Forecast for Budget Planning

With this release, we are introducing the Forecast feature, a powerful option for tracking the adjustments made to your marketing plan while retaining initial budgets. Managing mid-year budget updates poses challenges, especially when trying to maintain visibility into the initial budget amounts.

Why Use the Forecast Feature

Forecasting simplifies budget management by:

• Preserving the original budget while allowing modifications.

• Providing clear visibility into budget changes over time.

Enabling the Forecast Feature

You can activate Forecast when creating a new budget or for an existing one.

For an Existing Budget

1. Navigate to Settings > Budget to open the Budget page.
   

2. Hover over the budget and click Edit.
   
   

   1. You can also enable it from the Manage Budget menu. Go to the Manage Budget menu and select Edit Budget Details. The Edit Budget Details drawer opens.  

      
      

3. Enable the Forecast toggle.
   
   

4. Click Save & Close to apply changes.

For a New Budget:

1. Navigate to Settings > Budget to open the Budget page.

2. Click Create Budget. The Create budget drawer appears.
   

3. Enter the required budget details and enable the Forecast toggle.
   

4. Click Save & Close. Once enabled, the Forecast column appears on the Plan Budget page.
   

   Note:

   Initially, the Forecast value mirrors the Total Budget to save you time. For example, if the total budget is $50,000, the forecast will also be $50,000. However, this happens only the first time. Updating the forecast value later will change independently, while the Total Budget will remain unchanged.

Where Will You See the Forecast

The Forecast column appears in various areas within the application:

Plan Budget

Once enabled, the Forecast column for each month will be alongside the Total Budget column.

• You can input monthly forecast values right next to the Total Budget column for the monthly budget.

• Annual forecasts are automatically calculated and can't be edited manually.

• The Projected Budget field will be replaced by Forecast once it is enabled.
  
  
  If Forecasting is disabled, the system reverts to using the Projected Budget.

  Note:

  Disabling Forecast will permanently remove all previously entered forecast values.

  

Managing the Forecast Column on the Plan Budget Page

To hide the Forecast column temporarily, click Hide Forecast.

At this point, only the Total Budget column will be visible.

To show the Forecast column again, click Show Forecast.

Manage Page (Segments, Campaigns, and Expense Groups)

The Forecast column is next to the Total Budget column for campaigns, expense groups, and segments on the Manage page.

You can enter forecast amounts in the Forecast column. You can organize by Segment, Goal, and Campaign.

• Quarterly and Annual forecasts are automatically calculated and can't be changed manually for a monthly budget.

• Annual forecasts are automatically calculated and can't be changed manually for a quarterly budget.

Managing the Forecast Column on the Manage Page

The Forecast option appears in the f(x) Customize Budget Calculation menu once enabled and is selected by default.

• To hide the Forecast column, click f(x) Customize Budget Calculation, uncheck the Forecast option, and click Apply.

• To re-enable it, select the Forecast checkbox and then click Apply.

  Note:

  Hiding the Forecast column does not remove any values; it simply hides the column from view.

Other Forecast-Enabled Areas on the Manage Page

Drawer View (Campaigns and Expense Groups)

The Forecast field appears next to the Budget field.

• The Forecast currency matches the Budget currency and functionality, meaning it remains non-editable from this tab and can only be edited in the Allocations tab
  
  

• If the Budget field currency is updated, the Forecast Currency automatically updates to reflect the change.
  

Allocations Tab (Campaigns and Expense Groups)

The Forecast column appears beside the Total Budget column, so now you can compare the Forecast values against the total budget, actuals, and remaining amounts.

Export From Manage Page

The Forecast column is included in exports (Actions > Export) from the Manage Page for Segments, Goals, and Campaigns (monthly, quarterly, and yearly views).

Note:

Forecast values must always be positive.

Forecast Option on the Import / Export Option

Exporting Forecast Data

The Forecast column is included when exporting data from the Reports (Baseline Reports) and Budget tab.

Importing Forecast Data

• The Import functionality, including the Forecast column, is supported for Campaigns and Expense Groups.

• Budget imports are supported, allowing updates to budget values along with Forecast data via JSON file.

How Forecast Prevents Unintended Budget Changes

When an admin attempts to edit the Total Budget column (on both the Plan Budget and Manage Page) while Forecast is enabled, the system prompts them to modify the Forecast values instead. This safeguard helps maintain budget integrity by preventing unintended changes to the original budget while allowing flexible adjustments.

Since Forecast changes do not overwrite the initial budget, you can track and compare planned budgets with revised projections over time, ensuring accurate financial planning without disrupting baseline allocations.

When you edit the Total Budget column, a prompt appears, and you will see the following choices:

1. Edit: Allows editing the total budget.

2. Don't show this again: Enables direct editing of the Total Budget column without future prompts but should be used with caution as it bypasses the Forecast safeguard.

How to Disable Forecast

Though you can temporarily turn the forecast option on or off, you can also permanently deactivate it.

To turn off the Forecast option, do the following:

1. Navigate to Settings > Budget to open the Budget page.
   

2. Hover over the budget and click Edit.
   
   

   1. You can also enable it from the Manage Budget menu. Go to the Manage Budget menu and select Edit Budget Details. The Planned Budget pop-up appears.
      

      
      

3. Disable the Forecast toggle. The Disable Forecast pop-up appears.
   

4. Enter the word DISABLE in the given field and click Disable.

   Note

   Disabling Forecast will delete all forecast data. If you re-enable it, you’ll need to re-enter all data manually.

   
   
   You will be back on the edit budget details drawer, and you can also see the Forecast toggle being disabled.
   

5. Click Save & Close.
   

Limitations

• If Forecast is disabled, you can later enable it or perform an import, but any previously lost data cannot be recovered.

Expanded Forecast Visibility Across Views

You can see consistent and comprehensive forecast values across your marketing data, whether you work with Goals, Segment Groups, or Thematic Campaigns.

This helps to understand the full impact of marketing spend, with clear and accurate Forecast and Annual Forecast values, no matter how your data is structured.

The following are the areas where the Forecast visibility is noticeably seen:

Manage Page

Full Forecast Roll-Ups Across All Views

The Forecast values are fully aggregated by Month, Quarter, and Year across all major objects—Goals, Segment Groups, and Thematic Campaigns —and across all "Organize By" views (Segment, Goal, Campaign)

Note:

Thematic Campaigns display Forecast values inherited from their direct children only.

This provides complete visibility into forecasted spend across the full marketing plan hierarchy, while maintaining the intended behavior of object types like Thematic Campaigns.

Accurate Forecast Summation in Totals and Grand Total Rows

Now that the Forecast column is aggregated, monthly forecast values are automatically summed up ensuring accurate per-month forecast.

In the Totals column, these monthly forecast values are fully aggregated —depending on the view—providing a single, consolidated forecast.

At the bottom of the table, the Grand Total row reflects the cumulative sum of all forecasted values across the entire visible plan.

The Forecast column shows the summation of its child objects, and in the Totals section, the Forecast column shows the summation of all monthly values

Forecast for "Campaigns & Expense Groups" and "Unallocated" Rows

When you select Campaigns & Expense Groups and Unallocated rows from the Customize Budget Calculation option and click Apply, as shown below:

The Forecast column displays roll-up values for these rows.

Example:

• If Segment S1 has a Forecast of 500 and S2 has 300, their parent Segment Group will now show 800
  

• For S1, the value is the summation of all its child objects
  

  
  

• If S1’s Campaigns & Expense Groups row is 200 and S2’s is 150, the top-level Campaigns & Expense Groups row now shows 350.
  
  

• The Unallocated is calculated as:
  Segment Group Forecast (800) − Campaigns & Expense Groups Forecast (350) = Unallocated (450)

Goal Drawer Forecast Roll-Up

The Goal drawer view on the Manage Page reflects the roll-up Forecast values of all campaigns and expense groups associated with that goal.

For example, if goal g1 has campaigns totaling a Forecast of 1,700.00 in January, the same aggregated value is now visible directly within the Goal drawer.

Users get a clear and consistent roll-up at the goal level—right inside the drawer—ensuring transparency and alignment across both table and detail views.

Thematic Campaign Summation

Forecast values are rolled up and displayed at the Thematic Campaign level, based on the summation of their immediate child campaigns or expense groups. This provides clearer visibility into grouped marketing activities and enables easier tracking of Forecast totals at a higher level.

Note:

Forecast summation includes only direct children of the Thematic Campaign. Sub-children are not included in the calculation.

In this example, the Thematic Campaign shows a Forecast value of 8,960.00, which is the sum of the Forecasts from its immediate child campaigns (e.g., t cc1, t cc2, t cc3, t cc4, etc.).

Notice that campaign t cc1 includes an expense group “fg” with a Forecast of 50.00. However, this 50.00 is not included in the Thematic Campaign’s total.

This confirms that while direct child campaigns are included in the Forecast summation, and sub-child objects are excluded from the roll-up at the Thematic level.

Forecast in Chart View

Forecast data is now extended to the Chart view on the Manage Page for Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly views across all Organize By options — Segment, Goal, and Campaign, providing a visual comparison alongside Actual Spend and Available Budget. Previously, Forecast values were only available in the Table view.

Note: The forecast must be enabled and should be a part of the Available Budget calculation.

You can see the following visual indicators:

• Forecast shown in purple

• Actual Spend shown in blue

• Available Budget indicated by a dotted line

• Over Budget displayed as red text above each column (monthly view only)

For example, in August, a 3K Forecast is shown along with 500 in available budget, providing a visual summary of plan projections.

This improvement enables faster insights into projected marketing spend without switching views.

Budget Page

Segment Group Forecast Rollup

The Segment Groups now display the forecast values from child segments and display the total in their parent segment group.

The Forecast column on the Budget Page now supports roll-up values for Segment Groups. In the example below, Group displays a Forecast of 800.00 for January, which is the sum of its child segments S1 (300.00) and S2 (500.00).