"Donna" wrote:
I have a worksheet to track payments from several offices
I want to forcast what we would collect by the end of the month
as we receive payments.

You cannot forecast anything without knowing or observing a predictable
pattern. You have provided no information for anyone to do that. For all
we know, all payments end on 4/12 (!). Or the pattern of payments repeats
itself starting on 4/15. Or ....

If the numbers you provide is all you know about the pattern of payments,
then plotting the cumulative sum shows a decaying sum, and you can expect to
receive about $7000 by the end of the month.

I could explain how I arrived at that conclusion. But honestly, I think it
is a worthless prediction because it is completely devoid of context.

If you want constructive help, I suggest that you post more information.
For example, what is the nature of these payments; payments for what? And
what is the pattern of payments; what controls the daily amounts and the
pattern of payments?

Be forewarned: forecasting is an art, not a science. Having more
information might help. But it is unlikely to result in a reliable forecast
with so little data.


----- original message -----

"Donna" wrote in message
...
Hi:

I have a worksheet to track payments from several offices I want to
forcast
what we would collect by the end of the month as we receive payments. I
tried
the formula for forcast but could not get it to work.

Date Amount Collected
4/1/2009 $4,554
4/2/2009 $1,160
4/3/2009 $3,398
4/4/2009
4/5/2009 $50
4/6/2009 $2,825
4/7/2009 $2,586
4/8/2009 $2,603
4/9/2009 $2,015
4/10/2009 $1,308
4/11/2009 $500
4/12/2009 $600
4/13/2009 $-
4/14/2009 $-
4/15/2009 $-
4/16/2009 $-
4/17/2009 $-
4/18/2009 $-
4/19/2009 $-
4/20/2009 $-
4/21/2009 $-
4/22/2009 $-
4/23/2009 $-
4/24/2009 $-
4/25/2009 $-
4/26/2009 $-
4/27/2009 $-
4/28/2009 $-
4/29/2009 $-
4/30/2009 $-



--
Donna