Billing forecast
A billing forecast projects future billed revenue from current commitments: each assignment, at its rate, over its remaining days, summed into committed revenue.
Definition
A billing forecast projects the revenue you will invoice over a coming period from the commitments you already hold. It answers one question: who is assigned to which mission, at which rate, from when to when. Sum the remaining days of every active assignment multiplied by its day rate and you obtain the revenue already committed for the period, quarter or month.
The forecast sits between two other views. The sales pipeline counts opportunities that may close, with chances attached. The P and L records what already happened. The forecast covers only the committed part of the future, placements already agreed. It moves the day a mission is won, extended or lost, provided the assignment data is recorded promptly.
Formula
Committed revenue for a period = sum over active assignments of (remaining days in the period x day rate).
Example: A consultant at 500 EUR/day assigned for 3 more months (about 63 working days) contributes about 31,500 EUR to the quarter's committed revenue.
Why it matters
The accuracy of a billing forecast is a discipline problem, not a tool problem. Two classic errors explain most of the gap between the forecast and reality: placements that never get recorded, and end dates left stale after an extension. The forecast can only move the day a mission is won, extended or lost if the assignment is updated promptly. No model fixes data that nobody enters, so the recording habit decides the quality of the number.
How to keep your billing forecast reliable
- 1
Record placements and end dates the week they change, not at month end, when nobody remembers the details and the errors get reconstructed from memory.
- 2
Review the forecast against actuals every month and chase the biggest misses, asking who missed the recording rather than blaming the arithmetic of the tool.
- 3
Separate committed revenue from pipeline upside in any board view, so decision makers always know which part of the number is already agreed.
How Okouro shows it
Okouro builds the revenue forecast from assignments, rates and dates, and recomputes it continuously as they change, so the committed number always reflects the current state of your missions. A free plan is available to start.