Collaborative Forecasting with PMI Prediction
Summary
This article explains how to use PMI Prediction effectively through collaborative forecasting — a method that combines automated system forecasts with your own expertise. It covers when to review and adjust forecasts, how to interpret forecast details, and how frequently forecasts are updated. The goal is to support more accurate, informed decision-making by using both system intelligence and local knowledge.
Introduction
PMI Prediction can forecast business demand up to 16 months in advance. These forecasts provide a strong foundation, but your experience and insights are essential in refining them.
This is what we call collaborative forecasting — a partnership between system automation and your local knowledge.
To begin, we recommend reading the article PMI prediction explained in the Knowledge base, which provides a helpful overview. You’ll also find links to related topics if you need more detail.
How PMI Prediction supports your forecasting
PMI Prediction automatically generates forecasts based on historical booking data and patterns. In most cases, the forecast will be accurate for the majority of dates, but there will always be situations where manual adjustments are necessary.
When to manually adjust the forecast
There are specific types of dates that may require manual review and adjustment:
Special events
For major events such as concerts or festivals, demand and pricing can differ significantly from typical trends. If similar events haven’t occurred in the past, PMI may underestimate occupancy or ARR (Average Room Rate). In these cases, manual forecasting adjustments are recommended.
Public holidays
Public holidays often shift and may not have consistent historical patterns. Review these dates closely and adjust if necessary.
School holidays
Shorter school breaks (e.g., autumn holidays) can be difficult to forecast, particularly if your booking window is short. These dates may not generate reliable system forecasts until OTB (on-the-books) data starts to shift. Monitor these periods and adjust accordingly.
Closed periods
If your property has regular closure periods, PMI Prediction may detect and reflect this. However, if closures vary year to year, the system may not accurately predict them.
Forecasts more than 29 days ahead will show zero occupancy for recognized closures.
Within 28 days, if on the books exists and the system lacks historical reference, PMI may assume the property will be open.
For closures that don’t match historical patterns, we recommend manually adjusting the forecast.
Managing capacity changes
If your available rooms are changing (due to renovation, reopening, etc.), be sure to update the Available Rooms in PMI Prediction in advance. This allows the system to adjust and align future forecasts. Note that it may take a few weeks for the system to fully adapt to changes.
Understanding system logic
If the PMI prediction forecast differs from what you expect, you can view the forecast details by clicking the PMI Prediction value. This will display:
When the forecast was generated
Lead time and season
The model(s) used
Historical dates used for comparison, ranked by similarity
This helps you understand why the system produced a certain result.
For example, if PMI Prediction suggests a higher forecast (green) and you have a lower forecast (yellow), reviewing the historical data will clarify why the system predicts a higher pickup.
Maintaining ownership of the forecast
Even with this level of system support, the final responsibility for the forecast remains with you. Collaborative Forecasting means using system data as a foundation while applying your own insights to ensure it reflects real conditions.
Forecast update frequency
PMI Prediction refreshes data based on lead time:
- 0–10 weeks ahead: Daily (after new OTB and daily actuals are imported)
- 11 weeks–6 months ahead: Weekly
- 6–16 months ahead: Every two weeks
-
Getting started
-
-
- Arrivals/Departures
- Data elements required from PMS
- Manual Export PMS – Fidelio
- How to do a manual PMS export from Opera
- Manual Export PMS – Picasso
- Manual Export PMS – Protel
- Manual Export PMS – Spirit Web
- PMS – Cenium
- PMS – Citybreak
- PMS – Fidelio
- PMS – Opera
- PMS – Protel
- How to do a manual PMS export from HotSoft
-
Video tutorials
-
- Administration Labor cockpit [14:49]
- Bar and Pub Labor cockpit [12:21]
- Breakfast Labor cockpit [12:05]
- Consolidated view in Benchmarking and Management Perspective [3:20]
- Flash Report Onboarding [6:27]
- Flash report overview [2:25]
- Food cost cockpit [6:21]
- Kitchen Labor cockpit [11:28]
- Labor Cockpit Onboarding [18:16]
- Labor cockpit overview [3:12]
- Live forecast 1/5 navigation [5:05]
- Live Forecast 2/5 Rooms [5:05]
- Live forecast 3/5 meeting & event [5:40]
- Live forecast 4/5 food & beverage [6:11]
- Live forecast 5/5 breakfast [7:19]
- Live forecast onboarding [6:06]
- Live forecast overview [2:58]
- Management perspective overview [3:06]
- P&L Planning 1/10 Purpose and benefits [2:25]
- P&L Planning 10/10 How to approve forecast and budget or target [2:34]
- P&L Planning 2/10 Navigation [4:26]
- P&L Planning 3/10 How to build a total [4:29]
- P&L Planning 4/10 Three ways of inserting figures [4:32]
- P&L Planning 5/10 How to add a sub account [1:42]
- P&L Planning 6/10 How to build a constant [2:42]
- P&L Planning 7/10 Staff module [2:48]
- P&L Planning 8/10 How to add a staff member [1:33]
- P&L Planning 9/10 How to revise and submit a forecast [3:01]
- PMI Planning Staff Module Overview [3:07]
- Repair and Maintenance Labor cockpit [13:01]
- Restaurant Labor cockpit [12:30]
- Schedule 1/8 Navigation [5:12]
- Schedule 2/8 How to create a labor cockpit schedule [4:29]
- Schedule 3/8 How to add a team member [2:07]
- Schedule 4/8 How to create a shift code [3:30]
- Schedule 5/8 How to add shift codes to team members [3:41]
- Schedule 6/8 How to create a rotating schedule [3:20]
- Schedule 7/8 How to replace shift codes for a period [2:00]
- Schedule 8/8 How to create split shifts between departments [2:42]
- Stewarding Labor cockpit [11:38]
- Timesheet Onboarding [4:14]
- Show all articles ( 26 ) Collapse Articles
-
- Articles coming soon
-
- Administration Labor cockpit [14:49]
- Bar and Pub Labor cockpit [12:21]
- Breakfast Labor cockpit [12:05]
- Food cost cockpit [6:21]
- Front office Labor cockpit [12:05]
- Housekeeping Labor cockpit [11:20]
- Kitchen Labor cockpit [11:28]
- Labor Cockpit Onboarding [18:16]
- Labor cockpit overview [3:12]
- Repair and Maintenance Labor cockpit [13:01]
- Restaurant Labor cockpit [12:30]
- Schedule 1/8 Navigation [5:12]
- Schedule 2/8 How to create a labor cockpit schedule [4:29]
- Schedule 3/8 How to add a team member [2:07]
- Schedule 4/8 How to create a shift code [3:30]
- Schedule 5/8 How to add shift codes to team members [3:41]
- Schedule 6/8 How to create a rotating schedule [3:20]
- Schedule 7/8 How to replace shift codes for a period [2:00]
- Schedule 8/8 How to create split shifts between departments [2:42]
- Stewarding Labor cockpit [11:38]
- Timesheet Onboarding [4:14]
- Show all articles ( 6 ) Collapse Articles
-
- How to create a pre-populated new plan for Budget or Forecast [3:02]
- How to edit a plan [3:52]
- P&L Planning 1/10 Purpose and benefits [2:25]
- P&L Planning 10/10 How to approve forecast and budget or target [2:34]
- P&L Planning 2/10 Navigation [4:26]
- P&L Planning 3/10 How to build a total [4:29]
- P&L Planning 4/10 Three ways of inserting figures [4:32]
- P&L Planning 5/10 How to add a sub account [1:42]
- P&L Planning 6/10 How to build a constant [2:42]
- P&L Planning 7/10 Staff module [2:48]
- P&L Planning 8/10 How to add a staff member [1:33]
- P&L Planning 9/10 How to revise and submit a forecast [3:01]
-
- PMI GoGreen - Cockpit overview [2:49]
- How to create a pre-populated new plan for Budget or Forecast [3:02]
- PMI GoGreen - Water [3:04]
- PMI GoGreen - Missed opportunities [2:57]
- PMI GoGreen - Register actual consumption [2:24]
- PMI GoGreen -Towels & linens [3:02]
- PMI GoGreen - How to prevent food waste [3:03]
- PMI GoGreen - How to reduce energy waste [3:08]
- PMI GoGreen - Waste [3:04]
-
-
PMI Release notes
-
- GoGreen Task Bank and Cockpit enhancements - 12.24
- Express planner enhancement 12.24
- Refrigerants and Fuel Tracking for GoGreen cockpits enhancement - 11.24
- KPI targets enhancement - 10.24
- Automatic renewal of constants enhancement - 10.24
- GoGreen manual entry enhancement - 10.24
- CO2 factors enhancement - 09.24
- KPI targets enhancement - 07.24
- NextGen Rooms Live forecast statistics and pickup data enhancement - 07.24
- Date picker enhancement - 07.24
- Update to NextGen Rooms Live forecast - 06.24
- P&L planning accounts enhancement - 06.24
- Weather normalization enhancement - 05.24
- Update to NextGen Rooms Live forecast page: Sense check updates - 05.24
- PMI adoption index enhancement - 05.24
- PMI adoption index enhancements - April 2024
- Consolidation OTB enhancement - April 2024
- Update to NextGen Rooms live forecast page: Personal view options, Mar 2024
- User administration enhancements March 2024
- GM daily digest enhancement March 2024
- PMI Index calculation updates for 2024
- KPI targets enhancement February 2024
- KPI targets enhancement - January 2024
- Show all articles ( 8 ) Collapse Articles
-
- GoGreen benchmarking enhancement - 01.23
- GoGreen index calculation enhancement - 04.23
- PMI adoption index: Help videos for measurements enhancement - 02.23
- Activity log enhancement - 07.23
- Arrivals and departures forecast enhancement - 02.23
- KPI upload tool enhancement - 08.23
- GoGreen Food waste cockpit enhancement - 08.23
- GoGreen Doing cockpit enhancement - 06.23
- Benchmarking: PMI Index value updates based on time period selected - 06.23
- GoGreen cockpit: Highlight months missing data on 12 month graph - 07.23
- KPI targets enhancement - 01.23
- Goal distribution tool enhancement - 09.23
- Live forecast enhancement: Editing ARR values -12.23
- User administration release note - 12.23
- New page view of Rooms live forecast - 12.23
-
- Benchmarking calculation enhancement - 03.22
- Enhancement to add department type in the P&L report - 03.22
- Print all unmapped accounts on chain level - 03.22
- Printing to Excel and PDF enhancement - 03.22
- Introduction to PMI enhancement
- Room Live forecast – Change to pickup fields - 04.22
- Import status enhancement - 09.22
- Information/calculation rows in PMI schedule - 09.22
- Export to Google Sheets enhancement - 08.22
- PMI Advanced settings – Period locking - 06.22
- GM daily digest enhancements - 09.22
- PMI adoption index: Option to filter and export scores enhancement - 12.22
- Profit center Live forecast: Automatically switch between OTB and revenue driver
- SMART Forecast enhancement - 09.22
-
- Articles coming soon
-
-
Onboarding
-
- Onboarding roles overview
- Onboarding roles – Breakfast
- Onboarding roles – Finance
- Onboarding roles – Food cost
- Onboarding roles – Front Office
- Onboarding roles – Housekeeping
- Onboarding roles – Kitchen
- Onboarding roles – Restaurant and Meeting & Event
- Onboarding roles – Stewarding
- Onboarding roles – Repair and Maintenance
- GM Introduction to PMI
- Onboarding roles – Bar and Pub
- Onboarding roles – Administration
-
-
GM's corner
-
PMI homepage
-
PMI planning
-
- Setting productivity targets and hours
- How to work with Rooms Budget and forecast
- How to work with non-rooms Budget and forecast
- Use Forecast/Budget hours from Cockpit in P&L Staff module
- Express planner overview
- How the Express planner works
- Express planner: Settings explanation
- How to input a budget in PMI
- Setting productivity targets in PMI
-
- Accounts overview
- How to populate and edit accounts
- How to approve a forecast or budget in PMI
- How to copy from reference
- How to edit and update using the staffing tool
- How to make a profit forecast
- How to set up a weekly Live forecast
- How to add a comparison year in P&L
- How to modify a P&L report
- Planning Menu – Tools and View Options overview
- Planning staff module overview
- How to build a report
- How to add staff and manage staff cost
- Staffing screen overview
- How to input a budget in PMI
-
-
Cockpit
-
- Labor cockpit overview
- Labor Cockpit Preparations
- Labor cockpit cost driver
- SMART forecast explained
- How does SMART allocate daily hours?
- Using arrivals and departures as a cost driver
- Closing Profit Center or Cockpit
- How to work with labor cost
- Min/Max explanation
- Parent and sub-cockpits explained
- Staffing guide explained
- How to calulate arrivals and departures in the Labor cockpit
- Daily and weekly routines for department heads
- Understanding the importance of including outsourced labor hours in PMI
-
- Labor cockpit schedule
- How to make a schedule
- How to revise a schedule
- PMI Schedule: Information, Calculation rows explanation
- Predefined shift codes
- Printing a schedule
- Revise staff
- Schedule 1/8 Navigation [5:12]
- Schedule 2/8 How to create a labor cockpit schedule [4:29]
- Schedule 3/8 How to add a team member [2:07]
- Schedule 4/8 How to create a shift code [3:30]
- Schedule 5/8 How to add shift codes to team members [3:41]
- Schedule 6/8 How to create a rotating schedule [3:20]
- Schedule 7/8 How to replace shift codes for a period [2:00]
- Schedule 8/8 How to create split shifts between departments [2:42]
- Scheduling
- Split Shifts Between Departments
- The Schedule Tools & View menu
- Show all articles ( 3 ) Collapse Articles
-
-
Live forecast
- Live forecast overview
- How to set up a Live forecast: configuration settings
- Live forecast tools and personal view settings
- PMI prediction explained
- Pickup explanation
- Profit center Live forecast: Automatically switch between OTB and revenue driver
- Revenue driver explained
- Segment OTB
- Submit Live Forecast to Forecast (monthly routine)
- NextGen Rooms Live forecast overview
- Rooms Live forecast: Weekly routine overview
- Rooms live forecast: How to work with auto Live forecast
- NextGen Rooms live forecast: Personal view options
- Rooms Live forecast: Sense check mode explained
- How pickup fields are displayed and used in Room live forecast
- Collaborative Forecasting with PMI Prediction
- Show all articles ( 1 ) Collapse Articles
-
Data analysis views
-
Administration
-
GoGreen
-
- Comparative data explained
- Data table general explained
- Formula/Calculations explained
- Goal charts and YoY comparison explained
- How to edit a GoGreen plan
- How to set up a Plan
- Intro to NextGen GoGreen Planning
- Main chart explained
- Plan values explained
- Save changes button explained
- Sense check mode explained
- Unit price explained
- Volume/usage/consumption explained
- How to do a monthly forecast routine in NextGen Planning
- How the GoGreen targets are calculated
- GoGreen home page overview
- GoGreen Doing Cockpit overview
- GoGreen Learning page overview
- GoGreen index overview
- Weather normalization overview
- CO2 factors overview
- GoGreen targets explanation
- GoGreen index: How are the measurements calculated?
- Useful links for sustainability and environmental management best practice
- How to make a manual entry in a GoGreen cockpit
- Weather normalization explained
- GoGreen benchmarking enhancement - 01.23
-
-
FAQ
-
- How can I see the hours that are imported to PMI?
- How do I enter the rates?
- How do I know if I am scheduling according to activity?
- How does PMI summarize the hours?
- How is productivity calculated?
- What are fixed hours?
- What are productive and non-productive hours?
- What are the rates and how are they calculated?
- What is a cost driver?
- What is min/max hours?
- Why do the planned hours in the Timekeeping System (TKS) not match PMI?
- Why is the total number of hours for the month too low/high?
- What is SMART?
-
- How do I estimate my Closing Inventory?
- My food cost % is wrong (too high/low). Why is that?
- My turnover days are set to 32. What does that mean?
- What are my routines in the Food cost cockpit?
- What do I enter in the Purchase column?
- What is opening and closing stock?
- What is the recommended number of turnover days?
- What is turnover days and how is it calculated?
- Where do I change my food cost forecast?
- Why is opening and closing stock important?
-
- Can one employee work in two departments?
- How do I add a shift code?
- How do I copy hours into the unspecified row (Timekeeping system excluded)
- How do I create a rotating schedule?
- How do I make a new schedule?
- How do I navigate the tools in the schedule?
- What are timekeeping system (TKS) excluded hours for?
- How do I add a schedule to my cockpit?
-
- Do I have to change my budget & forecast manually every month?
- How can I see what the current cost driver is?
- How do I set a productivity goal?
- How does the cost driver effect my hours and productivity?
- Where can I find the upload function?
- Why are my budget and forecast locked?
- What is Room revenue planning?
-
- How do I copy to Live forecast?
- How do I submit my Live forecast to forecast?
- How do I reset the pickup for a full month?
- Why do I have a red triangle to the left of the date?
- What are Pickup statistics?
- What are covers?
- What are the seasons in PMI?
- What do the pickups show and why are they sometimes negative?
- What is a revenue driver?
- What is the difference between Forecast and Live forecast?
- Why does on the books in PMI not match what we have in our PMS?
- How do I calculate ARR and ADR?
-
- Can I edit the figures in the Flash report?
- Different view options in the Flash report
- How am I performing compared to my forecast/budget/last year?
- How can I print the report?
- How can I switch between viewing daily and monthly figures?
- How do I check what segments add to the total daily figure?
- How do I edit my covers?
- Why are my room/guest nights wrong?
- What is the Flash Report
- Why is my revenue wrong?
- How is the month-to-date forecast and budget calculated in the Flash report?
- Why are the numbers in the Flash report different from the Live forecast?
- Where can I see account mapping details?
-
- How do I know if the mapping is correct?
- How do I know where accounts should go in PMI?
- How do I map the categories in the timekeeping system (TKS)?
- I cannot see my department in Timekeeping System (TKS) mapping. How do I see it?
- There is a position missing in the Timekeeping system mapping. How can I fix this?
- What are Categories in PMI Timekeeping system?
- What is Departments in Timekeeping system (TKS) mapping?
- What is mapping accounts?
- What is mapping – timekeeping system?
-
KPIs
-
General user knowledge
-
Miscellaneous
-
Access system
-
d2o team only
-
- Articles coming soon
-
- Articles coming soon
-
- Articles coming soon
-
- Articles coming soon
-
-
PMI adoption index