How to calculate sales

Methods for calculating planned sales volumes are of practical importance for any enterprise. It is these calculation methods that help to correctly plan the future business activities of the company in order to obtain the greatest profit and maximum return on available resources. In economic practice, three main groups of methods are used: expert estimates, analysis and forecasting of time series, cause-effect methods.

You will need

Data on economic indicators for past periods, specialized programs for faster and more accurate calculations.

Instruction manual

1

Calculate sales by expert valuation in one of three forms:

- point forecast of a specific figure;

- interval, setting the boundaries for the value of the indicator;

- a forecast of the probability distribution of a value falling into one of the groups with established intervals.

2

Calculate sales volumes by analyzing and forecasting time series using the forecast of the deterministic component and the forecast of randomness. Use the data obtained to forecast sales changes in trend, cyclical, seasonal and random series.

3

Calculate sales by cause-and-effect methods based on modeling the behavior of an economic object using multivariate forecasting (correlation-regression analysis, the method of leading indicators, the method of examining consumer intentions, etc.).

note

Each of these groups of sales calculations has its pros and cons, therefore it is desirable to provide both quantitative and qualitative methods for predicting sales volumes.

Useful advice

For the optimal calculation of sales, it is best to use all three groups of methods, since the accuracy of the result depends on the accuracy of the forecast, the availability of the necessary initial data, and the availability of time for full forecasting.

A detailed forecasting methodology for sales that are most commonly used in economic practice.