Syncing Salesforce Opportunities with Forecast

⏱️ 5 minute read

The Salesforce for Forecast integration contains features to help manage your Salesforce Opportunities within Forecast Projects. Once the integration is connected, you can sync opportunities from Salesforce and use templates to automate the creation of Forecast projects.  

This article covers:

• Automating Project Creation
• Bidirectional Sync
• Customizing Opportunity Sync Conditions
• Using Project Templates
• Linking Existing Projects with Opportunities

Automating Project Creation

When the integration is connected, Salesforce Opportunity stages appear in the Salesforce for Forecast Integration page. Identify which Salesforce stages will create projects in Forecast.   

To automate project creation

1. Click Admin in the navigation ribbon.
2. Select Integrations from the dropdown.
3. Scroll down to Sales & CRM.
4. Click Salesforce to open the integration's settings.
5. Under Opportunity Stages, review the Salesforce stages to identify those you wish to use to create Forecast projects.
   
6. Toggle Create Project toggle for the Salesforce stage you wish to use to create Forecast projects.
7. Once an Opportunity meets this stage, a new project is generated in Forecast and linked to the corresponding Salesforce Opportunity.
8. The new Forecast project will appear under the Forecast stage identified. 

Bidirectional Sync

Customizing Opportunity Sync Conditions

It is possible to customize Forecast project creation based on conditions other than the Salesforce Opportunity stage using Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL).

Once the SOQL query is saved, every trigger from Salesforce checks the condition This means that when an Opportunity moves to a stage that is configured to Create Project, the integration checks all custom conditions to determine whether or not a project will be created.

For a custom condition to be successful, it must use valid SOQL syntax (as verified by your Salesforce instance). It is recommended to develop the condition in the developer console of your Salesforce instance, then copy/paste it into Forecast.

To create a custom SOQL condition

1. From Admin > Integrations, click Salesforce.
2. If you do not open directly to Salesforce Configuration, click Activate.
3. Scroll down to Opportunity Condition.
4. Toggle Enable.
5. Enter your custom condition SOQL in the text field.
   Examples of custom condition SOQL:
   • Check that the opportunity has more than 10 quantity of a specified product.
     SELECT COUNT() FROM Opportunity WHERE Id = <OpportunityId> AND Id IN (SELECT OpportunityId FROM OpportunityLineItem WHERE Quantity > 10,0 AND Product2Id = '01t09000001LcVQAA0')
   • Check that the opportunity has the prefix 'PRIORITY'.
     SELECT COUNT() FROM Opportunity WHERE Id = <OpportunityId> AND Name LIKE 'PRIORITY%'
   • Check that the opportunity has an amount of at least 50,000. 
     SELECT COUNT() FROM Opportunity WHERE Id = <OpportunityId> AND Amount >= 50000
   • Check that the opportunity record type is not 'Expansion', 'Renewal', or 'Self Service'.
     SELECT COUNT() FROM Opportunity WHERE Id = <OpportunityId> AND Opportunity_Record_Type_Name__c NOT IN ('Expansion', 'Renewal', 'Self Service')
6. A red warning icon appears next to Save.
7. Click Save to test the custom condition's SOQL syntax.
8. If the SOQL passes testing, a notification appears at lower left and the red warning icon updates to a green check.
   

Note:

• The custom condition is considered passed if it returns more than zero results.
• In the query, the WHERE clause must include Id = <OpportunityId>.
• When saving, the query is run against your Salesforce instance "/query" endpoint, to check that the syntax is valid. The condition is considered valid for any 2XX status code, regardless of the number of results.

Using Project Templates

Existing Forecast projects may be used as templates, and exported to Salesforce. Templates are applied when an Opportunity creates a Forecast project.  Using templates saves time and minimizes manual project creation, especially if your team is performing routine tasks for each opportunity created. 

There are four steps required for using project templates: 

• Enable Forecast Project Template.
• Configure the project template in Forecast (or identify an existing project to use)
• Exporting the template to Salesforce.
• Selecting the appropriate template for the Opportunity.

To use project templates

1. Go to your Salesforce instance.
2. Click the cog at the top right and select Setup.
3. In the left panel, expand Objects and Fields.
4. Select Object Manager.
5. Scroll down through the objects list and click on Opportunity.
6. Click Page Layouts in the left side panel.
7. Select Opportunity Layout (or if you have changed the default page, choose your new default).
8. In the list of fields at the top, find the Forecast Project Template section and drag it into Opportunity Information field.
   
9. (Optional) Repeat the steps this time selecting Forecast Project. Forecast Project field will allow the user to view which project in Forecast the  opportunity is linked to.
   
10. Click Save.

Once the Forecast Project Template field is available in Salesforce, you can configure templates in Forecast and export them to Salesforce. 

To configure a project template

1. From Admin > Integrations, click Salesforce.
2. Scroll down to Project Template.
3. Toggle Enable.
4. Select a project from the dropdown.
5. Change the reference (optional).

6. Click the green plus button to save the project template.

   

7. Tick the boxes for each of settings you'd like to maintain in the template.
   
8. If you have more than one template, identify which will be used as the default by toggling Default on the template.

Once your templates are configured, they must be exported to Salesforce in order to be selected within Opportunities. The default template will be applied for Opportunities that do not have an assigned template.

To export a project template

1. From Admin > Integrations, click Salesforce.
2. Scroll down to Project Template.
3. Click Export to Salesforce.
4. The template is now available in Salesforce and may be assigned to Opportunities.

Linking Existing Projects with Opportunities

In addition to automated project creation, you can manually link new or existing Forecast projects to Salesforce Opportunities. Once linked, Forecast project data is synced to Salesforce appearing within the corresponding Opportunity.

To link a Forecast project with a Salesforce opportunity

1. Click Projects in the navigation ribbon.
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown.
3. Open the project to link with Salesforce.
4. Click Settings in the left side panel.
5. Select Integrations.
6. Under Salesforce, use the dropdown to select the Opportunity you wish to link to the project. 
   

If a Forecast project should no longer be linked to a Salesforce opportunity, it may be unlinked. 

To unlink a Forecast Project from a Salesforce Opportunity

1. Open the project you wish to unlink.
2. Click Settings in the left side panel.
3. Select Integrations.
4. Under Salesforce, click Unlink.
   
5. The project is no longer linked to the Salesforce Opportunity.

Related Articles

• Salesforce Integration Resources
• Setting up the Salesforce for Forecast Integration
• Viewing Forecast Data in Salesforce