Forecasts

Last modified: 27 Nov 2024

Create forecasts to track the progress of your assets according to your financial models. You can apply forecasts to each asset level separately. At each level, the desired forecast model must be active.

Financial models and forecasts

A financial model on the organization level is some sort of a basic framework for the forecasts you create on the asset levels. It does not contain any specific values, but only variables and placeholder parameters. The real data, that is individually different to your specific asset, is only entered later when you create forecasts. This eliminates the need for multiple spreadsheets for each asset, for example.

The basic workflow for financial models and forecasts is as follows:

Create a forecast

Prerequisites for the whole process

There is at least one financial model in your organization. See Financial models.
You are the organization owner, an admin, or a member of all domains or the finance domains. See User groups and permissions.

0) Enter basic data

Steps

Navigate to the asset level at which you want to create a forecast and select the domain tab Forecasts.
Select +New forecast.
Select a Financial model to be used to generate the forecast. See Create a financial model.
Give the forecast a Start date and a Name. You can also add a Description and Tags if desired.
Select Proceed to parameters.

Further actions

If you select Save and continue later, you can save the basic forecast data. The forecast will only become active when all the parameters of the selected financial model are filled in.

1) Enter data for project phases

Steps

Fill in the start and end month for each of the project phases you created in your financial model.

Note

Phases can be active simultaneously, for example if planning and construction overlap. The earliest start and latest end date define the project's lifetime.
If one phase of your project takes longer, you can adjust the dates without the need to adjust your financial model.
Example: If the construction phase needs to be extended, for example due to missing parts, documents, certifications, etc., all subsequent phases (operations, decommissioning, etc.) will be automatically moved with the model.

Select Next.

2) Enter data for parameters

Steps

Fill in the parameter values that apply for this asset, respectively that you forecast for this asset.

Note

Depending on the financial model you selected, there will be different parameters to fill in.

Select Next if there are several input groups with parameter details to be filled. These are the same input groups you created when adding parameters to the financial model.
Select Finish when you are done with all the parameter inputs. The forecast will be added to your list of forecasts. If this is your only forecast, it will automatically be set to active.

Further actions

Compare your financial forecasts for an asset with its actual cashflows (see Cashflow) and display the liquidity of this asset on your dashboard (see Consolidated financial performance widget).
Compare forecast and reality for entire cashflow categories and display the profit/loss on your dashboard (see Profit/loss overview widget).

View forecast

You can display an overview or a detailed view of your forecast.

Steps

Navigate to the asset level of your forecast and select the domain tab Forecasts.
For an overview: Select View details to display an overview of your forecast with a smaller chart and some key facts.
For a detailed view: Select Go to detailed view in the overview to expand the forecast information on the full screen. You will also see the parameters of the financial model and their specific values for that forecast. A Checkmark indicates that you already entered the value of a paramter. A Clock icon indicates that some value are missing in that input group.

Note

Currently, the forecast will only display periods rather than commas (for example 25.0 vs. 25,0).

Duplicate a forecast

Example

You can duplicate a forecast if you want to change one specific parameter, for example different feed-in remuneration or increased maintenance costs.

Steps

Navigate to the asset level of your forecast and select the domain tab Forecasts.
Select the Options menu of the forecast you want to duplicate > Duplicate.
The forecast is duplicated in the forecast overview.
In the new forecast, select the Options menu > Edit parameters and edit the necessary parameters.

Further actions

Change the active forecast if you want your duplicated forecast to be displayed and to be the basis for all cashflow comparisons.

Change the active forecast

The forecast currently displaying your data is the active forecast. It is also the basis for comparison with the actual cashflow. If you have more than one forecast on your asset level, you can change the active forecast.

Note

There can only be one active forecast on each asset level.

Steps

Navigate to the asset level of your forecast and select the domain tab Forecasts.
Select the Options menu of the forecast that should be active > Set as active forecast.
The newly active forecast will be taken as basis for the comparison with the actual cashflow.

Delete a forecast

Note

You can not delete the active forecast.

Steps

Navigate to the asset level of your forecast and select the domain tab Forecasts.
Select the Options menu of the forecast you want to delete > Delete.