What is the sales forecast formula?

For a growth-based projection: next month = this month's sales × (1 + growth rate). Apply it month after month and add the months up for a quarter or a year. $100,000 at 5% a month gives $105,000, $110,250 and $115,763, so about $331,000 for the next quarter.

How do you forecast sales for new business?

A new team has no sales history to grow from, so forecast from the pipeline instead: open pipeline closing in the period × win rate. $300,000 of pipeline at a 25% win rate forecasts $75,000. With no pipeline yet, work from leads × conversion rate × average deal size.

How do I make a sales forecast in Excel?

Put last month's sales in B2 and the monthly growth rate in B3, then use =B2*(1+B3/100) for next month and =B2*(1+B3/100)*((1+B3/100)^12-1)/(B3/100) for the next 12 months. The free Excel template below has all four forecasts set up.

Sales Forecast Calculator: Free Sales Projection (Excel Template)

Sales Forecast Calculator (Sales Projection)

Sales forecast formula: next month = last month's sales × (1 + monthly growth rate), repeated for each month you look ahead. For new business, a pipeline-weighted forecast multiplies open pipeline by your win rate. $100,000 growing 5% a month projects $105,000 next month and about $1.67M over the next 12 months.

Next month projection = (sales last month × (1+monthly growth rate ÷ 100)) = $105,000 Next quarter projection = (sales last month × ((1+monthly growth rate ÷ 100)+(1+monthly growth rate ÷ 100)^2+(1+monthly growth rate ÷ 100)^3)) = $331,013 Next 12 months projection = (IF(monthly growth rate=0,sales last month × 12,sales last month × (1+monthly growth rate ÷ 100) × ((1+monthly growth rate ÷ 100)^12-1) ÷ (monthly growth rate ÷ 100))) = $1,671,298 Pipeline-weighted forecast, next month = (open pipeline closing next month × win rate ÷ 100) = $75,000

Sales forecast formula in Excel or Google Sheets

Put the inputs in column B from row 2, then paste the formulas below. They work the same in Excel and Google Sheets.

Cell	What	Value or formula	Example
B2	Sales last month ($)	100000	100000
B3	Monthly growth rate (%)	5	5
B4	Open pipeline closing next month ($)	300000	300000
B5	Win rate (%)	25	25
B7	Next month projection ($)	=ROUND(B2*(1+B3/100),0)	105000
B8	Next quarter projection ($)	=ROUND(B2*((1+B3/100)+(1+B3/100)^2+(1+B3/100)^3),0)	331013
B9	Next 12 months projection ($)	=ROUND(IF(B3=0,B212,B2(1+B3/100)*((1+B3/100)^12-1)/(B3/100)),0)	1671298
B10	Pipeline-weighted forecast, next month ($)	=ROUND(B4*B5/100,0)	75000

Get the ready-made spreadsheet

The same calculator as an .xlsx file, with the formulas set up. Free: enter your email and the download starts here right away. Your email also joins Clarivoxx Insights (a weekly article and a monthly newsletter; unsubscribe in one click).

Frequently asked questions

What is the sales forecast formula?: For a growth-based projection: next month = this month's sales × (1 + growth rate). Apply it month after month and add the months up for a quarter or a year. $100,000 at 5% a month gives $105,000, $110,250 and $115,763, so about $331,000 for the next quarter.
How do you forecast sales for new business?: A new team has no sales history to grow from, so forecast from the pipeline instead: open pipeline closing in the period × win rate. $300,000 of pipeline at a 25% win rate forecasts $75,000. With no pipeline yet, work from leads × conversion rate × average deal size.
How do I make a sales forecast in Excel?: Put last month's sales in B2 and the monthly growth rate in B3, then use =B2*(1+B3/100) for next month and =B2*(1+B3/100)*((1+B3/100)^12-1)/(B3/100) for the next 12 months. The free Excel template below has all four forecasts set up.

About the author

Abdessamad Ghanem

Customer Experience & Customer Success Consultant · Founder of Clarivoxx

Abdessamad Ghanem works across Customer Support, Sales, Customer Success, Account Management and Partner Management. He writes Clarivoxx Insights for B2B SaaS professionals who own retention, adoption and customer outcomes.

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