Clarification Needed: Forecasting Tool – Deal Stages vs Forecast Categories

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Hi HubSpot Community,

I’m looking for some clarity on how best to use the forecasting tool in HubSpot.

  1. What is the recommended approach for forecasting? Should we rely primarily on deal stages or forecast categories when setting up and reviewing forecasts?
  2. What is the true purpose of forecast categories? How do they impact the forecasting process, and do they directly influence the forecasted amount shown in the tool?
  3. What exactly is the “forecast amount”? How is it calculated, and which fields or categorizations feed into it?
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Hi @HarshaKumara,

Happy to help here.

  1. Forecast categories are a grouping of deal stages, so either works. It comes down to personal preference. If you have many deal stages, categories can help streamline what you’re looking at: Set up the forecast tool
  2. See the previously shared link:
    1. “Forecast categories allow you to group your deals into categories that represent a deal’s likelihood to close. Users can also manually update the forecast category for an individual deal from the deal record.”
    2. “Your existing and new deals will be categorized into one of the forecast categories based on their deal stage.”
    3. “Keep in mind that the order of the categories will impact the Deal change history report in your sales analytics tool. Specifically, deals must move through the forecast categories in order, from top to bottom, to count as a deal whose forecasted amount moved forward. For example, if the order of your categories is Best Case, Pipeline, then Commit, when the deal moves from Best Case to Pipeline it will be counted as a deal whose forecasted amount moved forward in your Deal change history report for the selected time.”
  3. This depends on how you have set up the forecast tool, see here: Set up the forecast tool – the choice is up to you :slightly_smiling_face:

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions after reviewing the article.

Best regards

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Hi @karstenkoehler

Thanks for your prompt response — really appreciate your support.

Regarding my question about the Forecast amount, according to the document, we were able to view forecasts based on the forecast amount property, but now that seems outdated or no longer in use. Is that correct?

I’m still unclear about the current role of the Forecast amount property.

  • Where can this property still be used, if at all?
  • Does HubSpot utilize it in any part of the forecasting tool or reporting features now

Thanks again!

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@HarshaKumara wrote:

Regarding my question about the Forecast amount, according to the document, we were able to view forecasts based on the forecast amount property, but now that seems outdated or no longer in use.

Why do you think it’s outdated / not in use?

@HarshaKumara wrote:

I’m still unclear about the current role of the Forecast amount property.

  • Where can this property still be used, if at all?
  • Does HubSpot utilize it in any part of the forecasting tool or reporting features now

Let’s leverage gen AI for this part, if I may:

Reports that reference “Forecast amount”

  • Sales Forecast Reports:
    - Standard HubSpot sales forecasts use Forecast amount to compare Pipeline vs. Weighted Forecast.
  • Deal Stage / Pipeline Reports:
    - Deal Stage Conversion Reports can display both total amount and forecast amount per stage.
  • Custom Reports in Sales Analytics:
    - Sales analytics dashboards (Sales Hub Professional/Enterprise) allow filtering and segmenting deals by forecast amount to visualize expected revenue.
  • Revenue Goal Tracking Reports:
    - Reports tracking attainment against quota use Forecast amount to model whether a rep or team is on track.

HubSpot Tools that use “Forecast amount”

  • Forecast Tool:
    - The Forecast tool in HubSpot Sales Hub Professional & Enterprise uses Forecast amount to populate weighted revenue predictions by rep, team, and pipeline.
  • Sales Analytics Dashboard:
    - Forecast amount appears in metrics like Weighted Pipeline and Expected Revenue.
  • CRM Board Views & Deal Pipelines:
    - Pipeline board views can show forecast amounts if you add them as displayed properties.
  • Revenue Goal & Quota Tracking:
    - Ties into team/rep quotas to visualize whether expected deals will achieve revenue targets.

Best regards

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Hi @HarshaKumara

Deal stages and forecast categories are two different layers that people expect to be one.

  • Deal stage = where the deal is in your process (Qualified → Proposal → Negotiation). Drives the weighted math via stage probability.

  • Forecast category = how confident you are it lands this period (Commit / Best case / Pipeline / Omitted), independent of stage.

You can have a late-stage deal you’re not committing (slipping to next quarter) and an early-stage deal you are (strong signal). That’s why both exist. Use stages to run the process, categories to call the number. Happy to sketch how I’d map your stages to categories.