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How-to guide

Setting up Collaborative Forecasts

Collaborative Forecasts is turned on and shaped in Setup. An admin enables the feature, sets the period and hierarchy, then activates the forecast types and rollup method the sales team will read. Do these in order, because the grid only populates once the hierarchy and at least one active type line up.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated Jun 16, 2026

Collaborative Forecasts is turned on and shaped in Setup. An admin enables the feature, sets the period and hierarchy, then activates the forecast types and rollup method the sales team will read. Do these in order, because the grid only populates once the hierarchy and at least one active type line up.

  1. Enable Forecasts

    In Setup, open Forecasts Settings and enable Forecasts. Choose the forecast period, either monthly or quarterly, and the date range users will see. This step also exposes the Forecasts tab to assigned profiles.

  2. Set the forecast hierarchy

    Open the Forecasts Hierarchy page and confirm every manager and rep has a role and a forecast manager above them. Enable each person who should see a forecast. Gaps here are the top cause of an empty grid.

  3. Activate forecast types

    Add up to four pipeline forecast types. Pick a measure (revenue or quantity) and a source (Opportunities, Splits, Product Families, a custom field) for each, then map opportunity stages to forecast categories.

  4. Choose the rollup method and load quotas

    Select single-category or cumulative rollups for the org and rename columns if needed. Then load ForecastingQuota records per user and period so attainment percentages appear on the grid.

Forecast periodremember

Monthly or quarterly buckets, plus how many periods forward and back the grid displays.

Forecast measureremember

Revenue (a currency amount) or Quantity (a unit count) for each active forecast type.

Forecast sourceremember

Opportunities, Opportunity Splits, Product Families, Product Date, Overlay Splits, or a custom Opportunity field.

Rollup methodremember

Single-category columns that stand alone, or cumulative columns that add the more-confident categories together.

Gotchas
  • An empty grid almost always traces to a hierarchy gap. Confirm every rep has a role and an enabled forecast manager before debugging anything else.
  • The four-active-type cap applies per org. Deactivate an unused type before adding a new one, or open a case with Salesforce Customer Support to raise the limit.
  • Adjustments do not roll into the next period. A commit you entered this quarter is gone next quarter unless you re-enter it.
  • Quotas drive attainment dashboards. If those dashboards read blank, the usual cause is missing ForecastingQuota records, not a reporting bug.

See the full Forecasts entry

Forecasts includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.