forecast-hygienelisted

# Forecast Hygiene ## Purpose Turn a messy pipeline into a forecast you can defend: every deal in the right category for the right reason, close dates that survive scrutiny, slipping and sandbagged deals surfaced, and a cleaned roll-up your manager won't pick apart. ## Inputs - The current pipeline (CRM export, list, or your recollection): deal, amount, stage, close date, forecast category, owner. - The forecast period you're committing to (this month / this quarter). - Per-deal context: last activity, next step, and what's actually been agreed. ## Method 1. **Apply forecast category discipline.** Every open deal lands in exactly one bucket, defined by a hard bar — not by gut feel: - **Commit** — you would bet your number on it. Mutually agreed close plan, buyer has confirmed timing, budget is real, and the only remaining steps are ones *you* control or are already scheduled. If it slips, you owe an explanation. - **Best case** — credible path to close this period, but a dependency you don't control is open (legal, procurement, a stakeholder not yet bought in, a step not yet scheduled). Upside, not your number. - **Pipeline** — qualified and progressing, but won't close this period or the path isn't proven. Not in the forecast. - **Omitted/closed** — no realistic path; stop carrying it. 2. **Run the evidence test on every Commit.** A deal is only Commit if you can name, for each, the *artifact* that proves it: - Confirmed cl