Percentage of Sales Method Calculator

For the sake of example, let’s imagine a hypothetical businessperson, Barbara Bunsen. She operates a specialty cake, army bed, cinnamon roll shop called “Bunsen’s Bundt, Bunk Bed, Bun Bunker” or “B6” for short. We’ll use her business as a reference point for applying the percent of sales method.
Benefits of Using the Percentage of Sales Method
- Sales percentage represents the proportion of a particular category (like credit sales or receivables) relative to the total sales.
- Companies with credit sales will want to keep tabs on their accounts receivable to ensure bad or aged debt isn’t building up.
- The percentage of sales approach connects sales data to a company’s income statements and balance sheets.
- First, Jim needs to work out the percentage that each of these line items represents relative to company revenue.
- By understanding sales percentage, you can better evaluate your business’s financial health and make informed decisions that drive success.
- A business would need to forecast the accounts receivable or credit sales using the available historical data.
Make informed decisions, predict future trends, and drive your business forward with speed and confidence. Once she has the specific accounts she wants to keep tabs on, she has to find how they stack up to her overall sales figures. Well, one of the more popular, efficient ways to approach the situation would be to employ something known as the percent of sales method. Determine the balances of the line items and calculate their percentages relative to your sales. Following a few simple steps, you can forecast future percent of sales method formula revenues and expenses to ensure your business stays on track.
- This helps businesses get a sense of their short-term financial outlook.
- These formulas provide a convenient way to derive accurate sales percentage figures, particularly when working with large datasets or complex calculations.
- The percentage of sales method predicts future finances based on current revenue.
- That’s what we’ll cover in this guide to the percentage-of-sales method.
- Customers appreciate honesty and are more likely to make a purchase when they know exactly what they’re getting.
- Lenders also find this to be a useful metric for determining how much external financing a business can reasonably pay back.
What are some best practices when using the Percentage of Net Sales Method?

The percentage of sales method predicts future finances based on current revenue. It looks at financial items like the cost of goods sold (COGS) and accounts receivable as a percentage of your total sales. This information about past sales data helps you predict future financial performance. The cost of goods sold, petty cash inventory, and cash are just a few examples of the financial line items that are calculated as a percentage of sales in the percent of sales method of financial forecasting. These percentages are then used to project the future value of each line item using estimates of future sales.
- Decide which specific accounts you want to include in your company’s financial forecast and create a plan to include them.
- It is also important to establish controls and procedures to prevent the manipulation of sales figures.
- Whether you’re using Excel or another tool, formulas can simplify the process and enhance accuracy.
- The old data won’t take into account any big new changes so the results wouldn’t be particularly useful.
- This quick setup helps you understand how each day’s sales contribute to your total revenue, making it easier to track performance and adjust strategies accordingly.
- It looks at financial items like the cost of goods sold (COGS) and accounts receivable as a percentage of your total sales.
Percentage-of-Sales Method for estimating Bad Debt Expense
Understanding how quickly customers pay back credit sales over different periods, such as 30, 60, and 90 days, also helps. The BDE formula uses the Percentage of Credit Sales Method, which involves applying a predetermined percentage to the total credit sales. This percentage is typically derived from historical data on uncollectible accounts. Understanding how to use formulas, particularly in Microsoft Excel, can significantly streamline the process of calculating sales percentages. Automation not Bookkeeping for Chiropractors only saves time but also reduces the risk of human error. Mastering these techniques empowers sales professionals to make informed decisions, fine-tune strategies, and ultimately drive better results.

For more nuanced control over customer interactions, consider learning about Sales Engagement. The Percentage of Net Sales Method works by assigning a cost to each item in the ending inventory equal to the percentage of net sales realized from that item during the period. When an item is sold, it is given a cost equal to its assigned percentage multiplied by the total net sales for that period. This method is often referred to as the income statement approach because the accountant attempts, as accurately as possible, to measure the expense account Uncollectible Accounts. The Percentage of Sales Method Calculator simplifies financial computations, providing quick and accurate results. Use it for budget planning, forecasting, and strategic decision-making.
- Businesses can predict future “bad debts,” or unpaid receivables owed by customers, using the percentage of sales method.
- She decides she wants to put together a rough financial forecast for the future, so she opts to leverage the percent of sales method.
- She can use this insight to manage her accounts receivable more effectively and prepare for any potential bad debt expenses.
- Profitability ratios, for example, are an excellent tool for a more detailed and accurate financial forecast.
- Due to the upcoming opening of a school close by, the proprietors anticipate a 50% increase in business next month, bringing in $3,000 in revenue.
- Because the percentage-of-sales method uses common financial ratios and percentages, it’s a good tool for quickly comparing how a company is doing compared to its competitors or the wider market.
- The Percentage of Net Sales Method works by assigning a cost to each item in the ending inventory equal to the percentage of net sales realized from that item during the period.
The 10 Best Sales Forecasting Software in 2024

Using formulas for calculating sales percentage is an invaluable skill for any sales professional. It allows you to automate complex calculations, ensuring accuracy and efficiency while enabling you to focus on strategic decision-making based on reliable data. If you’re interested in learning more about Excel formulas, I recommend checking out tutorials from Simplilearn or this guide by Microsoft . Liz now knows that one-third of her revenue relies on credit transactions.


Now that she has the relevant initial figures, she can move on to the next step. One of your goals as a business owner is to increase your sales percentage to grow your business and stay competitive. Adopting smart strategies can improve your sales performance and boost your revenue. Formulas, including the sales percentage formula and BDE formula for Bad Credit Expense Calculation, can be used to automate the sales percentage calculation process. These formulas provide a convenient way to derive accurate sales percentage figures, particularly when working with large datasets or complex calculations. Sales percentage is calculated by taking the sales numbers and applying a specific formula or method to derive the percentage.
