Best Practices for using Product Schedules by GSP

Here are the best practices for using our app:

1. Determine the Business use case for Revenue or Quantity Schedules
2. Choose the right Projection Method
3. Get the most out of Reporting & Dashboards
4. Linking the Actuals

Determine the Business use case for Revenue or Quantity Schedules.

When salespeople schedule Opportunity Products in your company, do they think about revenue, quantity, or both?

If salespeople think about scheduling revenue, then you use Revenue Schedules. However, if salespeople focus more on scheduling quantity, use Quantity Schedules.

In this context, remember that if you set up quantity scheduling, the app still generates the Revenue Amount for each Quantity Schedule. You can track revenue and quantity over time in reports and dashboards.

However, the critical factor is which metric I will manipulate in the Mass Edit Page. If the business considers the monthly quantity they send the customer, then quantity schedules are the way to go. However, if the business considers the revenue they are invoicing the customer each month, then revenue scheduling is the choice for your business.

Choose the right Projection Method.

The projection method determines the schedule profile when you add an Opportunity Product and enter the schedule parameters.

If this field is not visible when you add the Opportunity Product, it’s because your system administrator has defined a default projection method, and you do not need to select a value manually.

However, when this field is visible, you can select one of up to three values.

• Straight Line. This is the most commonly used projection method and may be set as the default in your organization. It divides the Total Price of the Opportunity Product equally across the number of schedules.
• Pro-rated. This projection method sets a value for the first month based on the Start Date. We assume thirty days in the month; if the Start Date is the 18th, the first schedule will be the value for 12 days. If we also assume that you entered 12 months for the # Schedules, the first schedule is followed by eleven schedules of equal value. The balance (18 days) is added to a final schedule at the end, i.e., a thirteenth schedule. In other words, the app pro-rates the first month and adds the balance to a final schedule at the end.
• S-curve. The S-curve projection method distributes the Total Price across schedules based on a normal distribution curve. When you look at the revenue profile cumulatively, you see an s-curve.

Get the most out of Reporting & Dashboards.

The GSP Product Schedules app includes four pre-built dashboards. You can access them by clicking the Dashboards tab, All Folders on the left, and Product Schedules.

The four dashboards are:

• Revenue Schedules (Lightning). This dashboard contains the essential charts and reports for tracking revenue over time.
• Quantity Schedules (Lightning). This dashboard contains the essential charts and reports for tracking quantity over time.
• Salesperson Revenue Targets (Lightning). This dashboard provides complete visibility of scheduled revenue or quantity performance versus Salesperson Targets.
• Team Revenue Targets (Lightning). This dashboard provides complete visibility of scheduled revenue or quantity performance versus Team Targets.

Your system administrator can customize and tailor each dashboard to meet additional reporting requirements.

Revenue Schedules (Lightning)
This dashboard includes charts showing scheduled revenue performance, including won and pipeline revenue over time. It also contains detailed charts on revenue for the current and next financial years.

The dashboard also gives insight into revenue performance by product family and compares forecasted vs actual revenue.

Quantity Schedules (Lightning)
This dashboard includes charts that show scheduled quantity performance, including won and pipeline quantity. It also contains detailed charts on quantity for this and next FY.

The dashboard also gives insight into quantity performance by product family and compares forecasted vs actual quantity.

Salesperson Revenue Targets (Lightning)
This dashboard includes charts showing revenue performance against the target, including this month and next by the salesperson.

The dashboard also gives target performance further ahead by looking at the quarter and year and how the company and individuals perform each month.

Team Revenue Targets (Lightning)
This dashboard includes charts showing revenue performance against the target, including this month and next by the teams.

The dashboard also gives target performance further ahead by looking at the quarter and year and how the company and teams perform each month.

Linking the Actuals

The pre-built dashboard within the app includes charts and reports comparing the Booked Amount with the Expected Amount. In other words, the reports track the difference between how you anticipated the revenue will materialize and what happened on the ground.

Incidentally, some customers automatically import invoice or order data from other systems into Salesforce. We can automatically link these additional records to the relevant schedules, producing valuable insight and reports. If you’re interested in this, please get in touch to learn more.