Sales Target Recovery Planner

The planner works from the trading days you have completed. It takes your average daily sales so far, shows where that pace would finish, and works out the daily pace the remaining trading days need to reach your target.

Where you are heading

1. Current daily pace = sales so far ÷ trading days completed
2. Forecast finish = sales so far + current daily pace × trading days remaining
3. Forecast against target = forecast finish − sales target

The forecast assumes your current average daily pace continues. It is a projection, not a guarantee. With no completed trading days there is no pace, so no forecast is shown.

What the remaining days need

1. Sales still needed = sales target − sales so far
2. Pace needed per day = sales still needed ÷ trading days remaining
3. Pace needed against current = pace needed per day ÷ current daily pace − 1

The pace needed per day is a minimum, so it is rounded up to the next penny: that amount on every remaining trading day reaches the target, never a few pence short.

If the pace needed is lower than your current pace, the planner says how far the remaining days could slow and still reach the target. No percentage is shown when your current pace is zero or the target is already reached, because it would mislead.

Where you stand today

1. Expected by now = sales target × trading days completed ÷ total trading days in the period
2. Ahead or behind today = sales so far − expected by now

This is a different comparison from the forecast. It shows how far ahead or behind you are today on a straight line to your target; the forecast shows where you would finish. The straight line gives every trading day equal weight.

If the remaining days run slower or faster

A table shows where you would finish if the remaining trading days averaged 10% or 5% less than your current pace, the same, or 2%, 5%, 10%, 15% or 20% more:

1. Daily sales = current daily pace × (1 + the change)
2. Finish = sales so far + daily sales × trading days remaining

What if the next trading day does…

If you enter a figure, the planner adds it to your sales, counts one more trading day as completed and one fewer as remaining, and works everything out again. The result is hypothetical. If you have no completed trading days, it shows only the pace you would then need: one imagined day is not a basis for a forecast.

A business has a sales target of £250,000 for the period. After 17 trading days it has taken £137,800, and 13 trading days remain.

Where it is heading

The current pace is £137,800 ÷ 17 = about £8,105.88 a day. If that continues, the forecast finish is £137,800 + £8,105.88 × 13 = about £243,176, which is about £6,824 below target.

What the remaining days need

Sales still needed are £250,000 − £137,800 = £112,200. Across 13 trading days that is £112,200 ÷ 13 = at least £8,630.77 a day, which is about 6.5% ahead of the current pace.

Where it stands today

On a straight line, 17 of 30 trading days would have brought in £250,000 × 17 ÷ 30 = about £141,667. The business is about £3,867 behind that today. That is a different figure from the £6,824 forecast shortfall at the end of the period.

What if the next trading day does £12,000?

Sales would be £149,800 after 18 trading days, with 12 remaining. Sales still needed would be £100,200, or £8,350 a day. At the pace the business would then be averaging, about £8,322.22 a day, it would finish at about £249,667, about £333 below target.

• The forecast assumes your current average daily sales pace continues for every remaining trading day. It is a projection, not a guarantee.
• Every trading day is given equal weight. The planner does not allow for weekends, seasonality, promotions or other differences between trading days. If your days vary a lot, treat the result as a simple run rate.
• Count only fully completed trading days, and enter only the sales from those days. If today is still trading, leave today’s sales out and count today as remaining.
• Use trading days, not calendar days. The planner does not check this.
• A forecast based on one or two completed trading days is a rough guide only.
• The “what if” figures are hypothetical. They show what would follow from the figure you enter, not what the next trading day will do.
• Use sales and target on the same basis, for example both excluding VAT.
• The planner does not judge whether your target or the pace needed is realistic. The target is yours.
• The currency setting changes the symbol only. It does not convert between currencies.
• Results are a planning aid based on the figures you enter. They are not financial or accounting advice.