What is forecasting?
Forecasting is a simple tool to help you manage the future cash position for your Profile. The forecasts are based on the previous history of your combined credits (money-in) and debits (money-out).

Why should I use forecasting?
Forecasting can help you to

• Forecast the highs and lows in your cash flow
• Plan your expenditure to minimise potential cash shortfalls in the future
• Monitor your cash position to achieve your goals.

How do I set up a forecast?
Setting up a forecast is a two step process:

Step 1: Set your trend line. You have two options to choose from:

a) Set an average trend line: If you choose to set an average, you will be asked to select the timeframe you would like to use as the basis of the average trend line:
i) Monthly
ii) 3-monthly
iii) 6-monthly
iv) 12 months (default option) – the default trend line is based on 12 months’ history of your combined credits and debits. We recommend that you use the default forecasting time frame.

b) Set an Actuals trend line: This may be a useful option for seasonal businesses to compare and predict cash position trends (this option is not available if you select a daily forecast - see Step 2 below).

Step 2: Choose your forecasting timeframe. If your cash flow is steady, choose a longer forecasting timeframe, if it fluctuates, choose a shorter timeframe. You have three options to choose from:

• Monthly (over 15 months): This timeframe will give you a long term view and could be useful if you have a seasonal business to help you forecast trends over time.
• Weekly (over 15 weeks): You could choose this timeframe to give you a quarterly forecast.
• Daily (over 15 days): A daily forecast could be useful if you want to forecast your cash flow peaks and troughs over a shorter timeframe.

How do I delete my forecast?
Go to Preferences; select Forecast, select delete Forecast to delete your current Forecast settings.

What data are my forecasts based on?
Forecasts are based on your Credit (money-in) and Debit (money-out) transactions for the accounts within the selected profile. How much data is used in your forecast depends on your selections in the Forecasting set-up wizard.

Can I save my forecasts?
The export option allows you to save your forecasts, upload them to other software packages or to work with it in a spreadsheet.

How do I export my forecasts?
Select Export under Forecasting. The Export function allows your forecast to be exported as a CSV File.

What is a CSV File?
CSV (Comma-Separated-Value) is a common file type used to import data from one software application to another, with commas separating the values. You can open and edit a CSV file in most Spread Sheet programs including Excel.

How do I add transactions to my forecast?
Click on ‘Add credit/debit line’. A pop-up box will appear, enter the details for the credit (money-in) or debit (money-out) description you would like to call this transaction. You can choose to ‘auto-fill’ the rest of the columns with a specified amount. Or you can choose to manually update the amount in the columns yourself. Click ‘Save’.

What does ‘Auto-fill’ mean?
Selecting Auto-fill means that Business Cash Plan will automatically fill in the specified amount for you across all the columns for that particular description of credit (money-in) or debit (money-out) transaction.

How do I delete a credit or debit line?
At the end of each transaction description you’ll see a red ‘x’ symbol. Click on this symbol at the end of the transaction line you want to delete.

What happens if I don’t save my forecast?
As long as you stay within Business Cash Plan, you’ll see a reminder at the top of the page to remind you that you have an unsaved forecast. You can go back into the Forecast page from the left navigation, and click ‘Save Forecast’ on the right tab of the forecasting page.

How many forecasts can I have?
You can only have one forecast saved for each Profile. If you want to create multiple forecasts for a Profile, you’ll need to ‘Export’ the forecast.

Why can I amend some amounts in boxes and not others?
You cannot amend amounts in your forecast if the months are in the past. You can only amend amounts that are in the present or future.