Information Required
What a company needs to supply for Forecast Buddy
The current upload supports one Steering Wheel PDF layout (section 1 Net Sales $, Total Actual and Forecast rows, WTD and MTD columns). Reports from other companies or layouts need a source mapping set up first.
A custom mapping can be more flexible: with mapped unit rows it can derive company and group totals from the matched units. The current Steering Wheel reader, however, requires exactly one company-total page, and reported brand and region views use the totals printed on those pages — only adjusted views recalculate from matched units.
Required fields and source mapping
| Field | Definition | Source report | Column / row / location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company name / ID | The company the report belongs to, as it should appear on reports and saved settings. | ||
| Currency / net-sales definition | The currency used and what counts as net sales (taxes, discounts, comps, service charges), so dollar figures compare consistently. | ||
| Report date | Date the source report was issued. | ||
| Through date | Last business date included in the actuals. | ||
| Fiscal period / week | The reporting period and week the report belongs to. | ||
| Unit ID | Stable restaurant/location identifier. Leading zeros are kept. | ||
| Unit name | Restaurant/location name as printed. | ||
| Area / regional leader | The unit's region or regional director assignment (can be edited after import). | ||
| Brand / concept | Brand of each unit, or a code with a verified code-to-name list. | ||
| Actual net sales — week to date | Net sales from the first day of the fiscal week through the through date. | ||
| Forecast net sales — week to date | Forecast for the same days as the week-to-date actual. | ||
| Actual net sales — period/month to date | Net sales from the first day of the fiscal period/month through the through date. | ||
| Forecast net sales — period/month to date | Forecast for the same days as the period-to-date actual. | ||
| Total pages (optional) | Printed company, brand and region totals, used as reported totals and checks. Never added into unit totals. |
Definitions used in results
- Variance $
- Actual − forecast.
- Variance %
- Variance ÷ forecast; only when forecast is above zero.
- Unit accuracy rank
- Absolute variance %, lowest first. Units with a blank actual or forecast, or a zero forecast, are not ranked.
- Total dollar miss vs forecast (over or under, combined)
- Each store's variance in dollars with direction ignored, added together, for stores that have an actual and a positive forecast, measured against the ±3% (plus or minus 3%) accuracy target. The matching percent is that total ÷ total forecast dollars; lower is better. Downloads label it 'Dollars missed vs forecast'.
- Units
- Units with an actual and a positive forecast ÷ units in scope — the same units the total dollar miss uses.
- Blank vs zero
- A blank stays blank and is never treated as $0.
Reporting calendar
- Fiscal year start date and the period structure (e.g. 4-4-5, 4-5-4, 13 periods, calendar months).
- First day of the fiscal week (e.g. Monday).
- Which days week-to-date and period-to-date include, and whether the through date is the last complete day.
- Closed days, holidays or 53rd-week rules that change comparisons.
Optional / future inputs
- Labor Volume report (future) — Separate upload; not used by the current analysis.
- Original forecast / declining budget history (future) — Needed before any forecast can be called the original baseline. The current analysis uses the Steering Wheel forecast; the original baseline is not verified.