diff --git a/R/create.R b/R/create.R
index 5eac4a5dc..07dda74eb 100644
--- a/R/create.R
+++ b/R/create.R
@@ -411,35 +411,6 @@ create_obs_model <- function(obs = obs_opts(), dates) {
   return(data)
 }
 
-##' Create forecast settings
-##'
-##' @param forecast A list of options as generated by [forecast_opts()] defining
-##'   the forecast opitions. Defaults to [forecast_opts()]. If NULL then no
-##'   forecasting will be done.
-##' @inheritParams create_stan_data
-##' @return A list of settings ready to be passed to stan defining
-##' the Observation Model
-##' @keywords internal
-create_forecast_data <- function(forecast = forecast_opts(), data) {
-  if (forecast$infer_accumulate && any(data$accumulate)) {
-    accumulation_times <- which(!data$accumulate)
-    gaps <- unique(diff(accumulation_times))
-    if (length(gaps) == 1 && gaps > 1) { ## all gaps are the same
-      forecast$accumulate <- gaps
-      cli_inform(c(
-        "i" = "Forecasts accumulated every {gaps} days, same as accumulation
-        used in the likelihood. To change this behaviour or silence this
-        message set {.var accumulate} explicitly in {.fn forecast_opts}."
-      ))
-    }
-  }
-  data <- list(
-    horizon = forecast$horizon,
-    future_accumulate = forecast$accumulate
-  )
-  return(data)
-}
-
 #' Create Stan Data Required for estimate_infections
 #'
 #' @description`r lifecycle::badge("stable")`
@@ -458,7 +429,6 @@ create_forecast_data <- function(forecast = forecast_opts(), data) {
 #' @inheritParams create_obs_model
 #' @inheritParams create_rt_data
 #' @inheritParams create_backcalc_data
-#' @inheritParams create_forecast_data
 #' @importFrom stats lm
 #' @importFrom purrr safely
 #' @return A list of stan data
@@ -490,12 +460,8 @@ create_stan_data <- function(data, seeding_time, rt, gp, obs, backcalc,
     shifted_cases = shifted_cases,
     t = length(data$date),
     burn_in = 0,
-    seeding_time = seeding_time
-  )
-  # add forecast data
-  stan_data <- c(
-    stan_data,
-    create_forecast_data(forecast, cases)
+    seeding_time = seeding_time,
+    horizon = forecast$horizon
   )
   # add Rt data
   stan_data <- c(
diff --git a/R/estimate_infections.R b/R/estimate_infections.R
index 95c875f3c..f3e7b7af6 100644
--- a/R/estimate_infections.R
+++ b/R/estimate_infections.R
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@
 #' used as the `truncation` argument here, thereby propagating the uncertainty
 #' in the estimate.
 #'
+#' @param forecast A list of options as generated by [forecast_opts()] defining
+#' the forecast opitions. Defaults to [forecast_opts()]. If NULL then no
+#' forecasting will be done.
+#'
 #' @param horizon Deprecated; use `forecast` instead to specify the predictive
 #'   horizon
 #'
@@ -65,7 +69,6 @@
 #' [estimate_truncation()]
 #' @inheritParams create_stan_args
 #' @inheritParams create_stan_data
-#' @inheritParams create_forecast_data
 #' @inheritParams create_gp_data
 #' @inheritParams fit_model_with_nuts
 #' @inheritParams create_clean_reported_cases
@@ -225,9 +228,14 @@ estimate_infections <- function(data,
 
   ## add forecast horizon if forecasting is required
   if (forecast$horizon > 0) {
-    reported_cases <- add_horizon(
-      reported_cases, forecast$horizon, forecast$accumulate
+    horizon_args <- list(
+      data = reported_cases,
+      horizon = forecast$horizon
     )
+    if (!is.null(forecast$accumulate)) {
+      horizon_args$accumulate <- forecast$accumulate
+    }
+    reported_cases <- do.call(add_horizon, horizon_args)
   }
 
   # Create clean and complete cases
diff --git a/R/opts.R b/R/opts.R
index 95e5c96fa..45cca597b 100644
--- a/R/opts.R
+++ b/R/opts.R
@@ -1113,13 +1113,11 @@ stan_opts <- function(object = NULL,
 #' forecast_opts(horizon = 28, accumulate = 7)
 forecast_opts <- function(horizon = 7, accumulate) {
   opts <- list(
-    horizon = horizon,
-    infer_accumulate = missing(accumulate)
+    horizon = horizon
   )
-  if (missing(accumulate)) {
-    accumulate <- 1
+  if (!missing(accumulate)) {
+    opts$accumulate <- accumulate
   }
-  opts$accumulate <- accumulate
   attr(opts, "class") <- c("forecast_opts", class(opts))
   return(opts)
 }
diff --git a/R/preprocessing.R b/R/preprocessing.R
index a7aa7ac71..6056f8022 100644
--- a/R/preprocessing.R
+++ b/R/preprocessing.R
@@ -185,7 +185,8 @@ default_fill_missing_obs <- function(data, obs, obs_column) {
 ##'   [estimate_secondary()]. See the documentation there for the expected
 ##'   format.
 ##' @param accumulate The number of days to accumulate when generating posterior
-##'   prediction, e.g. 7 for weekly accumulated forecasts.
+##'   prediction, e.g. 7 for weekly accumulated forecasts. If this is not set an
+##'   attempt will be made to detect the accumulation frequency in the data.
 ##' @inheritParams fill_missing
 ##' @inheritParams estimate_infections
 ##' @importFrom data.table copy merge.data.table setDT
@@ -210,8 +211,21 @@ add_horizon <- function(data, horizon, accumulate = 1L,
       .(date = seq(max(date) + 1, max(date) + horizon, by = "days")),
       by = by
     ]
-    ## if we accumulate add the column
+    ## detect accumulation
+    if (missing(accumulate) && "accumulate" %in% colnames(data)) {
+      accumulation_times <- which(!data$accumulate)
+      gaps <- unique(diff(accumulation_times))
+      if (length(gaps) == 1 && gaps > 1) { ## all gaps are the same
+        accumulate <- gaps
+        cli_inform(c(
+          "i" = "Forecasts accumulated every {gaps} days, same as accumulation
+            used in the likelihood. To change this behaviour or silence this
+            message set {.var accumulate} explicitly in {.fn forecast_opts}."
+        ))
+      }
+    }
     if (accumulate > 1 || "accumulate" %in% colnames(data)) {
+      ## if we accumulate add the column
       initial_future_accumulate <- sum(cumsum(rev(!data$accumulate)) == 0)
       reported_cases_future[, accumulate := TRUE]
       ## set accumulation to FALSE where appropriate
diff --git a/man/add_horizon.Rd b/man/add_horizon.Rd
index 72b5ad18d..f3590cdef 100644
--- a/man/add_horizon.Rd
+++ b/man/add_horizon.Rd
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ format.}
 horizon}
 
 \item{accumulate}{The number of days to accumulate when generating posterior
-prediction, e.g. 7 for weekly accumulated forecasts.}
+prediction, e.g. 7 for weekly accumulated forecasts. If this is not set an
+attempt will be made to detect the accumulation frequency in the data.}
 
 \item{obs_column}{Character (default: "confirm"). If given, only the column
 specified here will be used for checking missingness. This is useful if
diff --git a/man/create_forecast_data.Rd b/man/create_forecast_data.Rd
deleted file mode 100644
index 2e2ae5bb0..000000000
--- a/man/create_forecast_data.Rd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/create.R
-\name{create_forecast_data}
-\alias{create_forecast_data}
-\title{Create forecast settings}
-\usage{
-create_forecast_data(forecast = forecast_opts(), data)
-}
-\arguments{
-\item{forecast}{A list of options as generated by \code{\link[=forecast_opts]{forecast_opts()}} defining
-the forecast opitions. Defaults to \code{\link[=forecast_opts]{forecast_opts()}}. If NULL then no
-forecasting will be done.}
-
-\item{data}{A \verb{<data.frame>} of disease reports (confirm) by date (date).
-\code{confirm} must be numeric and \code{date} must be in date format. Optionally
-this can also have a logical \code{accumulate} column which indicates whether
-data should be added to the next data point. This is useful when modelling
-e.g. weekly incidence data. See also the \code{\link[=fill_missing]{fill_missing()}} function which
-helps add the \code{accumulate} column with the desired properties when dealing
-with non-daily data. If any accumulation is done this happens after
-truncation as specified by the \code{truncation} argument.}
-}
-\value{
-A list of settings ready to be passed to stan defining
-the Observation Model
-}
-\description{
-Create forecast settings
-}
-\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-create_forecast_data.R b/tests/testthat/test-create_forecast_data.R
deleted file mode 100644
index 31acda247..000000000
--- a/tests/testthat/test-create_forecast_data.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-test_that("create_forecast_data returns expected default values", {
-  result <- create_forecast_data(data = example_confirmed)
-
-  expect_type(result, "list")
-  expect_equal(result$horizon, 7)
-  expect_equal(result$future_accumulate, 1)
-})
-
-test_that("create_rt_data identifies gaps correctly", {
-  reported_weekly <- suppressWarnings(fill_missing(
-    example_confirmed[seq(1, 60, by = 7)],
-    missing_dates = "accumulate"
-  ))
-  expect_message(
-    result <- create_forecast_data(data = reported_weekly),
-    "same as accumulation used in the likelihood"
-  )
-  expect_equal(result$future_accumulate, 7)
-})
-
-test_that("create_rt_data doesn't try to identify non-equally spaced gaps", {
-  reported_irregular <- example_confirmed[c(seq(1, 43, by = 7), 45)]
-  expect_no_message(
-    result <- create_forecast_data(data = reported_irregular)
-  )
-  expect_equal(result$future_accumulate, 1)
-})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-forecast-opts.R b/tests/testthat/test-forecast-opts.R
index 6e5ac5ac5..005c3cb70 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-forecast-opts.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-forecast-opts.R
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 test_that("forecast_opts returns correct default values", {
   forecast <- forecast_opts()
   expect_equal(forecast$horizon, 7)
-  expect_equal(forecast$accumulate, 1)
-  expect_equal(forecast$infer_accumulate, TRUE)
+  expect_null(forecast$accumulate)
 })
 
 test_that("forecast_opts sets infer_accumulate to FALSE if accumulate is given", {
   forecast <- forecast_opts(accumulate = 7)
-  expect_equal(forecast$infer_accumulate, FALSE)
+  expect_equal(forecast$accumulate, 7)
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-preprocessing.R b/tests/testthat/test-preprocessing.R
index 02b1621c9..667ae5f6f 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-preprocessing.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-preprocessing.R
@@ -40,3 +40,23 @@ test_that("add_horizon works", {
     "Initial data point not marked as accumulated"
   )
 })
+
+test_that("add_horizon identifies gaps correctly", {
+  filled <- fill_missing(cases, missing_dates = "accumulate", initial_accumulate = 7)
+  expect_message(
+    result <- add_horizon(filled, horizon = 7),
+    "Forecasts accumulated every 7 days"
+  )
+  result <- add_horizon(filled, horizon = 7, accumulate = 7)
+  expect_true(all(result[seq(.N - 6, .N - 1), accumulate]))
+  expect_false(result[.N, accumulate])
+})
+
+test_that("add_horizon doesn't try to identify non-equally spaced gaps", {
+  reported_irregular <- example_confirmed[c(seq(1, 43, by = 7), 45)]
+  filled <- suppressWarnings(
+    fill_missing(reported_irregular, missing_dates = "accumulate")
+  )
+  result <- add_horizon(filled, horizon = 7)
+  expect_false(any(result[seq(.N - 6, .N), accumulate]))
+})