The forecast bar sits above [**Open deals** ↗](https://app.indeal.ai/pipeline/open). The question behind it is simple: what can you count on this month and next?

**Contents**
- [What the bar shows](#what-the-bar-shows)
- [The three quantities](#the-three-quantities)
- [How the forecast stays usable](#how-the-forecast-stays-usable)
- [The stored benchmarks](#the-stored-benchmarks)
- [Forecast and Home are not the same thing](#forecast-and-home-are-not-the-same-thing)
- [Next](#next)


## What the bar shows

On the left the **Open volume** - the sum of all open deals, unweighted, plus the count.

On the right two buckets, one for this month and one for the next, each with **Exp. {month}**, the number of deals and the note **weighted**.

![The forecast bar above the open deals](https://avhmrgajilnfyuvkhect.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/helpcenter/pipeline/pipeline-prognoseleiste.png)

Below it sits a footnote with the assumed durations for **Send offer** and **Closing** and a note that weighting is by **Confidence**. The link next to it is called **Open performance settings** and takes you straight to where those values can be changed.

## The three quantities

### Confidence

Your estimate in percent of how likely this deal is to happen. The value sits in the **Pipeline & status** block and can be changed at any time. A new deal starts with a default; change it as soon as you know better.

### Weighted value

**Deal value** times **Confidence**, divided by 100. Business worth 50,000 euros at 40 percent probability gives a weighted value of 20,000 euros. The field is not editable - it always follows the other two.

The forecast works with this weighted sum, not with the full value. That is why the monthly bucket is always smaller than the **Open volume**.

### Expected close

Decides which monthly bucket a deal falls into. inDeal goes about it like this:

1. If the **Expected close** field is filled, that date applies.
2. If it is empty, inDeal takes the moment the deal entered its current stage and adds the **Sales cycle** benchmark from the settings.

On the card in Kanban, the resulting month appears as **Exp. {month}**.

## How the forecast stays usable

1. **Fill in Expected close.** Without that date inDeal works with a benchmark that may be too short or too long for your business.
2. **Keep Confidence current.** A deal at 80 percent that has been sitting for three months distorts the whole number.
3. **Close what is closed.** As long as a deal sits on **Send offer** although it was lost long ago, it inflates the forecast for no reason.

## The stored benchmarks

The **Sales cycle** benchmark and the rates sit in Setup under [**Performance & conversion** ↗](https://app.indeal.ai/settings/performance). You find there:

- **Lead → meeting booked**
- **Show rate** - share of booked meetings that actually happen.
- **Pipeline conversion** - from completed discovery to sent offer.
- **Deal conversion** - from sent offer to won deal.
- **Sales cycle** - average time from offer to close.
- **Customer lifetime value** - average value of a won customer.

Below the fields, inDeal works an example through 100 leads so you can see what your values mean. These settings require permissions - with the **Sales** role the area is not visible.

## Forecast and Home are not the same thing

The forecast bar looks forward: what is likely to come. The **Business outcome** section on [**Home** ↗](https://app.indeal.ai/) looks back: what was actually won. The two numbers have to differ, and neither is wrong for it.

## Next

- [Deal stages from offer to close](https://success.indeal.ai/hc/indeal/articles/deal-stages-from-offer-to-close)
- [Conversion funnel and business outcome](https://success.indeal.ai/hc/indeal/articles/conversion-funnel-and-business-results)