Forecast Requirements

Requirements Management (RM) forecasts bring acquisition planning into RM before a formal requirement exists. Forecasts capture anticipated future procurement opportunities so your agency can define, validate, and export forecasted contract opportunities from the acquisition system of record.

The Forecasts page provides a dedicated workspace for creating and managing forecasts, with KPIs, search, filters, and actions for creating, exporting, and initiating requirements from forecasts.

RM provides two paths for creating a forecast:

• AI-assisted creation: Enter a natural language description, and RM uses AI to pre-populate the forecast form.
• Manual creation: Enter forecast data directly using the standard form.

Prerequisites for creating forecasts

• Security group membership: The Requestor, Requestor Manager, CO, CS, and CM roles have access to create and manage forecasts by default.

View forecasts

The Forecasts page displays all forecasts in a searchable, filterable grid with KPIs at the top.

To view and search forecasts:

1. On the navigation pane, click Forecasts.
2. Enter forecast keywords in the search field and click SEARCH.
3. (Optional) If you need to narrow results, use the filter dropdowns: Status, Est. Contract Value, Visibility, Point of Contact, and Contracting Office.

The following table describes the forecast statuses:

Status	Meaning
Draft	The forecast is being defined. Default status on creation.
Cancelled	The forecast is no longer needed. Update and Initiate Requirement actions are not available on cancelled forecasts.
Requirement Created	A requirement has been initiated from this forecast. The forecast remains editable and additional requirements can be created from it.

Create forecasts with AI

1. On the Forecasts page, click CREATE FORECAST.
2. Describe the forecast details using natural language in the Description field.

   Tip:  Expand Key Information to Include to view the recommended details for the forecast.

3. Click NEXT.
4. Review the auto-populated fields and complete any missing fields in the following subtabs:
   • Key Details
   • Agency
   • Financial
   • Timeline

     Tip:  Click Refine Inputs to modify the description for better AI results.

5. Click CREATE.
6. On the confirmation screen, click the forecast title link to view the forecast, or click CLOSE.

Create forecasts manually

1. On the Forecasts page, click CREATE FORECAST.

2. Click use the standard form.

   The Create Forecast form has the following tabs on the navigation pane:

   1. Key Details
   2. Agency
   3. Financial
   4. Timeline

   

3. Complete all required fields and any optional fields across the form tabs.
4. Click CREATE.
5. On the confirmation screen, click the forecast title link to view the forecast, or click CLOSE.

Enter key details

1. Enter a Title for the forecast.
2. Enter a Description of the forecasted procurement need.
3. (Optional) If you need to classify the forecast, select a Requirement Type from the following options:
   • Exercise of Option: Exercising an option period on an existing contract.
   • New Requirement: A brand new procurement need with no prior contract.
   • Recompete: Recompeting an expiring or expired contract for continued services.
4. (Optional) Select a Spend Category such as Medical and Travel.
5. (Optional) Enter the NAICS Code.
6. (Optional) Select a Set Aside Type such as Small Business and Veteran Sole Source.
7. (Optional) Select a Contract Type such as Cost Plus and Firm Fixed Price.
8. (Optional) Select an Award Type such as Delivery order and Purchase Order.
9. (Optional) To specify the contract value range, select an Estimated Contract Value.
10. Select a Visibility option.
    • Private: The forecast is still being defined and is not ready for public disclosure.
    • Public: The forecast is ready for public disclosure.

Enter agency details

1. Select an Agency.
2. Select a Contracting Office.
3. (Optional) If you need to specify the place of performance, enter the City, select a State, select a Region, and select a Country.
4. (Optional) If you need to add a point of contact, search for and select a Name and verify the Email.
5. (Optional) If you need to add a small business specialist, enter the Name and Email in the Small Business Specialist section.

Enter financial details

1. (Optional) Select a Funding Source using the dropdown.
2. (Optional) If you need to specify values from the originating award, enter a Base Exercised Value in USD and select a Base Exercised Options value.
3. (Optional) If you need to specify the projected obligation, enter the Current FY Projected Obligation in USD.
4. (Optional) If you need to specify the delivery order ceiling, enter the Delivery Order Value in USD.

Enter timeline details

1. (Optional) Select an Estimated Award Fiscal Year.
2. (Optional) Select an Estimated Award FY-QTR.
3. (Optional) Select an Estimated Solicitation Date.
4. To specify the period of performance:
   • Select a POP Start Date.
   • (Optional) Select a POP End Date.
5. (Optional) If you need to specify completion dates, enter a Current Completion Date and Ultimate Completion Date.
6. (Optional) Select a Procurement Method.
7. (Optional) Select an Extent Competed.

8. Click CREATE.

   

9. On the confirmation screen, click the forecast title link to view the forecast, or click CLOSE.

   

Manage forecasts

On the Forecasts page, select a forecast to:

• View forecast details: The Overview tab displays the forecast summary including Key Details, Agency, Funding, and Timeline sections.
• Related Procurements: Displays all requirements created from the forecast with links to the resulting requirement records.
• UPDATE FORECAST: Modify forecast details as procurement planning progresses.
• INITIATE REQUIREMENT: Pre-populate the Create Requirement wizard with forecast data to initiate formal requirement creation.
• MARK AS PRIVATE/MARK AS PUBLIC: Toggle the forecast visibility between private and public.
• CANCEL FORECAST: Mark a forecast as cancelled when the procurement need is no longer relevant.

Next steps

• Create a new requirement: Learn about all paths for creating requirements, including from a forecast.
• Manage requirements: Work with requirements after they are created from forecasts.

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