Forecast your financial performance with Intuit Intelligence

Learn how to use Intuit Intelligence to create a 12-month financial forecast and run scenario analyzes in QuickBooks Online or Intuit Enterprise Suite.

Intuit Intelligence reviews your historical QuickBooks data to project your income, expenses, and cash flow. You can then chat with it to test business scenarios, like hiring a new employee, before you decide. This article shows you how to generate a forecast, run a scenario analysis, and troubleshoot common issues.

Before you begin

Here’s what you need for the most accurate forecast:

• A QuickBooks Online or Intuit Enterprise Suite company. This feature isn’t available in Intuit Accountant Suite.
• At least 2 years of transaction history in your books. Intuit Intelligence needs this much data to generate an accurate forecast.
• Up-to-date books. Enter and categorize your transactions, and connect your bank feeds, so your forecast reflects your complete business activity.

Generate a financial forecast

Intuit Intelligence reviews your past business activity to project your performance and cash flow for the next 12 months. You can start from any page where the forecast banner appears.

1. Open your Profit and loss report, your Budgets page, or your Forecasts page.
2. Find the forecast banner on the page.
3. Select the link in the banner, such as View forecast or View 12-mo forecast. This opens the chat panel.
4. Review your 12-month projection in the chat panel.

Your forecast is ready. Next, you can run a scenario analysis to test what-if questions about your business.

Run a scenario analysis

After you generate a forecast, you can chat with Intuit Intelligence to adjust your assumptions, compare different models, or ask forward-looking questions.

1. Generate a forecast, if you haven’t already.
2. Select a suggestion in the chat panel, such as Run a scenario analysis or Compare forecast vs budget, or enter your own question, like “Can I afford to hire a new employee next quarter?”
3. Select Send.
4. Review the scenario, then ask follow-up questions to refine your financial plan.
5. If you use QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can also select the option to convert your finished forecast into a budget you can track.

Troubleshoot your forecast

If your forecast doesn’t generate or doesn’t look right, one of these common issues is usually the cause.

Why does Intuit Intelligence say there isn’t enough data?

Intuit Intelligence needs at least 2 years of historical data to generate an accurate forecast. If your business is newer than that, keep recording your activity in QuickBooks and try again once you’ve built up more history. Also make sure all your historical transactions are entered and categorized, so Intuit Intelligence can use your complete records.

Why does my forecast seem inaccurate?

Your forecast is only as accurate as the data in your books. Connect your bank feeds and categorize all your transactions so Intuit Intelligence has a complete picture of your business. When you ask about your financials, Intuit Intelligence has a complete picture of your business. When you ask about your financials, Intuit Intelligence may also remind you to categorize pending transactions before you rely on the forecast.

Related articles

• Introducing Intuit Intelligence
• Ask Intuit Intelligence for help with common tasks
• Create and manage forecasts
• Create budgets in QuickBooks Online
• Use three-way financial forecasts in Intuit Enterprise Suite
• View and customize AI-assisted cash flow forecasts in Intuit Enterprise Suite