Forecast: revenue and incoming payments for the coming months
After reading this you'll know how the Forecast report shows how much revenue over the next months is open, committed, invoiced and paid, which incoming payments to expect in which month, and how the figures are calculated.
The Forecast report looks ahead: how many quotes are still waiting for a decision, what has already been committed, what has been invoiced and how much of it is paid? And which incoming payments can you expect in which month? All other reports look back, the Forecast looks at the coming months.
Where to find the Forecast
Open Reports → Forecast, either from the sidebar under Reports or via the Forecast card on the reports overview.
At the top right you choose the period: 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. It always starts with the current month, so 3 months means this month and the next two.
Two things apply to the whole report:
- All amounts are net. VAT is not included, no matter whether you maintain your prices gross or net.
- The month is the date of the event, not the date of the quote or invoice. A quote for a wedding in June shows up in June, even if you sent it in January. Documents without an event appear in the month of their service period, otherwise in the month of their issue date.
The four stages
The four cards at the top show the totals for the selected period, the bar chart below shows the same four stages per month:
| Stage | What counts here |
|---|---|
| Open quotes | Sent quotes the customer has not decided on yet, including those with a change request |
| Accepted / confirmed | Accepted quotes, as far as no invoice has been issued for them yet. A sent quote also counts here if the event is already in a confirmed status |
| Invoiced, unpaid | Issued invoices (including deposit and interim invoices) that are not fully paid yet |
| Paid | The part of these invoices that has already been paid |
Not counted are draft quotes, rejected and superseded quotes (old versions), draft invoices and cancelled events. An expired quote only counts if the event is already confirmed, and then under Accepted / confirmed. That way events confirmed by phone, whose quote was never marked as accepted, are not missing.
Why nothing is counted twice
A quote often turns into a deposit invoice and later a final invoice. So that the same revenue does not show up twice:
- Per event, exactly one quote counts: the newest accepted one, otherwise the newest open one.
- As soon as a final invoice is issued, it replaces the quote entirely, even if it is lower or higher. Before that, only the part of the quote not yet invoiced through deposit or interim invoices counts.
- An invoice without an event that was created from a quote is linked to that quote through the line items it took over.
An example: you have a quote of €10,000 net, the customer accepted it and paid the deposit invoice of €3,000. Then €3,000 appear under Paid and €7,000 under Accepted / confirmed. Once you issue the final invoice, the rest moves to Invoiced, unpaid and, once it is paid, to Paid.
Cancellations and credit notes: a cancelled invoice does not count at all, and neither does its cancellation credit note. A partial credit note reduces the invoice it refers to. A credit note that refers to no invoice first reduces the open amount of the event, then the paid amount.
Partial payments: payments come in gross. Univents spreads the paid share proportionally over the net amount. For an invoice of €1,000 net (€1,190 gross) with €595 paid, €500 appear under Paid and €500 under Invoiced, unpaid.
Expected incoming payments
The second chart shows when money should come in:
- Overdue (first bar): the open remainder of all invoices whose due date has passed.
- Invoices due: the open remainder of issued invoices, sorted by their due date.
- Expected (not invoiced yet): accepted or confirmed amounts without an invoice yet, sorted by the month of the event.
The due date is the payment term of the invoice. If an invoice has no payment term, its issue date applies. Invoices that only fall due after the selected period are noted below the chart. Open invoices of cancelled events (a cancellation fee, for example) still count here, because the money is still outstanding.
You chase overdue invoices in Payment reminders under Finance Documents.
By event and by item
Below the charts you find two tables for the selected period:
By event shows date, customer, stage and amount per event. The stage is the earliest one that is still open, i.e. what comes next: if the deposit is paid but the rest has not been invoiced yet, it says Accepted / confirmed. If the amount is spread over several stages, the split is shown in small print under the amount. Clicking the name opens the event. Documents without an event are marked as such.
By item shows the net revenue per item. The basis is the leading document of each event: the final invoice, otherwise the counted quote. Package components, optional and non-charged line items do not count, and a discount on the whole document is spread proportionally over the items.
You sort both tables via the column headers. They first show 25 rows, Show all expands the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the Forecast differ from the financial breakdown? The financial breakdown looks back and sorts documents by document date by default. The Forecast sorts by the date of the event, counts only one quote per event and only the part of it that has not been invoiced yet.
Why is my quote listed under “Open quotes” although the event is fixed? The quote is not marked as accepted and the event is still in a status such as “In planning”. Mark the quote as accepted or move the event to a confirmed status, and the amount moves to Accepted / confirmed.
Why don’t I see gross amounts? The Forecast calculates net throughout so that revenue with different VAT rates stays comparable. For cash planning, add the VAT, because your customers pay gross.
Can I ask for the Forecast in the AI chat? Yes. Ask for example “Which incoming payments do I expect in December?” or “How many quotes are still open for the next three months?”. The assistant reads the same figures as this report.