How to Build and Maintain Rolling Forecasts in Vena

Meta Description: Learn how to implement rolling forecasts in Vena to improve agility, accuracy, and continuous planning across your organization.

Slug: vena-rolling-forecasts-best-practices
Focus Keyphrase: rolling forecasts in Vena
Tags: Vena Solutions, rolling forecast, financial planning, Excel forecasting, FP&A

Traditional annual budgets quickly become outdated. Rolling forecasts, on the other hand, give you a forward-looking view by continuously updating projections based on the most recent actuals.

In this article you’ll learn how to build a rolling forecast model in Vena using dynamic Excel templates and centralized data logic.

Step 1: Define the Forecasting Window

Decide on the forecast length:

  • 12-month rolling (e.g., always forecasting 12 months ahead)
  • 6+6 or 3+9 model (e.g., actuals for 6 months, forecast for next 6)

📌 Best Practice: Align the forecast window with your business cadence, monthly is common, but quarterly may work better for long-cycle industries.

Step 2: Automate the Monthly Rollover

Use Vena’s dynamic time dimension and period selectors to automatically shift your template forward each month:

  • Set a Period process variable  (e.g., “Last Period Closed”)

  • Reference this in your formula logic
  • Update the template once; roll forward automatically for each period

Step 2: Design Your Forecast Template

  1. Forecast Sheet – Setup your template with your Accounts in rows and Period and Scenario in columns.  Using Vena’s wildcard function to roll over quarterly forecast with a formula

=IF(Month<=LastClosedPeriod, Actual, Q1 Forecast)

⚙️ Pro Tip: Use named ranges to support template refreshes across months without breaking formulas.

Step 4: Enable Collaboration with Workflow

  • Assign rolling forecast tasks by department
  • Set deadlines for updates
  • Add review and approval stages for Finance and Management

📅 Bonus Tip: Keep contributors engaged by sending monthly or quarterly reminder emails using Vena’s workflow notifications.

Step 5: Report on Accuracy

Use Vena reporting to:

  • Compare forecast vs. actuals
  • Track forecast accuracy trends
  • Visualize changes across rolling periods (e.g., forecast vs. previous forecast)

📊 Best Practice: Include commentary fields in your templates for business users to explain changes.

Rolling forecasts help you stay agile and make better-informed decisions. With Vena, you can automate the mechanics and focus on strategic insights.