A forecast workbook has all the same elements as a budget workbook, along with some differences. The key difference is that a forecast workbook has three total columns, made up of data from the published budget workbook, actuals stream and/ore forecast. Another difference is the introduction of the flag pole, which you use to toggle between the different data views.
Total Budget column - Click this column to view the budget values (the flagpole does not display). You can snap to budget (see below) to make the Total budget value equal to the Actual+Forecast value. The cells are not editable, the information is for reference purposes only.
Actual+Budget column - Click this column to view the actual and/or budget values, depending on the position of the flagpole. The actual values display to the left of the flagpole and the budget values display to the right of the flagpole. The cells are not editable, the information is for reference purposes only.
Actual + Forecast column - Click this column to view the actual and/or forecast values, depending on the position of the flagpole. The actual values display to the left of the flagpole and the forecast values displays to the right of the flagpole. The default forecast values are the same as those in the Actual+Budget column but the cells are editable, so you can edit the values and formulas as required.
Flag pole - Identify the latest current actual, as defined in the forecast setup window (default position of the flag pole). Drag the flag pole to view the different data (from actual to forecast/budget). See images above.
Colored line - Identify the actual portion of the forecast.
The color of the column headers, flag pole and line changes, depending on the position of the flag pole and the total column that is selected, as illustrated in the images below. So you can easily determine if a column displays actual or forecast values.
Initially the cells in the forecast are black color to signify that they have not yet been edited but when you enter a forecast values, the cells change to blue.
The other change to note is that for working some and comparison lines we now show empty budget for actual plus budget totals. As there is no data for these cells.