Sales budget is an estimation of sales set by the organisation ( the decision makers - Sales heads like the Director, VP, GM or NSM), based on certain criteria including the market potential, mapping, requirements and the customer feedback. The sales budget is based on the assumed and assigned No. of units to be sold multiplied by the selling price per unit, the selling price is often arrived at, after considering various factors involved in the sale process. Where as, forecasted sales is a scenario where there is a definite requirement and also there is every likely hood of getting the order to the company or person that has forecasted the sale.
"Excerpts from the lecture delivered by Alok Sinha, a famous Sales guru" at a management institute.
what is sales forecast
Actual sales (quantity ) = flexible budget sales (quantity ) , because the flexible budget is prepared based on the actual activity level (units sold ) to avoid misleading of compering the static budget sales and actual sales
If you have a stable market in which you operate, then you could forecast for the sales. Normally sales budget should not exceed the sales forecast. Exceeding the sales budget over the forecasted sales can help the firm invest more capital in marketing and promotions. The Sales forecast would be beneficial for the production department.
Sales plan is prepared based on sales forecast which is from previous experiance or on based on market research or intuition, an estimate that how much sales will be required in future.
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what is sales forecast
the sales forecast or sales budget.
Roughly, a Sales Plan is your strategie for achieving sales (purchases). A Sales forecast is an estimate at the beginning of a time period of how much one expects to sell.
A sales plan and a sales forecast are essentially the same, however the big difference is one is a set plan for the whole year. It is mostly used with larger corporations to single out units. A sales forecast is set at the store/branch level and is there to help with the changing situations (ie weather, natural disasters, and the such) A plan is what you are going to do and a forecast is what you think is going to happen. There should be a link between the two, but you may not have the capacity to make all that you could sell.
Actual sales (quantity ) = flexible budget sales (quantity ) , because the flexible budget is prepared based on the actual activity level (units sold ) to avoid misleading of compering the static budget sales and actual sales
A forecast of Sales is calculating the amount of items you expect to sell over a certain period, whereas a Production forecast is calculating the amount of items you expect to produce over a certain period.
If you have a stable market in which you operate, then you could forecast for the sales. Normally sales budget should not exceed the sales forecast. Exceeding the sales budget over the forecasted sales can help the firm invest more capital in marketing and promotions. The Sales forecast would be beneficial for the production department.
A forecast of Sales is calculating the amount of items you expect to sell over a certain period, whereas a Production forecast is calculating the amount of items you expect to produce over a certain period.
production budget
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Difference between Budget and Forecast Once the financial objectives have been set, it is possible to prepare and agree a budget. A budget should relate the overall plan in figures. It is different from a forecast in the sense that the plan, and therefore the budget, sets minimum requirements, whereas a forecast is usually an expectation of what is likely to happen. Example: You might choose to budget for sales of £180,000 and use this figure in calculating your likely expenditure, profit and so on. Based on your market research, however, you predict sales of £200,000, and set a target of £220,000, in order to stretch your sales force. If all your costs are covered by the budgeted figure, then you will make a greater profit if you achieve the forecast and a still greater one if you achieve the target. (Whilst this is an important distinction, in practice for most businesses the forecast and budget will be the same.)
Sales plan is prepared based on sales forecast which is from previous experiance or on based on market research or intuition, an estimate that how much sales will be required in future.