What's covered in this guide?:
Enable Forecasted Sales
By default, forecasting is handled at Settings > Integrations > Demand Forecasting, where you pick how Workforce should forecast your sales:
Average of past dates - averages past dates to project future ones. Defaults to the last 3 weeks, but you can pick any date range you like.
Use Workforce Forecasting - uses Workforce's own forecasting tool to generate predictions from your actual sales data. Click Retrain to refresh the model against your latest data.
Use your own forecasts - import your forecasts from a CSV, over SFTP, or via the API. Pick this if you produce forecasts yourself.
You can switch strategy at any time by clicking Use This Strategy on any option.
Use Daily Sales Forecasts
If you'd rather set sales forecasts manually on a per-day basis instead, go to Settings > General Settings > Advanced > Show Advanced Settings and tick Use Daily Sales Forecasts.
This unlocks the Forecasted Sales Planner and its Configure screen (Rota > Rota Planning > Sales Forecasts), covered below and while it's on, the Demand Forecasting link is hidden from the Integrations sidebar, since it no longer applies.
Forecasted Sales Explained
Forecasted Sales allows you to set daily or hourly sales forecasts for each location or team, then compare those forecasts against scheduled labour costs and actual sales.
Forecasts can be entered manually or imported via CSV, and they support distinguishing between actual and predicted data, important for accurate variance reporting.
Required Permissions
Permission type | Access level |
Admin | Full access to view and edit all forecasted sales. |
Manager | Can view/edit forecasts for locations they manage; other locations are hidden. |
Employee | No access to forecasts. |
For more details, see the Assign Permissions to Staff and Customise Permission Levels guides.
Sales Configuration Overview
Go to Settings > Integrations > Sales to see the Sales Configuration Overview, an organisation-wide status dashboard.
It lists every location (expand a row to see its teams) and shows, at a glance, whether Budget, Actual Sales, and Forecast Sales are configured for each, a link if a source is already set up, or a + Set up button if it isn't.
Note: A banner at the top reminds you what level each is currently grouped at, e.g. Budgets for this organisation are set at the team level and Forecasts for this organisation are set at the location level. This page doesn't let you change those levels or enter any figures itself, it only reports status and links you into the right tool.
Clicking + Set up in the Forecast Sales column takes you either into the Forecasted Sales Planner (if Use Daily Sales Forecasts is on) or into Demand Forecasting / Manage Data Streams (if it's off).
Configure Grouping Settings
Budgets and Forecasts each have their own independent grouping setting, which entity type (Location, Team Group, or Team) they're assigned to.
Budget Grouping
Budget Grouping:
Go to Rotas > Rota Planning > Budgets > Settings. Under Budget Grouping, select Location, Team Group, or Team, then click Update. Learn more about managing budgets.
Forecast Grouping
Forecast Grouping:
Go to Rotas > Rota Planning > Sales Forecasts, select Configure in the side menu, choose Location, Team Group, or Team, then click Update Configuration.
Important: This tab only appears once Use Daily Sales Forecasts is enabled. To enable Use Daily Sales Forecasts, refer to Use Daily Sales Forecasts.
Note: Changing either setting only affects new entries going forward, it doesn't move already-configured data to the new grouping.
Configure Forecasts in the Planner
To configure forecasts:
Go to Rotas > Rota Planning > Sales Forecasts and stay on the Planner tab (this is where you actually enter figures, you'll land here directly if you clicked through from the Sales Configuration Overview).
Under Select Locations, choose one or more locations, pick a Week start date, and click View.
For each location, either:
Click Bulk Fill to apply one value across a range of dates, or
Click Edit Forecasts for this Location to enter figures day-by-day (or per hour, for more granular planning).
Select Save Changes to keep your edits, or Revert Current Changes to discard them.
Repeat for each location and date range.
Import Forecasts via CSV
To import forecasts via CSV:
Click Import Forecasts in the top-right of the Forecasted Sales Planner.
Download the Forecasted Sales CSV template, which matches the columns for date, time, data stream name, data point (sales value), and data type.
Complete the template with your forecast data. To distinguish forecasts from actual sales, label the Data Type as "predicted sales" and use the Add My Predicted Data option when importing.
Re-upload the CSV on the Import CSV tab and click Import CSV.
Workforce will validate the import and create or update a data stream in Settings > Integrations > Manage Data Streams with your forecast.
You can then link the data stream to the appropriate locations and teams, ensuring that forecasts appear in rosters and reports. To learn more about configuring data streams with locations and teams, see the detailed guide.
Manage Rota Metric Settings
Navigate to Go to Rotas > Rota Planning > Budgets > Settings.
Options include which metrics show as progress bars in rosters:
Forecasted Sales vs Actual Sales
Forecasted Sales per Labour Hour vs Budgeted Sales per Labour Hour
Wage % of Revenue vs Forecasted Sales (for labour cost efficiency)
Employee Costs vs Forecasted Sales
Forecast statistics only display if you have configured forecasts for that metric. After selecting metrics, click Update Settings to save.
View Forecast Statistics in Rotas
With forecasts enabled and configured, managers and admins can view progress against forecasts directly in rosters. Metrics with forecast data display a coloured progress bar for each day.
For sales forecasts and sales-per-labour-hour forecasts:
Red bar: actual sales are less than 80% of the forecast
Orange bar: actual sales are between 80% and 100% of the forecast
Green bar: actual sales exceed the forecast
Hover over a bar for detailed information or view weekly summaries on the left side of the roster. Progress bars update as schedules and actual sales change.
Report on Forecasted Sales
Forecasted sales data flows into Workforce's reporting tools. When enabled, forecast columns appear in Costs By Location & Team, Costs By Date, and Costs By Team Group reports. Reports include:
Forecasted Sales
Actual vs Forecast Sales Difference and the corresponding percentage variance
Forecasted Sales per Labour Hour and variance against timesheet and schedule data
Wage % of Revenue vs Forecasted Sales to analyse labour cost efficiency
These reports allow you to assess how well labour resources convert into revenue and identify variances between forecasted and actual sales.