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Drawing a Custom Boundary for Territory Balancing

When you balance territories on a custom layer, you don't have to process the whole layer. You can draw a boundary on the map around the area you need, for example a few districts of a city, and GeoForce will balance only the polygons inside it. A saved boundary stays in the list, so you can run balancing for the same area again with different parameters without drawing it again.

When to use a boundary

How you define the balancing area depends on the layer:

Layer How to define the area
A layer whose polygons are linked to regions, for example a standard layer based on reference geography Select the region and city in the lists on the Balancing tab. The selected area is outlined on the map automatically.
A layer whose polygons have no region, for example a custom layer uploaded from a GeoJSON file or Voronoi polygons built on it Draw a boundary, as described in this article.

Note: These two methods can't be combined. A boundary can be applied only to a layer whose polygons have no region, and for such a layer a boundary is the only way to limit the balancing area.

Before you begin

Important: Only representatives whose starting points are inside the boundary receive territories. Representatives whose starting points are outside it are not included in this balancing.

Drawing a boundary

  1. Open the Balancing tab (the scales icon). The Boundary field appears below the list of balancing results.

    B1.png

  2. Open the Boundary list and select Set boundary. If you haven't created any boundaries yet, the list shows Not found under this option.

    B2.png

  3. Click the map to place the corners of the boundary one by one. To finish drawing the boundary, double-click the last corner point with the left mouse button. The area inside is shaded.

    B3.png

  4. Adjust the shape if needed:

    • drag a corner (a white point) to move it;
    • drag a small point in the middle of a side to add a new corner;
    • click Undo last edit to cancel your last change.

    The panel at the bottom of the map shows how many polygons are inside the boundary. Use this number to check that you've outlined the right area.

    B4.png

  5. Click Save. The message Boundary created appears, and the boundary is shown on the map as an outline. To stop drawing without saving, click Close.

    B5.png

Tip: If the panel shows 0 polygons, the layer has no polygons in the outlined area, and there will be nothing to balance. Move the boundary to an area covered by the layer.

Balancing the area inside the boundary

  1. Make sure the new boundary is selected in the Boundary field. GeoForce names boundaries automatically, for example Boundary - 1 • 14/10/2026.

  2. Set the balancing parameters, for example Compactness, Market Potential and the HCO type. To learn more, see Select balancing parameters.

    B6.png

  3. Click Start. While the calculation is running, the panel is locked and a progress message appears at the bottom of the screen.

    B7.png

  4. Review the result. The polygons inside the boundary are colored in the colors of the representatives they were assigned to. Polygons outside the boundary are not changed.

    B8.png
  5. To keep the result, click Save (the check mark icon). To discard it, click the cancel icon.

Note: Balancing doesn't change the shape of polygons. It only assigns whole polygons to representatives. A polygon that crosses the boundary line is assigned as a whole, so colored areas may extend slightly beyond the outline.

Grouping the result by brick codes

After balancing, you can group the result by your own brick codes, for example IQVIA bricks. In this case, polygons whose organizations belong to the same brick are assigned to the same representative. This is useful when your sales data is reported by bricks.

  1. In the list of balancing results at the top of the panel, click Add grouping. A new line with the Group by list appears under the current result.

  2. In the Group by list, select the brick type to group by, for example Bricks IQVIA. The list shows the brick types available in your project. Not set means the result isn't grouped.

    B10.png

  3. After you select a brick type, the map still shows the original result, and a hint appears under the list, for example Showing balancing result #82. Press ⟳ to update the view. Click the refresh icon (the circular arrows) to apply the grouping. The map then shows the result grouped by the selected bricks.

    B11.png
  4. To switch between the original and the grouped result, select the corresponding line in the list. To remove the grouping, click the minus icon next to the Group by list.
  5. To keep the result you see on the map, click Save (the check mark icon).

Important: Grouping works only if organizations are linked to bricks of the selected type. See Brick Data in Datasets. To learn more about grouping, see Balancing Territories with Brick Data.

Reusing a boundary

A boundary doesn't reset when you change the parameters. To compare results, change the parameters and click Start again: the same area is balanced with the new settings.

All boundaries you've created are listed in the Boundary field, newest first. To balance an area you outlined earlier, simply select its boundary from the list.

Note: Boundaries belong to a business unit. If you switch to another business unit, its own list of boundaries is shown.

Deleting a boundary

  1. Select the boundary in the Boundary field.

  2. Click Delete boundary (the trash can icon next to the field).

    B9.png
  3. In the Removing the boundary window, confirm the deletion. The boundary is removed from the list and from the map.

Important: You can't delete a boundary while a balancing that uses it is running. Wait until the calculation finishes.

Boundary names

  • Names are assigned automatically in the format Boundary - <number> • <date>.
  • Numbering starts from 1 every day.
  • Numbers of deleted boundaries are not reused.

Limitations

  • You can't rename a boundary or change its shape after saving. To outline a different area, draw a new boundary.
  • A boundary only selects existing polygons of the layer. It doesn't create new polygons and doesn't split the area into Voronoi polygons. Split the layer first, then outline the area you need.
  • A boundary isn't assigned to any representative and isn't colored on the map. It only defines which polygons are included in the calculation.

Troubleshooting

Problem Cause and solution
There is no Boundary field or Set boundary option The layer's polygons are linked to regions. Use the region and city lists instead, or switch to a layer without regions.
Message: A boundary can only bound a layer whose polygons have no region You tried to apply a boundary to a layer with regions. Select the area in the region and city lists instead.
Message: A layer whose polygons have no region can only be bounded by a boundary The current layer has no regions. Draw or select a boundary in the Boundary field.
The panel shows 0 polygons inside the boundary The layer has no polygons in the outlined area. Draw the boundary over an area covered by the layer.
A representative didn't get a territory The representative's starting point is outside the boundary. Move the starting point inside the boundary or draw a larger boundary.
The map doesn't change after you select a brick type in Group by The grouping isn't applied yet. Click the refresh icon (the circular arrows) to update the view.
The Group by list shows only Not set No brick types are available in the project. Add brick data first. See Brick Data in Datasets.
Message: The boundary cannot be deleted while a balancing that uses it is running Wait until the balancing finishes, then delete the boundary.
The boundary disappeared from the list Check the business unit at the top of the screen. Boundaries are stored separately for each business unit.