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Purpose:
Batch paste historical data from any spreadsheet source (google sheets / excel) directly into Forecastr
Keep custom sheets of data quickly accessible within Forecastr
Link data within the stored sheets to Forecastr line items to view Forecast vs actuals
Setup:
Method 1: Click your initials in the upper-right corner >>> Click Integrations >>> Click "Add Data Source"
Method 2: Click "Integrations" along the right-side of the screen >>> Click "Add Data Source"
How to Use:
Click "Create Sheet" and give the spreadsheet a name and start date.
Although the number of ROWS will adjust based on the height of the cells you want to copy in, the number of COLUMNS is determined exclusively by the start date you assign.
The start date of the sheet can be freely adjusted using the settings icon wheel located next to the name of the spreadsheet from the dropdown
Copy the columns and rows from your spreadsheet into the Customer Data Storage visible rows.
When you paste information into the customer data storage sheet it will be displayed as a number without formatting directly within the table but the format of the data will default to the format of any item it is linked to within Forecastr.
If you store a "churn rate" of 7% within the data storage table it will display as "7". However, when you link the line item to the churn rate metric within Forecastr, if the churn rate metric is set as a "percentage", you will see the value as "7%" within the live model.
Click directly into any cell within the table and directly enter a new value
Click "Save Changes" to update any altered information within the spreadsheet throughout the rest of the live model.
The model will notify you to clear or rename any duplicate or empty rows of information.
Right-click any row you want to map/match to a line item in Forecastr to and click "map". Then navigate the menu to select the specific metric the item should link to.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I use data storage to store spreadsheet information and use accounting integrations simultaneously?
YES! in fact, we'd recommend using this in combination with your accounting integration to eliminate the need for "spreadsheets" storing your data outside of the platform.
You're able to integrate with your accounting software , QB Online or Xero, to bring the accounting data into your financial model and then organize a customer data storage "sheet" to house your non-accounting data (such as total customer counts, new sales in the month, etc.)
OR, you're able to create multiple sheets using only customer data storage to address accounting information not from QB Online or Xero as well as non-accounting data.
Can you highlight rows in bulk, add rows between two existing rows, or delete all rows at once?
Yes, very similar to functionality in other spreadsheets you can highlight content across multiple cells by clicking and dragging your cursor, or highlight multiple rows at once and then right click to see the option to delete multiple rows at once.
How data needs to be formatted to use this feature
Numbers of any format can be pasted into the spreadsheet from Excel/Google Sheets.
Note that the formatting inside of the Forecastr Sheet is an integer/decimal. This may look a little odd with currency-formatted data from accounting but having multiple formats of data in the Sheet is not currently possible.
Percentages paste into the Sheet by effectively ignoring the “%” character. This means that “40%” in Excel/Google Sheets pastes into Forecastr as “40”. It’s a bit odd, but this is the best option for being able to properly map a % into the model (”40” mapped to a churn rate becomes “40%”). Big takeaway: do not convert percentages to a decimal before pasting it into Forecastr.
Dates are not something that Users would typically want to paste into a Customer Data Storage Sheet. If you paste a date in the format of “02/22/24” or something similar, the Sheet will ignore the characters and just show “022224” in the Cell.
Multiple Rows and Columns of data can be pasted into the model.
Note that you can only paste a number of Columns up to the number of available dates. Any additional data beyond this limit will not be saved into the model.
You do not have to have the same number of Rows in your Forecastr Data Storage Sheet as the number of Rows that you’re pasting in. In the example below we have one blank Row in Forecastr which then becomes three rows when we paste in the highlighted data.
Make sure to always save your changes. This works differently (currently) than any other section of Forecastr, but if you leave the page or map something without first saving your changes they will be lost.
There are built-in popups to help remind you to save before navigating away from the page.