Analyzing time series data can help us understand the prevailing trend in the market. One-click forecast in Excel 2016 does it pretty well.Thus, it can help you understand current and future trends. In this post, let’s take a look at some of the capabilities that come with the new features available in Microsoft Office 2016.
Create forecast in Excel
It’s simple, if you have historical data ready, you can use it to create a forecast. It is important to highlight some points before proceeding. For example, when you create a forecast, Excel 2016 office application creates a new worksheet that includes a table of historical and forecast values. You also see a graph that expresses this data. This view is useful for understanding and predicting certain outcomes, such as future sales or consumer trends.
So, to create a forecast, open an Excel 2016 worksheet and enter two data series that match each other. A series with date or time entries for the timeline, and a series with corresponding values (something like a representation on a piece of paper that represents the value of the data along the X and Y axes). These values will be predicted for future dates.
Note that the timeline requires consistent intervals between data points. for example, monthly intervals with values on the 1st of every month. Why is it important? Because summarizing the data before creating a forecast will help you get more accurate forecast results.
Select both data series. Even if you select a cell in one of your series, Excel 2016 is programmed in such a way that the application itself automatically selects the rest of the data.
Then, on the Data tab, in the Predict group, select the Predict Sheet option. See screenshot below.
Then, in the Create Prediction Worksheet (displayed in the upper right corner of the screen), select the desired view (line graph or bar graph) to visually represent the forecast.
Then find the Forecast End field, select an end date and click Create.
Relax and unwind as Excel 2016 creates a new worksheet that contains a table of historical and forecast values and a chart that accurately reflects this data.
Everything is ready, you should find a new sheet on the left (“before”) where you entered the data series. Now you can customize your forecast if needed.
