A sales forecast is an estimate of how much a business expects to sell over a coming period, usually broken down by month or quarter. Owners use one to plan cash flow, hiring and stock, while lenders and investors ask for one in a business plan to judge whether revenue targets are realistic.
This page has 41+ free sales forecast templates. They’re editable, so you can add your own products, prices and periods. Use one as a 12-month sales projection for a business plan, or as a rolling revenue forecast you update each month.
Build the forecast from the bottom up: estimate units for each product or customer, then multiply by price, rather than picking a total and splitting it. A forecast built this way is easier to defend and easier to adjust.
To turn the forecast into a full plan, see our financial plan templates and cash flow statement templates, which show whether expected sales will cover your costs.
Company’s Sales Forecast Templates
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How to prepare a Sales Forecast?
A business can prepare its sales forecast in any way that suits it. However, all the necessary information and data must be taken into account.
Before learning how to prepare a sales forecast, it is important to know the essential elements required to prepare one.
- A proper formal sales process, so that you know whether or not the set procedures are being followed.
- A properly prepared Customer Relationship Management or CRM.
- In order to prepare a sales forecast, the details of individual as well as team targets are also required.
- The formal process of accountability of sales representatives.
After getting the above mentioned elements, you can proceed to prepare a sales forecast as follows:
- Carefully decide the period for which a sales forecast is being prepared.
- Enlist all of your items or products.
- Estimate the number of units that you expect to sell over the forecast period.
- Multiply the sale price per unit with the estimated number of units. This product will generate estimated revenue.
- Next, determine the cost per unit and multiply it by the estimated number of units. The result is the cost of sales, or cost of goods sold.
- Next, subtract the estimated cost of sales from the estimated revenue to get the estimated profit for the forecast period.
However, it is not as simple as it looks. Preparing a sales forecast is simple in itself, but some factors must be considered while preparing it. These factors are listed below.
Simple Sales Forecast Templates
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Important factors to consider for Sales Forecast
For preparing an effective sales forecast, make sure to consider the following important factors:
- Changes in government laws and regulations.
- Marketing plan and marketing strategies.
- Financial strength and financial stability of the business.
- Properly considering the inflation and like factors.
- The internal environment of the business.
- Analysis of competitor’s potential and its position.
- Seasonal factors.
- Analyzing the current situation of the industry in which you operate.
More Sales Forecast Templates
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Sales Forecast Template
Building a Sales Forecast From Explicit Assumptions
Choose a forecast method suited to the available history and sales process. A target states ambition; a forecast estimates an outcome under stated assumptions. To turn the forecast into planned sales activity, WordNExcelTemplates’ sales plan templates can record targets, responsibilities and actions separately from the estimate.
- Define the period, products and whether values represent orders, revenue or cash.
- Use relevant history, pipeline and known changes to develop assumptions.
- Compare forecast with actual results and revise the method where needed.
Worked Example
Illustration: 200 expected units at a selling price of 30 imply 6,000 in sales before returns, discounts or other adjustments. Show the unit and price assumptions separately so readers can see why the total changes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid extending an unusually strong month indefinitely or presenting probability-weighted pipeline as confirmed business. Explain seasonality and missing data.
Related Templates
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- Financial Plan Templates
- Cash Flow Statement Templates
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Frequently Asked Questions
Should a forecast equal the sales target?
Not automatically. A credible forecast may differ from the target and reveal the actions or resources needed to close the gap.
How often should it be updated?
Use a cycle appropriate to the business and update when material information changes. Keep earlier versions for evaluating forecast accuracy.
