A forecast built on stages that mean something
Most pipeline problems are definition problems. If two reps disagree about what "Proposal" means, the forecast is arithmetic on top of guesswork. Golden Porch asks you to write the criteria down, then holds deals to them.
Entry criteria per stage
Each stage carries a short definition of what must be true to enter it — budget confirmed, decision-maker identified, proposal sent. The definition sits on the board where people can see it, not in an onboarding document nobody reopens.
Deals that move without meeting the criteria are not blocked, they are flagged. In practice, blocking teaches people to work around the system; flagging gives managers something real to review.
Ageing and stalls, surfaced early
Every deal carries how long it has been in its current stage. When that exceeds what is normal for the stage, the card changes state — visible on the board rather than buried in a report someone runs at quarter end.
A deal with no scheduled next step is treated the same way. In most pipelines it is the single most reliable predictor that nothing further is going to happen.
Two numbers, shown together
The weighted forecast and the raw open value tell you different things. Showing only one of them is how forecasts drift.
Weighted view
Deal value against stage probability, with probabilities you set per stage rather than accepting a default.
Committed view
Only what owners have explicitly committed for the period. Usually the number worth arguing about.
Movement
What entered, advanced, slipped or closed since the last review — the change, not just the snapshot.
Multiple pipelines
New business, renewals and expansion rarely share the same stages. Each pipeline gets its own stages, criteria and probabilities, while reporting can still roll them up when you want the combined picture.
Deal history
Every stage change is recorded with who made it and when. Over time this is what makes stage conversion analysis meaningful — you can see how long deals genuinely take to move, rather than relying on anyone's recollection.
A note on hygiene: the flags described here only help if someone looks at them. Teams that get value from this tend to spend ten minutes on stale deals in an existing weekly meeting, rather than adding a new one.
Closing and reasons
Closed-lost asks for a reason from a list you define. It is a small amount of friction at the least motivated moment in the process, but it is the only way loss analysis ever produces anything useful.
Next: the parts that run themselves
Most pipeline hygiene is mechanical. It does not need a person remembering to do it.
Automation