine whether to include the opportunity in the pipeline or forecast based on the time period that is specified for that pipeline or forecast.

Forecast Amt (forecast amount)

If you select the Forecast check box, a forecast amount must be specified. There are two ways that this can happen:

If the opportunity is not yet forecast and you select the Forecast check box, then the system copies the estimated revenue amount into this field when you save the page.

You can override this value.

You can enter the forecast amount.

Create Forecast

Click this link to create a forecast on the Opportunity - Propose page.

Copying Products to Forecast

If you want to include an opportunity's products on a forecast, you can copy the products to the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page. Access the Opportunity - Propose page.

Click the Create Forecast button to access the Copy Products to Forecast page.

Note. If there is existing forecast information when you click the Create Forecast button, the system displays the existing forecast on the Copy Products to Forecast page. You cannot copy products to the forecast if the forecast already exists for the products.

After you enter forecast information on the Copy Products to Forecast page and click OK, the system adds the information to the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page.

Forecast	Select this check box to include the revenue in the forecast.
Forecast Type	Select a user-defined forecast type. See Defining Forecast Types.
Forecast Amount	Enter a forecast amount.
Confidence % (confidence percentage)	Enter a whole number which specifies the probability that the forecast will became an actual sale.
Revenue Type	Select a user-defined revenue type. This is an optional field. See Defining Revenue Types.

Using Recurring Forecasts

Access the Opportunity - Propose page.

If the product has recurring revenue, the system displays the following fields:

Recurring Freq. (recurring frequency)	Select the period of time for the recurring revenue. Values are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly.
Recurring Price	Enter the recurring revenue for each period of time.

To create a forecast for recurring revenue, click the Create Forecast button to access the Copy Products to Forecast page. Click the Recurring tab.

Enter the forecast information, including the number of periods for the recurring revenue. You can click the Distribution link to access the Distribute Recurring Revenue page, where you can view or modify the distribution of recurring revenue over a period of time. If you do not access this page, but do select the Forecast check box, the system populates the Forecast grid on the Opportunity - Propose page with recurring revenue based on the values specified on the Recurring tab.

Make any changes in the Distribution Details section and then click the Rebuild Revenue Periods button to refresh the data in the Revenue Periods section. The system populates the first forecast date with the Start Date and then creates additional forecast dates based on the Recurring Frequency. Click the Calculate button to generate a value for the Recurring Total.

If you change the forecast amount, then on your return to the Recurring tab of the Copy Products to Forecast page, the system displays a Review link, instead of the original Distribute link, as a reminder that manual changes have occurred.

To enter non-recurring revenue, select the Non-Recurring tab of the Copy Products to Forecast page.

The system populates the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page with both the recurring and nonrecurring revenue. The nonrecurring revenue does not have a value in the Recur Period field. This section contains the data that system populates on the Forecast page when a sales representative uses the Add Forecast component, or when a sales manager uses the Search Forecasts component to autoforecast.

Specifying Revenue Percentages for Forecasting

Access the Opportunity - Assign page. Select the Revenue Percentage tab.

Note. The Revenue Percentage tab may be hidden in the Opportunities component, depending on the user's access profile. Typically, only sales managers have access to this tab.

Note. Revenue allocations are required for the system to roll up an opportunity into pipelines and forecasts. Only opportunities can be rolled up into pipelines and forecasts. You cannot include leads in pipelines and forecasts. Therefore, the Revenue Percentage tab appears in the Opportunity component only. There is no equivalent Revenue Percentage tab in the Lead component.

Allocation % (allocation percentage)

Enter the percentage of the total revenue to allocate to this member of the sales team for forecasting.

Often, 100 percent of the revenue is allocated to the primary member of the sales team, but it can also be distributed across two or more members of the team. The sum of the allocation percentages must total 100 percent.

Shadow % (shadow percentage)

Enter the percentage of revenue that the individual is expected to earn.

Note. The sum of the shadow percentages does not have to equal 100 percent.

Shadow Amount

Enter a lump sum amount that the individual is expected to earn.

Including Forecast Items in Compensation Calculations

Integrate PeopleSoft Enterprise Incentive Management with PeopleSoft Sales to include opportunity revenues in compensation calculations. You can set up a single signon between the two databases and exchange opportunity forecasting data between PeopleSoft Sales and PeopleSoft Enterprise Incentive Management.

Access the Send to EIM page.

Click the Compensate Selected button to send the forecasts to PeopleSoft Enterprise Incentive Management.

See PeopleSoft Enterprise Incentive Management PeopleBook.

Closing Opportunities

This section discusses how to close an opportunity after the customer has made a decision.

Page Used to Close Opportunities

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Opportunity Close Events	RSF_OPP_CLOSE_SEC	Access the Opportunity - Discover page. Select a status of Closed - Won or Closed - Lost. Click Save.	Close an opportunity.

Closing Opportunities

To close an opportunity, access the Opportunity - Discover page, and enter the appropriate value in the Status field. Values are Closed - Won and Closed - Lost. When you save the page, the Opportunity Close Events page appears.

You must enter comments and other data here to close an opportunity successfully. Also, you must review the forecast items and either select or clear the Forecast check box to include them in the forecast or exclude them.

After you close the opportunity, the system displays the actual close date and actual revenue on the Close tab of the Opportunities List page for the opportunity.

Comment	Enter a reason for the win or loss.
Actual Revenue	Displays the actual revenue from the closed, won opportunities. An actual revenue amount is required to close the opportunity successfully.
Actual Close Date	Enter the close date; the system's current date is the default.
Forecast	Select for each item that you want to include in forecasting from the closed opportunity. Be sure that the check box is cleared for all items that you do not want to include in forecasting. Items from a closed, lost opportunity that have the Forecast check box selected appear in the pipeline as leaks. You can not forecast revenue for a Closed-Lost opportunity. See Including Opportunities in Forecasts.

Forecast	Select to include this opportunity in generated forecasts. When you save the page, the system copies the estimated revenue into the Forecast Amount field on this page, and it adds the opportunity in the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page.
Type	If you select Forecast, you must select the type of forecast use. Define forecast types on the Sales Forecasts page. See Defining Forecast Types.
Est. Revenue (estimated revenue)	Enter the amount of revenue that is anticipated from the sale.
Currency	Enter the currency code for the revenue. The default currency code is the code that is associated with the sales user on the Sales User page. If no products are associated with the lead, you can override the default currency code. Doing so changes the currency here and on the Product page.
Confidence % (confidence percentage)	Displays the average degree of confidence (expressed as a percentage) that the assigned sales representatives feels that the opportunity will result in a closed sale. The system calculates the average of all confidence percentages that are entered for the opportunity in the Forecast section of the Opportunity - Propose page. For example, if there are three products identified for forecasting from this opportunity—the first with a confidence of 70 percent, the second with 80 percent, and the last with 90 percent—the system calculates the average, as follows: (70 + 80 + 90) ÷ 3 = 80. The system displays the result here. If you do not enter forecast rows on the Opportunity - Propose page, you can manually enter the confidence percent here.
Close Date	Enter a date that the system uses to determine whether to include the opportunity in the pipeline or forecast based on the time period that is specified for that pipeline or forecast.
Forecast Amt (forecast amount)	If you select the Forecast check box, a forecast amount must be specified. There are two ways that this can happen: If the opportunity is not yet forecast and you select the Forecast check box, then the system copies the estimated revenue amount into this field when you save the page. You can override this value. You can enter the forecast amount.
Create Forecast	Click this link to create a forecast on the Opportunity - Propose page.