Forum Discussion
How to create a forecast in Power BI Desktop
Dear all,
I have a simple data, as below:
Column A: Date
Column B: Project
Column C: Plan (qty)
Column 😧 Actual (qty)
Currently I have data of Plan and Actual from January till September, how to forecast the Actual for October, November and December and what is the best visual for it?
Thank you,
Prima Indonesia
Hi PrimaSatria here is a good example how you can easily create your forecast value
Best Forecasting Visuals:
- Line Chart
- Area Chart
- Combo Chart
- Ribbon Chart
- Waterfall Chart
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7 Replies
- lbendlin
Super User
You don't have a lot of data points so the forecast will not be overly meaningful. You can use the built-in "Forecast line" feature or you can use the (equivalent) LINESTX function to compute the slope of your extrapolation.
- FBergamaschi
This is a statistical thing. Unless you have at least 20 actual data points, a forecast is completely meaningless.
And even if you have those points, you need to check for statistical significance, or even in that case it is meaningless.
If you want something for free, BUT without any reliability, yes you can use the forecast in Power BI available only for line charts, but again here you need to take data carefully since you have so few points
IN case you use LINESTX (a difficul function to use), please make sure to check for the significance (t statistics / pvalues). A forecast with a pvalue not in line with what you are looking for is not to be used.
So please try to get more actuals, you do not have enough at the moment
Best
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me in replies or I'll lose your thread
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Francesco Bergamaschi
MBA, M.Eng, M.Econ, Professor of BI
If this helped, please consider giving kudos and mark as a solution
me in replies or I'll lose your thread
Want to check your DAX skills? Answer my biweekly DAX challenges on the kubisco Linkedin page
Consider voting this Power BI idea
Francesco Bergamaschi
MBA, M.Eng, M.Econ, Professor of BI
- Royel
Hi PrimaSatria here is a good example how you can easily create your forecast value
Best Forecasting Visuals:
- Line Chart
- Area Chart
- Combo Chart
- Ribbon Chart
- Waterfall Chart
Find this helpful? ✔ Give a Kudo • Mark as Solution – help others too!
- danextian
This is honestly a very generic question. Power BI itself has its own forecasting feature but each company may have its ow methodology. If you simply want to show plan vs actual, you can just use a line chart.
Hi PrimaSatria ,
Just checking in to see if you query is resolved and if any responses were helpful.
Otherwise, feel free to reach out for further assistance.Thank you.
Hi PrimaSatria ,
Just wanted to check if the responses provided were helpful. If further assistance is needed, please reach out.
Thank you.Hi PrimaSatria ,
We wanted to kindly follow up regarding your query.You might find this useful: Use the Analytics pane in Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
If you need any further assistance, please reach out.
Thank you.
