Salesforce Forecasts & Quotas: Add Custom Data + Reference Data Columns to Forecast Page
This is the fourth video in our Salesforce Forecasting Series! You will learn how to add reference data columns to the Forecast page. Reference Data columns allow us to display custom data in columns in the Forecast tab. We’ll cover adding columns for a Stretch goal and last year’s actual sales amount, and then we’ll add calculated columns to show how close we are to meeting these custom data points.
If you have not setup Forecasts & Quotas in Salesforce yet, check out our videos and articles containing step-by-step instructions on how to quickly setup this awesome tool for your sales teams.
- Blu Tiger Academy Videos:
- Blu Ninjas Articles:
Salesforce Resources:
Our Business Requirements
We set up a new Forecast Type for our sales team and now we need to add reference data columns to show the team's stretch goals and the amount they achieved last year. We will need to know the stretch goals for each sales rep and the amount they did last year by month.
Our sales team consists of the following people:
- 1 Head of Sales
- 2 Sales Managers with 2 sales team members on each team.
- Both Sales Managers report to the Head of Sales.
Requirements for Using Forecasting Custom Data Feature
- Forecast Quotas must be in Salesforce before you can add custom data. Follow the steps in our other Blu Tiger Academy videos to add quotas manually or import them using Data Loader.
- Edition must be Enterprise or higher
- API version of Data Loader must be 58 or higher. The ForecastingCustomData object is not available in prior API versions.
- Make sure your profile has access to Manage Forecasts Custom Data
Add Custom Data Using Data Loader
See the Blu Tiger Academy video for step-by-step instructions:
- Create two custom currency fields on the Forecasting Custom Data object called Stretch Goal and Last Year Amount.
- Go to Data Loader - you may not be able to see the ForecastingCustomData object. This object was only available in API version 58 or later. Upgrade your version of Data Loader or you can use Workbench. Highly recommend installing the latest version of Data Loader 61 - it has an Undelete button which is awesome!
- Prepare your spreadsheet, in some cases it might be easier to export your Forecast Quotas object, so you have ForecastingTypeId, PeriodId and QuotaOwnerIds:
- Go to Data Loader -> Export Forecasting Quota object -> export the following fields:
- FORECASTINGTYPEID
- PRODUCTFAMILY -> only needed if the forecast source is Product Family
- QUOTAOWNERID
- STARTDATE
- TERRITORY2ID -> only needed for territory forecast types
- Add the following columns: Last Year Amount and Stretch Goal
- Go to Data Loader -> Insert -> Object = ForecastingCustomData - Map fields
- Go to Data Loader -> Export Forecasting Quota object -> export the following fields:
Create Reference Data Columns in Forecast Tab
- Go to the Forecast Type you want to add the Reference Columns to.
- Add a column:
- Column Type = Reference Data
- Field to Reference = Stretch Goal -> Save
- Add another custom column ->
- Column Type = Calculated
- Name = Gap to Stretch Goal
- Data Type = Currency ->
- Formula = IF((ExtensionCurrency0 - ForecastAmount0) < 0, NULL, (ExtensionCurrency0 - ForecastAmount0)) Your formula may be different use the developer console to confirm field names.
- Go to this document to understand the field name references in the formulas.
- Run this query in the Developer Console to confirm ResultField Name: Select Id, ForecastingTypeId, MasterLabel, ResultField, Formula from ForecastingColumnDefinition
- Add another custom column ->
- Column Type = Reference Data
- Field to Reference = Last Year Amount -> Save
- Add another custom column ->
- Column Type = Calculated
- Name = Diff Last Year Amount
- Data Type = Currency
- Formula = ForecastAmount0 - ExtensionCurrency1 Your formula may be different use the developer console to confirm field names.
- Add columns to Forecast and view Forecast
- Add a column:
For any questions, comments, concerns – let us know in the comment section below!
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