Forecasts Settings
Forecasts Settings is the Setup node where Salesforce administrators turn on Collaborative Forecasts, choose the forecast types the org will run, set the period granularity, configure currency display, and decide which forecast categories show on the grid.
Definition
Forecasts Settings is the Setup node where Salesforce administrators turn on Collaborative Forecasts, choose the forecast types the org will run, set the period granularity, configure currency display, and decide which forecast categories show on the grid. It is the central configuration page for the entire Forecasts product; without a visit here, the Forecasts tab is unavailable and no forecast types exist.
The page sits at Setup, Quick Find, Forecasts Settings. Beyond the Enable Forecasts toggle, it lets admins add up to four forecast types per org, set monthly or quarterly periods, choose Standard Fiscal Year or Custom Fiscal Year alignment, pick which Forecast Categories are visible in the grid, enable Cumulative Forecast Rollups, and turn on Adjustments. Every option here propagates to every Forecast User in the org.
Every setting that shapes how the grid behaves
Enable Forecasts and forecast type slots
The first switch on the page is Enable Forecasts. Flipping it on activates the Forecasts tab, the Forecasts Hierarchy node, and the Forecasting standard objects. Below the switch sits the forecast type list. Click Add Forecast Type to configure each one; the org gets four slots total, regardless of the editions. A type is defined by its source object (Opportunity, Opportunity Product, Opportunity Split), its measure (Amount, Quantity, or a custom field), and its date field (Close Date, Schedule Date, custom date).
Forecast period and granularity
Periods are either monthly or quarterly. The choice is global for the org and decides how the grid is split. Monthly is the default and works for most subscription teams; quarterly suits longer sales cycles. The period also has to align to the org's Fiscal Year (Standard or Custom); a Custom Fiscal Year propagates its periods automatically.
Forecast Categories visible on the grid
Salesforce ships with Pipeline, Best Case, Most Likely, Commit, and Closed as the five standard Forecast Categories. Forecasts Settings has checkboxes for each one. Most orgs hide Best Case for cleaner manager calls and keep the other four. The Pipeline category is cumulative (includes everything below Commit); the others are buckets, with Closed being its own non-overlapping row.
Cumulative Forecast Rollups
Cumulative Forecast Rollups, when enabled, sum each category as the running total from Closed up. Commit becomes Commit + Closed; Best Case becomes Best Case + Commit + Closed; Pipeline is the entire roster. Turning this off shows each category as a standalone bucket. The standard sales-leadership pattern is cumulative on, because the question is usually "what is everything Commit-or-better."
Adjustments and quotas
Two checkboxes control whether managers can adjust forecast amounts (Enable Adjustments) and whether quotas appear in the grid (Show Quotas). Both default to off. Enabling Adjustments turns on the ForecastingAdjustment object and the inline edit affordance; enabling Quotas surfaces the ForecastingQuota loading page and the per-period attainment row. Most orgs enable both during initial rollout.
Currency and multi-currency considerations
Forecasts respect the org's currency model. Single-currency orgs show all numbers in the org currency. Multi-currency orgs display in either the rep's personal currency, the corporate currency, or a combination. The setting Display Forecasts in Corporate Currency in Forecasts Settings forces every user to see the rolled-up number in corporate currency, which is the standard recommendation to avoid cross-currency confusion in commit calls.
Owner-only versus territory forecasts
Forecasts Settings exposes the choice between owner-based rollup (the default; each opportunity rolls to the owner''s manager) and territory-based rollup (each opportunity rolls to its Territory.TerritoryManager). Switching modes is non-trivial; territory mode requires Enterprise Territory Management to be enabled and assignment rules to be configured first. Most orgs stay on owner-based unless they explicitly run a territory model.
Walk through Forecasts Settings end-to-end
Plan to spend half an hour the first time through this page. Most settings need a deliberate choice; defaults rarely match what a mature sales motion actually needs.
- Open Forecasts Settings
Setup, Quick Find, Forecasts Settings. The page opens with the Enable Forecasts switch at the top and a long list of dependent toggles below.
- Enable Forecasts
Check Enable Forecasts. Saving the page activates the Forecasts tab and unlocks the rest of the configuration.
- Add the first forecast type
Click Add Forecast Type. Pick source object (Opportunity or Opportunity Product), measure (Amount, Quantity, or custom field), and date field. Save the type and watch a new grid configuration appear.
- Set period and Forecast Categories
Choose Monthly or Quarterly periods. Uncheck any Forecast Categories that should not appear on the grid (usually leaving Pipeline, Most Likely, Commit, Closed visible).
- Turn on Adjustments, Quotas, and Cumulative Rollups
Each is a checkbox. Most teams enable all three for the first quarter of rollout, then revisit based on adoption feedback.
- Configure the forecast hierarchy separately
Save Forecasts Settings, then jump to Setup, Forecasts Hierarchy to enable users and assign managers. Settings without hierarchy gives empty grids.
- Disabling Forecasts wipes the Forecasts tab and stops rollups, but Forecasting Item and ForecastingQuota records persist in the database. Re-enabling later restores access to the historical data.
- Adding a fifth forecast type fails; the limit of four is hard. Plan the slots carefully before adding the third or fourth type.
- Switching from owner-based to territory-based rollup is one-way without a manual data migration. Test in a sandbox first.
- Custom Fiscal Year settings drive forecast periods directly. Changing the fiscal calendar mid-year recomputes every period boundary on the grid.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Set Up Collaborative ForecastsSalesforce Help
- Configure Forecast TypesSalesforce Help
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Forecasts Settings.
- Collaborative Forecasts OverviewSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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