Rolling 6-month revenue forecast, rebuilt monthly.

Forecast pulls invoicing data from accounting software via API, cleans it for seasonality, and produces a 6-month rolling revenue forecast by service line. The pipeline runs on the 1st of each month, board meetings no longer open with a 30-minute argument over which Excel is correct.

Run Forecast
AuthorMariete
AgentForecast
RuntimeRuns monthly
IndustryFinance
  1. 1

    Describe the task

    Forecast can pull invoicing straight from your accounting system, clean it for seasonality, and produce a 6-month rolling revenue forecast by service line, automatically, on the 1st of every month. Instead of three analysts reconciling three spreadsheets the week before the board meeting, the CFO opens one forecast that rebuilt itself overnight from the same source of truth everyone agrees on.

    The clearer the segmentation, the more useful the board view. Tell Forecast which accounting connector to pull from, how to split revenue by service line, and what horizon to roll forward, and it reproduces that structure every month without a manual touch.

    Pull invoicing from QuickBooks and build a 6-month rolling revenue forecast. - Split revenue by service line (Advisory, Managed, Projects, Support) - Clean the history for seasonality before forecasting - Roll the horizon forward one month on the 1st and drop the month that just closed - Show forecast versus actual for the trailing 3 months so we can see accuracy End with a one-page board summary: total forecast revenue, month-over-month change, and which service line is driving it.

  2. 2

    Give Forecast context

    In a Forecast workspace, connect your accounting API as the source node so invoicing flows in without a manual export. Forecast maps invoices to service lines, strips seasonality, and forecasts each line separately, then sums them for the headline number the board actually asks about.

    Make sure your service-line mapping is unambiguous, every invoice should resolve to exactly one line. Invoices that fall through the mapping land in an "unclassified" bucket that quietly understates the forecast.

    Required context
    An accounting connector (QuickBooks, Xero, or similar) with read access to invoicing
    A service-line mapping, so each invoice resolves to exactly one revenue line
    Optional context
    A signed-pipeline feed, so booked-but-uninvoiced work can be layered onto the forecast
    A prior board deck template, so the summary comes out in your house format
    A note on one-off items to exclude, so a large non-recurring invoice doesn’t distort the trend
    QuickBooks (connector)service-line-map.csvboard-template.pptx (optional)
  3. 3

    What Forecast creates

    Forecast pulls the latest invoicing, de-seasonalises each service line, and rolls the horizon forward. You get a 6-month forecast by line, a trailing accuracy check against actuals, and a one-page summary ready to drop into the board pack.

    From Forecast: Built a 6-month rolling forecast from QuickBooks, split across 4 service lines, refreshed on the 1st.

    £4.2M6-month forecast revenue
    +3.1%Month-over-month change
    2.4%Trailing forecast error (MAPE)
    6-month forecast by service line4 lines
    Service lineNext month6-mo totalTrend
    Managed£412K£2.51MUp, driven by two new retainers
    Advisory£188K£1.02MFlat, seasonal dip in month 4
    Projects£96K£0.55MLumpy, tied to signed pipeline
    Trailing accuracy (last 3 months)3 months
    MonthForecastActualError
    March£672K£681K+1.3%
    April£694K£679K−2.2%

    "£38K of invoices didn’t map to a service line and sit in unclassified. Want me to hold them out of the board number, or assign them by matching the client to their usual line?"

  4. 4

    Follow-up prompts

    Layer signed pipeline onto the forecast

    With a pipeline feed connected, Forecast can add booked-but-uninvoiced work to the base forecast, so the board sees committed revenue separately from the modelled trend.

    Add signed-but-uninvoiced projects from pipeline.csv to the Projects line as a separate committed layer, and show me the forecast with and without it.

    Generate the board one-pager

    Forecast can render the summary directly into your board template, headline number, month-over-month, and the driving service line, so it’s ready to drop into the pack without reformatting.

    Produce the board one-pager using board-template.pptx: total 6-month forecast, MoM change, the driving line, and the trailing accuracy chart.

    Put it on the monthly cadence

    Once the mapping and horizon are right, save the pipeline as a Forecast saved runbook and schedule it to rebuild on the 1st, so the board number is waiting before anyone asks.

    Save this as a runbook called "monthly-revenue-forecast", schedule it for the 1st of each month at 6am, and email the board one-pager to me when it finishes.

  5. 5

    Tips and troubleshooting

    Fix the mapping before you trust the total

    Unclassified invoices silently understate the forecast. Give Forecast a mapping where every invoice resolves to exactly one service line, and ask it to surface the unclassified bucket rather than dropping it.

    Exclude the one-offs that distort the trend

    A single large non-recurring invoice can bend the seasonal fit for months. Tell Forecast which items are one-offs so they’re reported separately instead of trended forward.

    Watch the trailing error, not just the forecast

    The accuracy check against the last three months is your early warning that the model is drifting. If MAPE climbs, it usually means the service mix changed, worth a re-fit rather than a manual override.

  6. Ready to try it yourself?

    Connect your accounting system to Forecast and let it rebuild the 6-month revenue forecast every month, so the board meeting opens with a number, not an argument.

    Run Forecast