The Reverse Planning app for Business Central lets you break down a sales forecast into the full demand picture for components and capacity. You transfer forecast lines into a planning journal, break them down through every level of the low-level code hierarchy, and end up with a complete list of everything you need to buy or produce.
You can use the breakdown for two purposes. First, you can convert it into a demand forecast, a component forecast, or a sales forecast if you have the Flexible Forecast app. Second, you can read the planning routing lines on the calculated production orders to see your future capacity requirements.
There is no dedicated export tool yet. You set filters in the worksheet and export the data to a BI cube or another reporting tool to get an overview of expected component and capacity demand for the coming year.
Breaking down a sales forecast with the Reverse Planning app
The starting point is a sales forecast, either a present one or one that sits in the future. In this example the forecast covers April next year. You first run a batch that calculates all the items that carry a sales forecast for next year, and you transfer those lines into the planning journal.
From there you run the breakdown. A template set up for April next year takes the planning lines and explodes them through the low-level code hierarchy. You filter on the items that are not your forecast items, so the breakdown only follows the demand that originates from the top-level forecast.
Everything in the planning worksheet is broken down into the Reverse Planning worksheet and written back into the planning worksheet. The result is the complete set of demand coming from the top-level forecast, broken down through the full hierarchy. That tells you exactly what you need to buy or produce next year to cover the April forecast.
Converting the breakdown into a forecast
Once you have the breakdown, you can turn it into a forecast. With the Flexible Forecast app you use the calculated demand to create a demand forecast as either a component forecast or a sales forecast. This means the breakdown does not just stay as a planning exercise. It feeds directly back into your forecasting.
Reading capacity requirements from the routing lines
The breakdown also generates production orders for every level of the hierarchy, and you can navigate into the routing lines on those orders. The routing lines are standard Business Central functionality.
If you look at the first line, for example item 1000, you see the routing for the period in which that item would be produced to cover the forecasted amount. The breakdown follows the hierarchy down, so the lowest production order in the chain sits earliest in time, for instance March 2026, while later operations sit further out. When you view the routing on each order, you see the planning routing line that tells you what work is required and when.
Exporting the data for capacity planning
There is currently no built-in tool to export the result to an external system. What you do have is the data sitting in the worksheet out of the box. You set the filters you need and export the data to a BI cube or a similar reporting tool.
From there you get an overview of the expected component requirements and the expected capacity requirements for next year. That lets you work out how much capacity you need from employees, machines, and other resources to produce what you have forecasted. This is how you use the Reverse Planning app to predict capacity requirements ahead of time.
Q&A
What does the Reverse Planning app do with a sales forecast?
It breaks down a present or future sales forecast through the full low-level code hierarchy. You get a complete list of the components you need to buy or produce and the capacity demands required to cover that forecast.
How do you start a reverse planning breakdown?
You run a batch that calculates all items carrying a sales forecast for the period, transfer those lines into the planning journal, and then run the breakdown using a template set up for that period. You filter on items that are not your forecast items so the breakdown only follows demand from the top-level forecast.
Can you convert the breakdown into a forecast?
Yes. If you have the Flexible Forecast app, you can use the breakdown to create a demand forecast as either a component forecast or a sales forecast.
How do you see the capacity requirements from the breakdown?
The breakdown generates production orders for each level of the hierarchy. You navigate into the routing lines on those orders, which are standard Business Central, to see the planning routing lines and the capacity needed for each period.
Can you export the reverse planning data?
There is no dedicated export tool yet. You set filters in the worksheet and export the data to a BI cube or another reporting tool to get an overview of expected component and capacity requirements for next year.