<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<chapter id="details.forecast">
<chapterinfo>
  <authorgroup>
    <author> &Colin.Wright; &Colin.Wright.mail; </author>
  </authorgroup>
  <date>2010-07-25</date>
  <releaseinfo>4.5</releaseinfo>
</chapterinfo>

<title id="details.forecast.title">Forecast</title>

<sect1 id="details.forecast.define">
<title>What is a Forecast?</title>

<para>
  In &kappname;, a Forecast is a prediction of the balances of Accounts during a
  specified future period of time.</para>

<para>
  Forecasts can be predicted using one of two methods.
</para>

<variablelist>
  <varlistentry>
    <term>Scheduled and Future Transactions</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>&kappname; uses a combination of future transactions already entered
        into the ledgers and the entries in the Schedule.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>History-based</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>&kappname; uses values from past transactions in the ledgers to
        predict future transactions.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<para>
  The forecast method and forecast period can be set in the &kappname; Settings,
  in the Forecast pane.
</para>

<para>
  &kappname; Forecast provides a summary, showing the predicted balances at
  account cycle dates and the expected difference between the starting and
  ending balances.  The length of the account cycle can be set by the user.  The
  summary also displays messages about significant predicted changes to the
  accounts during the forecast period.
</para>

<para>
  As well as the summary, &kappname; Forecast also allows you to view day-by-day
  balances and view the minimum and maximum balances for each forecast account
  cycle.
</para>

<para>
  By default the Forecast is created for 90-days, with 30-day account cycles
  using Scheduled and Future Transactions.
</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="details.forecast.view" >
<title>Viewing Forecasts</title>

<para>
  You can view a Forecast by clicking the appropriate icon in the navigation
  pane at the left hand side of your &kappname; window.
</para>

<para>
  The Forecast window is split into five tabs
</para>

<sect2>
<title>Summary Tab</title>

<para>
  The Summary tab is split vertically into two halves.
</para>

<sect3>
<title>Account Summary</title>

<para>
  The Account Summary contains a grid displaying a row of information for each
  Asset and Liability.
</para>

<para>
  The following columns are displayed:
</para>

<variablelist>
  <varlistentry>
    <term>Account</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The name of the Asset or Liability account</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Current Balance (Current)</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The current balance of the account is displayed.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Account Cycle Balance</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The Forecast period is split into account cycles.  The default
        account cycle length is 30 days, but can be set by the user.</para>

      <para>The first account cycle date is the first Forecast date.  By default
        this is the current date plus one account cycle, but can change
        depending on the "Day of Month to start Forecast" setting.</para>

      <para>Remaining account cycle dates are determined by adding the account
        cycle length to the previous account cycle date.  This is continued
        until the calculated account cycle date would be beyond the Forecast
        period.</para>

      <para>For each account cycle date the predicted balance is
        displayed.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Total Variation</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The rightmost column displays the predicted difference in value
        between the balances at the start and end of the forecast.  If the
        predicted end value of the account (in terms of net worth) is less than
        the start value the whole row is highlighted in red.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3>
<title>Key Summary Information</title>

<para>
  The bottom half of the Summary tab displays noteworthy information about
  accounts.  This includes:
</para>

<variablelist>
  <varlistentry>
    <term>Assets below zero</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>A message is displayed for any asset for which the value starts or
        will drop below zero during the forecast period.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Liabilities above zero</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>A message is displayed for any liability for which the value starts
        or will rise above zero during the forecast period.  Note that the value
        of a liability is the negative of its ledger balance, since a positive
        balance indicates money owed.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect3>
</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Details Tab</title>

<para>
  The Details tab contains a grid displaying a row of information for each Asset
  and Liability.
</para>

<variablelist>
  <varlistentry>
    <term>Account</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The name of the Asset or Liability account</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Dates</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>For each date in the Forecast period a column displays the predicted
        balance of the account on that date.  The date columns are in ascending
        order from left to right.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Total Variation</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The rightmost column displays the predicted difference in value
        between the balances at the start and end of the forecast.  If the
        predicted end value of the account (in terms of net worth) is less than
        the start value the whole row is highlighted in red.</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Advanced Tab</title>

<para>
  The Advanced tab contains a grid displaying a row of information for each
  Asset and Liability.  The information is split into columns as follows:
</para>

<variablelist>
  <varlistentry>
    <term>Account</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>The name of the Asset or Liability account</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Minimum Account Cycle Balance</term>
    <listitem>
      <para>For each account cycle number &lt;n&gt; in the Forecast period
      the following columns are displayed:</para>

      <variablelist>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>Minimum Balance (Min Bal &lt;n&gt;)</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>The minimum predicted balance during the account cycle</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>Minimum Balance Date (Min Date &lt;n&gt;)</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>The date on which the balance reaches its predicted
	    minimum.</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Maximum Account Cycle Balance</term>

    <listitem>
      <para>For each account cycle number &lt;n&gt; in the Forecast period
      the following columns are displayed:</para>

      <variablelist>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>Maximum Balance (Max Bal &lt;n&gt;)</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>The maximum predicted balance during the account cycle</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>Maximum Balance Date (Max Date &lt;n&gt;)</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>The date on which the balance reaches its predicted
	    maximum.</para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>

  <varlistentry>
    <term>Average</term>

    <listitem>
      <para>The average balance of the account during the forecast period</para>
    </listitem>
  </varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Budget Forecast Tab</title>

<para>
  The Budget tab displays a forecast calculation for the Income and Expense categories. The columns are similar to the Summary and Detailed tabs.
</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Chart Tab</title>

<para>
  It displays a chart showing the forecast. The level of detail varies depending on the detail level selected on the option above.
</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>
</chapter>
