Use this article to understand how Yarken forecast dashboards help you compare forecasted spend with actual spend, investigate variance, and monitor forecast performance by team.
What Forecast helps you monitor
Forecast dashboards help you answer questions such as:
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How far is the current forecast from actual spend?
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Which teams are tracking closest to forecast?
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Which months show the largest deviation?
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Who changed a forecast value, and when?
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How is team spend distributed across providers and dimensions?
The Forecast includes the following main features:
Common forecast terms
|
Term |
Meaning |
|---|---|
|
Forecast |
The expected spend value entered or maintained for a team and month. |
|
Actual |
The spend value loaded into Yarken for the same period. |
|
Variance |
The difference between actual spend and forecasted spend. |
|
Deviation |
The percentage difference used to compare forecast performance across teams or months. |
|
Forecast accuracy |
A visual indication of how closely the forecast aligns with actual spend. |
|
RAG status |
A red, amber, or green indicator driven by admin-defined thresholds. |
|
YTD |
Year-to-date cumulative values within the selected financial year. |
|
Rolling 12 Months |
A moving 12-month window that combines recent past months, the current month, and upcoming months. |
|
Showback |
A spend view that helps explain which providers and dimensions make up a team’s total cost. |
How to use the Forecast dashboards
A common review flow is:
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Start with Forecasting Overview to check summary metrics and team ranking.
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Open Team Forecast to review a specific team in more detail.
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Use Accuracy Trend and Forecast Trend to understand direction and consistency over time.
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Use Forecast Activity Logs when you need an audit trail of forecast updates.
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Open Team Showback to explain what is driving a team’s spend composition.
Before you review forecast data
Keep these points in mind:
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Forecast dashboards depend on the spend and forecast data loaded into the selected period.
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The default year and month can be controlled by administrators.
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The data you see depends on your access to teams and related dimensions.
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Future months can show forecasted values before actual spend is loaded.
Next step
Open Forecasting Overview to review the forecast summary for the selected period.