Quantity Without Adjustments
Quantity Without Adjustments is a Salesforce Collaborative Forecasting measure that represents the raw forecast quantity rolled up from opportunities before any manual adjustments from managers or forecast owners have been applied.
Definition
Quantity Without Adjustments is a Salesforce Collaborative Forecasting measure that represents the raw forecast quantity rolled up from opportunities before any manual adjustments from managers or forecast owners have been applied. The figure is the bottom-up, unadjusted total, calculated directly from the underlying Opportunity records and their Forecast Category assignments. It sits alongside the adjusted Quantity column to give managers a clear comparison: what the data says versus what the manager's judgment overlay says.
The measure matters because Collaborative Forecasting supports two distinct views of the same data. The adjusted Quantity reflects the manager's calibrated judgment after considering deal-specific context the raw numbers do not capture (a customer that is verbally committed but has not signed, a known risk on a major deal, a sandbagged forecast that needs a haircut). Quantity Without Adjustments is the floor, the pure data view. Reviewing both together is a standard part of every forecast call and helps the org distinguish between the model's prediction and the judgment of the people closer to the deal.
The role of adjustments in Collaborative Forecasting
Raw rollup versus adjusted rollup
Collaborative Forecasting calculates the raw rollup by summing every Opportunity that matches the active Forecast Category (Commit, Best Case, Pipeline, Closed) across the user's forecast hierarchy. This sum is Quantity Without Adjustments. The adjusted Quantity then layers any manual adjustments on top: a manager raising the Best Case for a specific subordinate by 100K because they believe a stalled deal will close, or lowering Commit by 50K because they expect a deal to slip. The page presents both side by side so the reviewer can see the size of the adjustment overlay and ask informed questions during forecast calls.
Why managers adjust raw forecasts
Three reasons drive most forecast adjustments. First, deal-specific context that the rep has not yet captured in Salesforce (a customer told me yesterday they are pushing the deal out a quarter, but I have not updated the close date yet). Second, calibration based on history (this rep historically over-forecasts by 15 percent, so I lower their Commit accordingly). Third, sandbagging or over-committing patterns (this region historically commits low and beats it; I raise their Commit to be more realistic). All three reasons are legitimate, but they introduce a layer of human judgment on top of the data. Quantity Without Adjustments lets the rest of the org see where the data ends and the judgment starts.
Tracking adjustment size and behavior
The difference between adjusted Quantity and Quantity Without Adjustments is an interesting metric in its own right. A small difference suggests managers trust the data and rarely override it. A large difference, especially one that grows over time, suggests either that the underlying data quality has eroded (deals are not being kept current) or that managers are layering increasingly aggressive judgment overlays. Sales operations leaders monitor this gap quarterly and dig in when it grows past a threshold. The right response depends on the cause: data hygiene work for poor record keeping, manager coaching for over-aggressive adjustments, or process changes if the rep workflow is making it hard to keep deals current.
How Quantity Without Adjustments interacts with quotas
Quotas are typically set against adjusted Quantity rather than Quantity Without Adjustments, because the quota target reflects the expected business outcome including any management overlay. However, Quantity Without Adjustments matters for compensation discussions when a rep argues that their raw pipeline supported their target but a manager's adjustment lowered the credited number. The compensation team can see both views and discuss whether the adjustment was appropriate. For commission calculations, most compensation tools use Closed Won actuals rather than forecast measures, so the adjustment debate matters more for credit and performance review than for direct compensation.
Reporting across both measures
Custom reports against the ForecastingItem object can surface both Quantity and Quantity Without Adjustments side by side, with the difference exposed as a calculated field. Executive dashboards often show this difference across regions to identify where adjustments are happening at scale. CRM Analytics dashboards can visualize the adjustment ratio over time per manager, surfacing trends that point-in-time reports miss. The combination of the two measures gives the analytics team a rich set of questions to investigate beyond just the headline forecast number.
Configuration and display
Quantity Without Adjustments appears on the standard Forecast page layout by default for managers who have forecast hierarchy subordinates. For individual contributors with no team, Quantity Without Adjustments and Quantity are identical (because there are no adjustments to apply on their own deals). Admins can hide the column on the page layout if the organization does not want managers to see it, but most orgs leave it visible because the comparison drives more thoughtful forecast conversations. The configuration is set per Forecast Type, so an org with both Revenue and Quantity forecasts can show the measure on one and hide it on the other if needed.
Audit trail and adjustment history
Every adjustment to a forecast is recorded with the adjuster, the timestamp, the prior value, and the new value. This audit trail lives on the ForecastingAdjustment object and can be queried through standard Reports or SOQL. For organizations with audit requirements, exporting the adjustment history to an external system on a regular cadence keeps the trail available beyond the platform's standard retention. The trail is especially useful in disputes: if a rep questions why their credit was lower than expected, the audit trail shows exactly which manager made the adjustment, when, and what the prior value was.
Comparing Quantity Without Adjustments with Owner Only and Quota Attainment
Salesforce Forecasting exposes several related measures that look similar at first glance but answer different questions. Quantity Without Adjustments is the unadjusted rollup; Quantity is the adjusted rollup; Owner Only Quantity is the user's personal contribution excluding subordinate rollup; Quota is the target the user is measured against; Quota Attainment is the ratio of either Quantity or Closed Won to the Quota. Each of these has a place in the forecast call: the unadjusted figure for the data view, the adjusted figure for the management overlay, the Owner Only for personal performance, the Quota for the target, and Attainment for the credit calculation. Confusing them produces strange conversations during forecast reviews. The right operating discipline is to know which measure answers which question and to teach the team to ask for the right column when a question comes up. A senior sales operations leader can explain each measure on the spot; a junior one cannot, and the difference is usually visible in the quality of the org's forecast conversations.
Use Quantity Without Adjustments effectively
Most of the work around Quantity Without Adjustments is operational rather than configuration: training managers to read the column, building reports that use it, and developing the discipline to investigate when the adjusted-versus-raw gap grows. The workflow below covers the standard practices that make the measure useful.
- Confirm the column is visible to forecast managers
Open the Forecast page as a manager who has subordinates. Confirm Quantity Without Adjustments appears alongside the adjusted Quantity. If it is hidden, edit the Forecasts page layout in Object Manager to add the column, then re-assign the layout to the relevant profiles. Save and test by viewing the page as the test manager again. The column should appear for each forecast category (Commit, Best Case, Pipeline, Closed).
- Train managers on the comparison
Run a brief training session explaining what Quantity Without Adjustments shows and why it matters. Walk through a sample manager's forecast with both columns side by side. Explain how to interpret a large gap (data hygiene or aggressive adjustment) versus a small gap (data and judgment aligned). Document the training in the manager onboarding portal so new managers self-serve when they inherit a team. Without this training, managers tend to focus only on the adjusted column and miss the diagnostic value of the comparison.
- Build the gap report
Create a custom report or CRM Analytics dashboard showing the difference between adjusted Quantity and Quantity Without Adjustments per manager, per region, and over time. Filter to the current forecast period and the upcoming period. Schedule the report to be emailed to sales operations weekly. Highlight any manager whose adjustment overlay exceeds a defined threshold (typically 10 to 20 percent of the raw forecast). The report becomes a starting point for monthly forecast review conversations.
- Investigate large gaps and act
When the gap report flags a large adjustment overlay, investigate the cause. Sit with the manager and review the underlying opportunities. Determine whether the adjustment is justified (deal-specific knowledge the data does not capture) or whether it indicates data hygiene problems (deals not being kept current) or aggressive padding (sandbagging or over-committing). Take the corresponding action: confirm the adjustment, push for data updates, or coach the manager on calibrated forecasting.
- For individual contributors with no subordinates, Quantity Without Adjustments equals Quantity. The comparison only matters at manager levels of the hierarchy.
- Adjustments apply to Quantity, not to Quantity Without Adjustments. The unadjusted figure is always the data view; the adjusted figure carries the management overlay.
- A large adjustment gap is not always a problem. Some gaps are legitimate (deal-specific knowledge); investigation distinguishes legitimate gaps from data hygiene issues.
- Compensation tools typically credit against actuals, not against forecast measures. Confirm with the compensation team how adjustments interact with quota credit before assuming the answer.
- Hiding the column on the page layout is reversible but signals to managers that the data view does not matter. Most orgs benefit from leaving it visible even when the gap is small.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Collaborative Forecasting OverviewSalesforce Help
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Quantity Without Adjustments.
- Collaborative ForecastingSalesforce Help
- Forecast AdjustmentsSalesforce 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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Q1. What is Quantity Without Adjustments?
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