How to Use Goals

A goal is a target you set on a forecast, such as 260,000 in sales this month. The forecast decides what the goal measures: sales or orders, the period, and which customers count. The goal adds the number you’re aiming for.

Before You Start

Every goal belongs to a forecast. Your store starts with a Monthly Sales Forecast.

For a goal on anything else, such as orders this quarter or sales from one segment, first create a forecast for it. Forecasts explains how.

Steps

1. Open Goals, under Planning in the navigation.
2. Click New goal.
3. Choose a Forecast.
4. Enter a Goal name. A Description is optional.
5. Under Target type, choose Total amount or % growth.
6. Enter the Target amount or the Target % growth.
7. Under Compare to, choose Previous period or Previous year.
8. Click Create.

You can also start from the forecast. Open it from Forecasts and click Add goal in its Goals card. The goal is attached to that forecast, so the dialog doesn’t ask for one.

Choosing a Target

• Total amount is where you want the period to end, such as 260000 for sales or 1200 for orders. It must be more than zero.
• % growth is how much you want to finish above the period you compare to. Enter 15 for 15%. It must be more than 0 and less than 10,000.
• Compare to names that period: the one just before, or the same one a year earlier. It’s saved with every goal, but only a % growth target uses it.

What Happens Next

The goal appears on Goals, with its forecast and its target. It also appears in the Goals card on the forecast’s page.

A goal has no dates of its own. It covers the forecast’s current period, and carries on into the next one. A goal on a monthly forecast is a target for every month.

The Goals page and the forecast’s page don’t show progress toward a goal. To check where you stand, open the forecast and compare Total with your target. Total is your sales or orders so far in the period, plus the forecast for the rest of it.

For a % growth goal, the page shows the percentage, not the amount it works out to. Work out the amount from the period you chose under Compare to.

On the forecast’s Forecast Trend chart, a Total amount target is drawn as a Goal Pace line. The chart plots single days, or single months on a yearly forecast. So the line is the target divided by the days in the period, or the months in a year.

A target of 50,000 on a 31-day month is about 1,600 a day. Point to the chart to see the full target. A % growth goal isn’t drawn.

By the Numbers can also email you whether a goal is on track, at risk or reached. Those emails can be switched on only through the MCP server; there’s no setting for them in the app.

Change or Remove a Goal

• Edit: click Edit on the goal’s row. On Goals you can also move it to a different forecast.
• Delete: click the trash icon on the goal’s row, then confirm. This can’t be undone.

Deleting a forecast deletes its goals too.