Forecast settings

These five settings pages are the engine room of forecasting. Configure them in the order below, because each one depends on the previous.

All pages live under Forecasting -> Configuration in the left sidebar.

Order	Setting	Page
1	Location hours	/forecasting/settings/location-hours
2	Day parts	/forecasting/settings/day-parts
3	Job positions	/forecasting/settings/job-positions
4	Labor matrix	/forecasting/settings/labor-matrix
5	Forecast settings (defaults)	/forecasting/settings/forecast-config
Optional	Fiscal calendars	/forecasting/settings/fiscal-calendars
Optional	Org settings	/forecasting/settings/org

1. Location hours

Operating hours define the window that a forecast generates 15-minute slots for. No hours means no slots, which means an empty forecast.

Hours are managed as hours groups so several stores that open at the same times share one definition.

1. Go to Forecasting -> Location Hours.
2. Click Create Location Hours Group.
3. Enter a name, for example Standard Hours, and an optional description.
4. For each day (Monday to Sunday) enter the open and close time in HH:MM 24-hour format, for example 06:00 and 23:00.
5. Tick the locations this group applies to under Locations Assigned.
6. Click Create.

To change hours later, click the pencil icon on the group. To close a day entirely, leave its times empty.

Overnight hours

For a location that closes after midnight, enter the close time as the actual clock time, for example open 11:00, close 02:00. The forecast rolls the slots into the correct business day.

2. Day parts

Day parts group 15-minute slots into named periods so GMs can read a day at a glance and staff by period.

1. Go to Forecasting -> Day Parts.

2. Click Create Day Parts Group.

3. Enter a group name, for example Standard Day Parts.

4. Add each part with a name, start time, and color, for example:

   Name	Start	Typical use
   Breakfast	06:00	Morning trade
   Lunch	11:00	Midday peak
   Dinner	17:00	Evening peak
   Late Night	22:00	Closing shift

5. Use Remove part to delete a row you no longer need.

6. Assign the locations, then click Create.

Each part runs until the next part starts, so you only enter a start time. The colors you pick are the colors shown on the day-view grid.

3. Job positions

Positions are the roles the labor forecast staffs.

1. Go to Forecasting -> Job Positions.

2. Click Create Position.

3. Fill in:

   Field	Notes
   Name	For example Server, Cook, Host, Cashier
   Category	Front of House / Customer-Facing or Back of House / Operations
   Type	Variable (sales-driven) scales with the labor matrix; Fixed (always scheduled) is always staffed while open, for example a manager
   Hourly rate	Used to turn hours into cost
   Active	Untick to retire a position without deleting history

4. Click Create.

4. Labor matrix

The labor matrix is the rule set that turns projected sales into required staffing. Build one matrix per location (or copy one and adjust).

1. Go to Forecasting -> Labor Matrix.

2. Click Create and give the matrix a name, for example Downtown Labor Rules, plus the location it applies to.

3. Choose the driver:

   • By Dollar - staffing bands are based on projected sales dollars in the period.
   • By Entree - staffing bands are based on projected entree or item counts.

4. Add rules. Each rule says: for this position, between this volume and that volume, schedule this many people.

   Field	Example
   Position	Server
   Volume from	0
   Volume to	500 (leave empty for unlimited)
   Employees	2
   Days	Tick the days the rule applies to

5. Add fixed labor entries for positions that are always scheduled, for example one manager per open hour.

6. Save. The page header shows Total Matrices, Locations Configured, and Unconfigured Locations so you can see which stores still need rules.

Cover the whole range

Leave the top band's "volume to" empty so there is always a matching rule for an unusually strong day. A gap in the bands produces zero staffing for that volume.

5. Forecast settings (defaults)

Forecasting -> Forecast Settings (/forecasting/settings/forecast-config) defines the defaults GMs see when they create a forecast. Settings are grouped into config groups that are assigned to locations.

1. Click Create Config Group and name it, for example Default Config.

2. Choose the Default Projection Model:

   Model	How it works	Best for
   Smart Forecast YoY	Year-over-year trend applied to last year's actuals, blended with a recent average	Locations with at least a year of history
   Weighted Average	Recent weeks count for more than older weeks	Stable locations
   Trailing Average	All recent weeks weighted equally	New locations with limited history
   Same Day Last Year	The same weekday from the prior year	Holidays and strong seasonality

3. Choose the Default Forecast Metric: Covers / Transactions, Entrees / Items, or Custom.

4. Tick the locations under Locations Assigned.

5. Click Create.

GMs can still override the model per forecast; this only sets the default.

Optional: fiscal calendars

Forecasting -> Fiscal Calendars defines how weeks roll into periods for reporting.

1. Click Create Fiscal Calendar.
2. Pick the type: Gregorian (Standard) or NRF 4-5-4 (Retail).
3. Set the fiscal year start month and the week start day.
4. Save and assign it.

Optional: org settings

Forecasting -> Org Settings (/forecasting/settings/org) holds organization-wide display and behavior defaults:

• Default timezone, for example Eastern (ET), Central (CT), Mountain (MT), Pacific (PT).
• Date format: MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, or YYYY-MM-DD.
• Forecast edit mode, which controls how slot edits are applied in the day view.

Click Save; the page confirms with "Org settings saved."

Verify the setup

Open Forecasting. The Getting Started checklist should show green checks for hours, day parts, job positions, and labor matrix. If any is grey, revisit that section above.