Quarterly Rolling Forecasting is one of the most important management tools of this decade and is a process that will revolutionise any public or private sector organisation.

There are fourteen foundation stones that need to be in place for it to work.

1. Abandoning processes that do not work
2. The QRF model should be built by in-house resources
3. Separation of targets from realistic forecasts
4. A quarterly process using the wisdom of the crowd
5. Forecast beyond year-end (e.g., six quarters ahead)
6. The monthly targets are set, a quarter ahead, from the QRF
7. A quarter-by-quarter funding mechanism
8. The annual plan becomes a by-product of the QRF
9. Forecasting at category level rather than account code level
10. The QRF should be based around the key drivers
11. A fast light touch (completed in an elapsed week)
12. Built in a planning tool – not in a spreadsheet
13. Design the planning tool with four and five-week months
14. Invest in a comprehensive blueprint

Next steps

For an in-depth analysis of these foundations stones buy mu toolkit, How to Implement Quarterly Rolling Forecasting and Quarterly Rolling Planning – and get it right first time – implementation guides (110 page Whitepaper + electronic templates)