The rules the number is built under
Forecast governance is the written set of rules covering who submits a forecast, when it is due, what each category means, and who may change a number after lock. Without those rules the forecast is a set of opinions collected on a call. With them it becomes a record that can be compared against the actual result and traced back to the person who made each call.Every forecast argument that repeats quarter after quarter is a governance question nobody settled in writing. Whether a deal belongs in commit without a signed order form. Whether a manager can cut a rep's number without telling them. Those questions get relitigated because the answer lives in memory rather than in policy.
Four decisions to settle in writing
- Who submits. Name the levels that produce their own figure rather than inheriting the sum beneath them. A level that only passes the total up adds no information and cannot be graded. - When it is due. Fix a day and a time, and state what happens to a missing submission. Most teams default to carrying last period's number forward, which quietly rewards non-compliance. - What each category requires. Write entry criteria as observable facts, such as pricing agreed and a named signer, rather than confidence percentages. Confidence language means something different to every rep. - What happens after lock. Decide whether the locked figure is frozen for grading and where later changes are recorded. A forecast that keeps updating cannot be scored against anything.
Governance is what makes accuracy measurable
Accuracy is a comparison, so it needs a fixed point on one side of it. Teams that skip the lock discover at quarter end that no version of the forecast is authoritative and the variance conversation collapses into recollection.
ORM reports that forecast accuracy on new and expansion business typically lands near 90 percent, and that reaching it takes heavy manual effort and does not adapt as conditions change. ORM targets 95 percent without manual adjustment. Governance does not produce that gap on its own, but nothing else can measure it.
Where governance usually breaks
It breaks at the exception. A large deal arrives late, a leader wants it counted, and the rule bends once. The next quarter it bends again. Write the exception path into the policy so unusual deals get handled without deleting the rule for everyone else.
For the underlying discipline the rules protect, see sales forecasting and forecast accuracy. For the habits that pair with a governance policy, see sales forecasting best practices.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is forecast governance?
It is the documented policy behind the forecast process. It names who submits a number at each level, when submissions are due, what each forecast category requires, and who is allowed to change a figure after the lock date.
Who owns forecast governance?
Revenue operations owns the rules and the enforcement. Sales leadership owns the judgment applied inside those rules. Splitting it that way keeps the process from being rewritten every quarter by whoever is behind on their number.
How is governance different from a forecast process?
A process describes the steps people follow. Governance decides what happens when someone skips a step, submits late, or changes a locked number. Most teams have a process. Far fewer have written answers for those three situations.
What is the smallest useful governance policy?
One page. Submission owners and deadlines, entry criteria for each category written as observable facts, a lock date, and a rule for recording post lock changes. Anything longer tends to go unread.
Put these metrics to work
ORM builds custom revenue forecast models that turn concepts like forecast governance into prescriptive action for your team.
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