20 features Forecast 5 has that Sage Winforecast doesn’t!

Discover why businesses are switching to Forecast 5 for advanced financial forecasting

Budget Beyond Spreadsheets

1. One Touch Reporting – Surpassing any reporting output from Sage Winforecast, One Touch Reporting allows you to create customised, professional financial reports for your client, bank, board or CEO, with a click of a button! Include your logos, disclaimers, contents page and anything you need with ease.

2. Memo Formulas – Enjoy the flexibility of being able to use formula’s in memo records for your KPI’s or non-financial information, the ease of calculation with Memo Formulas and viewing them on your reports. Don’t get bound by structure! Get the figures you need.

3. Visual Reports – With built-in graphic reports, explaining and understanding data has never been easier. See your operating performance with EBITDA, your cashflow expectation with Bank Balance and Movement, the breakdown of your revenue vs COGS vs expenses with Sales Analysis and so much more, available and ready to run when you are!

4. Stock on Hand Record/WIP – The perfect solution for all manufacturers, subdivision farmers and growers! Our Stock on Hand record lets you handle a situation where a product and increases in value (more costs) and is held in stock and track work in progress compiled from relevant components. Successfully used with wineries, construction, manufacturing engineering & services industries! Budgeting a complex scenario couldn’t be easier!

5. Gross Wages – Budget your wages in the way that suits your company. With our wage’s records, you have the option to enter your wages in net or gross data. No more backwards calculations to fit a specific structure.

6. Employee Groups – We have taken the Sage Winforecast Employee List function and improved on it! You can now budget staff individually or in groups, e.g. 4 x Sales Reps, 10 x Pickers, 100 x Storemen, etc. Simply create Employee Groups, choose how many staff it is for and fill out the wages’ details. No more time spent adding 20 staff on the same rates!

7. Integration to Financial Packages – Efficiently create a budget from your company’s financial package’s historical data and chart of accounts, enabling you to prepare next year’s budgets, import Opening Balances and Actuals with a click of a button and extract reports ready for the bank or board meeting. Xero, Sage 50 accounts, MYOB Exo and Sage 300 currently available and more on the way, there are no restrictions! Budgeting has gone from weeks to hours!

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8. Microsoft SQL Database – By using an SQL Database, your data storage and retention is more robust and reliable. Microsoft SQL has increased the opportunities for development of Forecast 5, such as allowing formatted access to the Forecast 5 data to build your own reports, reliable backup routines and more!

9. Admin Pack – Add an extra layer of security to your forecasts. With the Admin Pack, you have the ability to control the status of a forecast, group users into defined departments and permit or deny group to view certain forecasts. Keep your forecasts as you expect them with the Forecast 5 Admin Pack

10. Support – We know you have heard this 1000 times, but Sage Winforecast is no longer support and is an obsolete product. It is not a matter of IF it will crash, it is a matter of WHEN!! With the latest windows and excel versions, Winforecast struggles to function! Don’t make the mistake of waiting too long. Make the move to something with stability.

11. Section Summary – This time-saving feature added to Forecast 5 that allows you to get a snapshot view of your Profit and Loss sections. Click on the section you want a summary for and the monthly figures of each record and their totals will display. If you notice anything to review a record, then double click the record name and quickly drill down to the record.

12. Refresh All Hotlinks – For all our avid hotlink users. Have you been working on your spreadsheet that is hot linked to not just one, but four of your forecasts? No longer will you need to open each forecast and refresh the hotlink. Simply click the “Refresh Hotlink All” button from the New/Open screen for all the changes to push through.

13. Report Preview – With our snapshot report preview, you can effortlessly get an overview of how your budget is looking! No need to move from tab to tab, simply click the forecast name from the Record Tree, click Show/Refresh and voila! Your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet report previews are ready!

14. Single Data Entry Screen – Unlike Sage Winforecast, Forecast 5 makes it easy for you to enter your data and switch through records as you need. With single screen data entry, the fewer clicks needed reduces the time spent, and lets you get your budgets done quicker!

15. Microsoft Office Layout – Forecast 5 has been designed with a familiar Microsoft Office look and feel, upgrading from the clunky, old Sage Winforecast layout. With year on year tabs, single data entry screen, visible option ribbons and an open work space, Forecast 5 makes it effortless moving around your budget. Your budget data is now easy to use and easy to see!

16. Paste from Excel – While we still have hotlinking available, we have also introduced the ability to copy and paste from excel into your record! Simply copy the 12 months of data from excel, either horizontally or vertically, and right-click in the Set All box to paste! Its as easy as 1 – 2 – 3!

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17. User Assumptions – We know that a lot of budgets require figures that are built on assumptions and expectations and when preparing a budget for your client, board or boss, you want to make sure they understand this. Introducing the Forecast 5 assumptions record. Record your assumptions, incorporate them into your model and report them using the Assumptions schedule. No more explanations required!

18. Future Development – As Sage Winforecasts development ceased in 2013, there has been no improvements, enhancements or developments for 5 years. Forecast 5 is continuously improving and adding new features. We are moving towards a cloud version, integrations to more financial packages, daily cashflow and more! If you want something, let us know!

19. Folders – Take your budgets to the next level. With the introduction of folders, you can produce budgets in as much detail as you need. By creating folders in your sections, you can segregate data into cost centres or regions and produce subtotals for each folder! And with up to 5 levels of folders, your budgets can now fit your specific needs.

20. Regions Specific Set up – When creating a new forecast in Forecast 5, you are prompted to choose a country/region from the current options of New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Scotland and United States. With region specific set up, your currency, GST rates, pension schemes, etc. are defined based on the country you select, saving you time when preparing your budgets!