A rolling forecast is an add/drop process for predicting the future over a set

period of time. Rolling forecasts are often used in long-term weather predictions,
project management, suppy chain management and financial planning.

If, for example, an organization needs to anticipate operating expenses a year in

advance, the rolling forecast's set period of time would be 12 months. After the
first month had passed, that month would be dropped from the beginning of the
forecast and another month would be added to the end of the forecast. A rolling
forecast's first in/fist out (FIFO) process ensures that the forecast always covers
the same ampunt of time. Because a rolling forecast window requires routine
revisions, it is sometimes referred to as a continous forecast or an iterative
forecast.

Rolling forecasts can be contrasted with static forecasts and recursive forecasts.
Static forecasts use a count-down process. A static forecast for an organization's
yealy operating expenses, for example, would still cover 12 specific months - but
ounce those 12 months has passed, the forst forecast woulf be discarded and an
entirely new forecast would be created for the next 12 months. Recursive forecasts,
on the other hand, simply add more time to the initial forecast while keeping the
same start date.