HS: How to Adjust Your Forecast

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Overview

Forecast adjustments allow managers to modify projected sales to account for circumstances that may affect business activity, such as holidays, promotions, special events, or unexpected changes in demand.

HotSchedules supports two types of forecast adjustments:

• Percent Adjustments: Increase or decrease forecasted sales by a specified percentage.

• Dollar Adjustments: Increase or decrease forecasted sales by a specified dollar amount.

Adjustments can be created for specific days, times, and Revenue Centers, allowing managers to refine forecasts based on anticipated business needs.

Access Forecast Adjustments

1. Navigate to Forecasting > Forecasting and Labor.

2. Locate the week you want to adjust.

3. Under Forecast Status, select Create Sales Forecast or the existing generated forecast.

4. If creating a new forecast, select the historical weeks to include and click Apply Weeks.

5. On the Forecast Projections page, locate Forecast Adjustments in the left panel.

6. Select the + icon to open the adjustment options.

Create a Forecast Adjustment

The Apply/Edit window contains two tabs: Percent Adjustments and Dollar Adjustments.

1. Select the adjustment type you want to create.

2. Select Create Percent Adjustment or Create Dollar Adjustment.

3. Complete the applicable fields:

   • Name: Enter a descriptive name that identifies the purpose of the adjustment.
   • Weekdays: Select the days when the adjustment should apply. Days highlighted in blue are selected.
   • Start Time and End Time: Specify the time period when the adjustment should apply. The start and end times cannot be the same.
   • Factor: Enter the percentage or dollar amount to adjust the forecast.
   • Revenue Center: Select whether the adjustment applies to all Revenue Centers or a specific Revenue Center. If no Revenue Centers are configured in the POS, only All is available.

4. For Percent Adjustments, select Add another adjustment if you need to apply additional factors to different days or times.

5. Select Save to create the adjustment.

Apply a Forecast Adjustment

After creating an adjustment, you must apply it to the forecast.

1. In the Apply/Edit window, locate the adjustment you want to use.

2. Select the checkbox next to the adjustment name.

3. Select Apply Adjustment.

You can also apply a previously saved adjustment by selecting it from the Apply/Edit window.

Note: Creating or saving an adjustment does not automatically apply it to the forecast. You must select the adjustment and choose Apply Adjustment.

Important Information About Dollar Adjustments

When using Labor Optimization (formerly Activity Based Forecasting), Dollar Adjustments assigned to Revenue Center – All do not affect labor demand.

Negative Dollar Adjustments may also produce unexpected forecast results. For additional information, refer to the existing Negative Forecasting Dollar Adjustments article.