💡Find the Sheet integration section here.
Creating a new forecast
Navigate to Setup > Forecast.
Use the Add forecast button top right to create a new forecast.
Submit the Name of the forecast.
Creating a scenario within a forecast
Next, create a scenario by selecting the "+"-icon on the right.
Configure the scenario to your liking:
Provide a Scenario name.
Select the desired Structure from the dropdown menu.
Example:
Assign “Structure A” to a forecast for Division A.
Use “Structure B” for another division or custom group
Select the Method: Manual, Google Sheet or Excel.
Select the desired Detail scenario: Consolidated or Per entity
Select the desired Detail P&L and Balance Sheet. This will be the granularity of your scenario.
Next, set a Default time frame to configure the calendar.
Do not forget to press Save.
Important Notes: 🚨
Structure updates impact scenarios: Changes or deletions made in Setup > Structure will directly affect associated scenarios.
Reporting Integration: To view scenarios tied to specific structures, ensure the correct structure is selected in the filter in Reporting.
Update or delete an existing forecast or scenario
Use the pencil and garbage bin icon on the right to update the name or to delete an existing forecast or scenario.
Method 1: Manually populating a scenario
Select the Entity you want to populate
Consolidated scenarios:
You are populating a group-level scenario that covers the entire organization (this aligns with “All entities” selected in the Reporting filter).
By entity scenarios:
Use the dropdown in the top-right corner to select the entity for the forecast.
Choose an individual entity to populate forecasts specific to that entity
The “Consolidated” option will show the sum (group-level scenario)
Populate forecast values:
Enter values manually by selecting a cell and typing.
Copy data row-by-row from a spreadsheet using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.
Use whole numbers only (negative values—e.g. for costs—are indicated by a minus sign).
💡 You can populate both the Profit & Loss statement and the Balance sheet by selecting the tabs on the top left. The Cash flow statement forecast will automatically be derived from both those statements and the references configured in Setup > Mapping for the CFS.
Notes
Forecast Hierarchy: Forecast mirror the structure of your P&L and Balance Sheet in Setup > Structure.
Dynamic Reporting: In Reporting, aggregated forecasts automatically display when multiple entities are selected in the entity filter.
Selecting another timeframe
Use the calendar icon top right to limit the display to certain months, quarters, or years. Select the timeframe you would like to see, by first clicking on the starting month and next the ending month.
Importing and Exporting
Use the Import and Export button top right to download the sheet to your computer, make changes, and upload the sheet again. Either do a full upload or upload the periods you want to change. Periods that are not in the upload file will retain their previous values.
Method 2: Connecting a Google Sheet
Besides the options to manually populate the scenarios or import them through an Excel upload, you can also decide to connect a Google sheet. This will allow you to maintain all values in a sheet and publish them to Finstack. You can use the full flexibility of a sheet, for example by using multiple tabs for calculations and collaborating with your team by sharing the sheet.
Step 1: Preparing the sheet
This feature will synchronise actuals to your sheet and sync back the forecast model back to Finstack without the need of manual copy pasting. The forecast model is powered by a tab (eg. Calculations) that you reference in this process. Finstack can provide templates to get you started!
Make sure you have a Google sheet available. You can create a new sheet by the shortcut "sheets.new" in your browser or make a copy of our template here.
Step 2: Connecting the sheet
In Setup > Forecast, create a scenario within a Forecast using the "+"-icon
Configure the forecast
Select a Scenario name
Select a Structure
Select Method: Google Sheet
Select a Detail scenario: Consolidated or By entity
In your sheet:
Copy the service account email from Finstack and add it to your sheet (Share top right) as Editor. Select Done.
Copy the URL of the sheet
Back in Finstack:
Paste the copied Spreadsheet URL
Select whether you want to include IC Eliminations and Adjustments.
Press Save
The sheet will be linked. This will create two new tabs in the sheet: [Finstack] Actuals and [Finstack] Forecasts.
Step 3: Updating your values
Open the scenario that has the Method: Google Sheet.
Next, select Open (top right). This way you can see the sheet in Finstack.
Navigate to the [Finstack] Actuals tab.
This tab will be populated by Finstack. Do not adjust values here. You can use the button Publish to sheet top right to receive most recent actuals. Reference this tab in your Calculations tab to incorporate the achieved results into your forecast model.
Navigate to the [Finstack] Forecast tab.
These values will be written back to Finstack. You can trigger that with the button Publish to Finstack top right. The exercise here is to reference the output of your Calculations tab per PL or BS line item.
When you have made changes to your Forecast structure in Finstack, you can always Reset sheet top right. This will recreate the tabs. Note that old data will be lost in this process.
🚨Make sure to sync changes on either side (Finstack or sheet) back to the other side, otherwise values will get out of sync.
🧪 We are actively developing this feature. Expect more functionality coming up soon! Support is available for help via the chat interface if needed.
💡A nice addition is to link Gslides to your Gsheet. This way you can build management report slides that automatically update with the latest values.