{"id":1091,"date":"2019-07-01T15:08:10","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T15:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sage-new-clone.local\/en-au\/blog\/?post_type=sage_glossary&#038;p=1091"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:14:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:14:36","slug":"what-is-forecasting","status":"publish","type":"sage_glossary","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-forecasting\/","title":{"rendered":"What is forecasting?"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/glossary\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Glossary definition<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat is forecasting?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"What is forecasting?\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/glossary\/what-is-forecasting\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Forecasting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forecasting refers to the consideration of and subsequent response planning for prospective uncertainties that will affect a company\u2019s operations. A company\u2019s recorded history will be reflected in a given forecast, meaning past and present financial or operational data is utilised to make informed, albeit assumptive decisions going forward with a particular action or objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forecasting can be implemented effectively in a variety of ways. When used in evaluating potential investments, forecasting can provide a long-term perspective on a company\u2019s profitability expectations. When forecasting is utilised in budget planning, historical financial data is reviewed and evaluated in order to make sound future projections. Forecasting is also commonly used as a general preventative measure to cope with changes in industry trends and demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subscription to various models and techniques may define forecasting practices within a company and will be specific to management\u2019s preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-difference-between-judgment-forecasting-and-qualitative-forecasting\"><span lang=\"EN\">The difference between judgment forecasting and qualitative forecasting<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though they share the common goals of loss mitigation, growth projection, and trend analysis, not all methods of forecasting are the same. For example, two widely-used types of forecasting techniques include \u201cjudgment\u201d forecasting and \u201cqualitative\u201d forecasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Qualitative forecasting utilises expert analysis, as opposed to an analysis that is based on data or computer algorithms (known as \u201cstatistical\u201d or \u201cquantitative\u201d forecasting). Judgment forecasting, or \u201cjudgmental\u201d forecasting, is one variety of qualitative forecasting.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-476ad9d0-ec82-4a0c-bb25-98dd6821b545\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1064\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-626184462-1064x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-626184462-1064x810.jpg 1064w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forecasting Forecasting refers to the consideration of and subsequent response planning for prospective uncertainties that will affect a company\u2019s operations. A company\u2019s recorded history will be reflected in a given forecast, meaning past and present financial or operational data is utilised to make informed, albeit assumptive decisions going forward with a particular action or objective. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":708,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[23,173,47,61,202,192],"class_list":["post-1091","sage_glossary","type-sage_glossary","status-publish","hentry","tag-accounting-101","tag-cash-flow","tag-expenses","tag-profit-and-loss","tag-small-business","tag-start-up-business"],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Singapore","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/sage_glossary\/1091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/sage_glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/sage_glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/sage_glossary\/1091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-sg\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}