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291 lines
7.8 KiB
291 lines
7.8 KiB
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<chapter id="details.forecast">
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<chapterinfo>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>
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<surname>Colin Wright <cdwright@gwi.net></surname>
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</author>
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</authorgroup>
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<date>2009-08-03</date>
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<releaseinfo>1.0</releaseinfo>
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</chapterinfo>
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<title id="details.forecast.title">Forecast</title>
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<sect1 id="details.forecast.define">
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<title>What is a Forecast?</title>
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<para>
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In &kappname;, a Forecast is a prediction of the balances of Accounts during a
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specified future period of time.</para>
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<para>
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Forecasts can be predicted using one of two methods.
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Scheduled and Future Transactions</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>&kappname; uses a combination of future transactions already entered
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into the ledgers and the entries in the Schedule.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>History-based</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>&kappname; uses values from past transactions in the ledgers to
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predict future transactions.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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<para>
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The forecast method and forecast period can be set in the &kappname; Settings,
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in the Forecast pane.
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</para>
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<para>
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&kappname; Forecast provides a summary, showing the predicted balances at
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account cycle dates and the expected difference between the starting and
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ending balances. The length of the account cycle can be set by the user. The
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summary also displays messages about significant predicted changes to the
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accounts during the forecast period.
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</para>
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<para>
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As well as the summary, &kappname; Forecast also allows you to view day-by-day
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balances and view the minimum and maximum balances for each forecast account
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cycle.
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</para>
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<para>
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By default the Forecast is created for 90-days, with 30-day account cycles
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using Scheduled and Future Transactions.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="details.forecast.view" >
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<title>Viewing Forecasts</title>
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<para>
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You can view a Forecast by clicking the appropriate icon in the navigation
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pane at the left hand side of your &kappname; window.
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</para>
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<para>
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The Forecast window is split into three tabs
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</para>
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<sect2>
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<title>Summary Tab</title>
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<para>
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The Summary tab is split vertically into two halves.
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</para>
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<sect3>
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<title>Account Summary</title>
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<para>
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The Account Summary contains a grid displaying a row of information for each
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Asset and Liability.
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</para>
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<para>
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The following columns are displayed:
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Account</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The name of the Asset or Liability account</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Current Balance (Current)</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The current balance of the account is displayed.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Account Cycle Balance</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The Forecast period is split into account cycles. The default
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account cycle length is 30 days, but can be set by the user.</para>
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<para>The first account cycle date is the first Forecast date. By default
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this is the current date plus one account cycle, but can change
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depending on the "Day of Month to start Forecast" setting.</para>
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<para>Remaining account cycle dates are determined by adding the account
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cycle length to the previous account cycle date. This is continued
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until the calculated account cycle date would be beyond the Forecast
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period.</para>
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<para>For each account cycle date the predicted balance is
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displayed.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Total Variation</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The rightmost column displays the predicted difference in value
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between the balances at the start and end of the forecast. If the
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predicted end value of the account (in terms of net worth) is less than
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the start value the whole row is highlighted in red.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</sect3>
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<sect3>
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<title>Key Summary Information</title>
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<para>
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The bottom half of the Summary tab displays noteworthy information about
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accounts. This includes:
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Assets below zero</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>A message is displayed for any asset for which the value starts or
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will drop below zero during the forecast period.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Liabilities above zero</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>A message is displayed for any liability for which the value starts
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or will rise above zero during the forecast period. Note that the value
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of a liability is the negative of its ledger balance, since a positive
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balance indicates money owed.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</sect3>
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</sect2>
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<sect2>
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<title>Details Tab</title>
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<para>
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The Details tab contains a grid displaying a row of information for each Asset
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and Liability.
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Account</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The name of the Asset or Liability account</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Dates</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>For each date in the Forecast period a column displays the predicted
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balance of the account on that date. The date columns are in ascending
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order from left to right.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Total Variation</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The rightmost column displays the predicted difference in value
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between the balances at the start and end of the forecast. If the
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predicted end value of the account (in terms of net worth) is less than
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the start value the whole row is highlighted in red.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</sect2>
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<sect2>
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<title>Advanced Tab</title>
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<para>
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The Advanced tab contains a grid displaying a row of information for each
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Asset and Liability. The information is split into columns as follows:
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Account</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The name of the Asset or Liability account</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Minimum Account Cycle Balance</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>For each account cycle number <n> in the Forecast period
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the following columns are displayed:</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Minimum Balance (Min Bal <n>)</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The minimum predicted balance during the account cycle</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Minimum Balance Date (Min Date <n>)</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The date on which the balance reaches its predicted
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minimum.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Maximum Account Cycle Balance</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>For each account cycle number <n> in the Forecast period
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the following columns are displayed:</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Maximum Balance (Max Bal <n>)</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The maximum predicted balance during the account cycle</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Maximum Balance Date (Max Date <n>)</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The date on which the balance reaches its predicted
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maximum.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Average</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>The average balance of the account during the forecast period</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</sect2>
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</sect1>
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</chapter>
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