Free Sales Forecasting Cheat Sheet

What's the difference between a weighted forecast and a bottom-up forecast, and which should I start with?

A weighted forecast multiplies each deal's amount by a stage probability — low effort, but only as accurate as your stage definitions and close rates. A bottom-up forecast has reps and managers submit explicit forecast calls (Pipeline, Best Case, Commit) that roll up the org, which gives you higher accuracy when your process and data hygiene are solid. Start with weighted to get something running, then layer in bottom-up once your stages are clean and your team has a submission cadence.

Do I need a dedicated forecasting tool, or can I run this process in Salesforce and spreadsheets?

You can start in Salesforce and spreadsheets, but both have real gaps — Salesforce doesn't natively support tracked forecast adjustments or deal-by-deal snapshots, and spreadsheets don't sync back to your CRM. The cheat sheet flags these as specific pitfalls, not minor inconveniences. If you're running a bottom-up process with manager adjustments and weekly snapshots, a purpose-built tool like Weflow will save you a significant amount of manual work and give you the audit trail you need.

Should I run one combined forecast or separate forecasts for new logos, expansions, and renewals?

Run them separately. New logos, expansions, and renewals have different close dynamics, different stakeholders, and different win rate benchmarks — collapsing them into one number hides what's actually happening in your pipeline. Aggregate to a single number at the end for reporting, but build the process so each motion is tracked and reviewed independently.

What data do I need to have in order before this forecasting process will actually work?

At minimum, you need clean stage definitions with clear exit criteria, accurate close dates, and deal amounts that reps are actually maintaining. Without those three things, your weighted forecast will be wrong and your bottom-up calls will be guesswork. The cheat sheet is direct about this: poor pipeline hygiene is the single most common reason forecasts fail, regardless of which method you use.

How do I know if my forecast accuracy is actually improving over time?

Track forecast accuracy by rep and manager — compare what each person called at the start of the period against what actually closed. If you're not snapshotting your pipeline and forecast calls weekly, you have no baseline to measure against. The cheat sheet recommends snapshotting in Salesforce, a forecasting tool, or a database like BigQuery so you can see how calls changed, who adjusted them, and whether those adjustments were directionally correct.

How often should I run the full forecast review cycle, and does that change based on deal size?

Yes — the right cadence is tied to your sales cycle length. SMB and short-cycle teams typically run daily to weekly; mid-market runs weekly; enterprise runs weekly to bi-weekly. The operating cadence in the cheat sheet maps it out specifically: reps submit calls on Tuesday, managers inspect and adjust Wednesday, and the CRO reviews with RevOps on Thursday — that rhythm only works if you match the frequency to how fast your pipeline actually moves.