Bottom-Up Forecast
Definition
A financial forecast constructed from granular operational assumptions, including customer count, pricing, conversion rates, sales capacity, and headcount, that aggregate to a company-level revenue and expense total. A bottom-up forecast is distinct from a top-down forecast, which derives projections from market share assumptions rather than from operational drivers. The defining characteristic of a bottom-up forecast is that every output can be traced to a specific operational input.
Common Misapplication
The most common misapplication is labelling a top-down forecast as bottom-up after adding a few operational assumptions. A forecast that begins with a revenue target and then constructs a cost model around it is top-down regardless of how its assumptions are described. A genuine bottom-up forecast begins with the capacity of the sales team, the marketing budget, and the conversion rates, and derives the revenue figure from those inputs.
FFI Standard Reference
This term is defined and applied in Book 2, Section 2.1: The Forecasting Methodology Standard.
Related Terms
Citable URL
This term may be cited using the following permanent URL.
Full citation format: Founder Financial Infrastructure Standard, Beta v0.5, Glossary: Bottom-Up Forecast. https://ffistandard.org/glossary/bottom-up-forecast/. 2026.