A sales forecast template is an editable document that helps you project future sales for your team. Online template costs typically range from free to under $100 and are usually for Excel or Google Sheets. To help you speed up your search, we’ve compiled this list of 17 designed for a variety of use cases.
Online templates like spreadsheets are great for customization and ease of use, but require manual upkeep and constant data entry for accuracy. Therefore, consider for most businesses, a CRM like Pipedrive is the better solution as it can automatically make projections for you with the data your team inputs daily. To learn more or to give it a try, sign-up for a free trial.
Below are 17 templates that are free or low cost you can start using today:
1. 3-year Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Startups or Businesses Seeking Funding
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Vertex42
3-Year Sales Forecast from Vertex42
This 3-year forecast template is great for forecasting sales long-term. It’s great for startups or businesses seeking funding as investors and banks will want to know what your plan is to bring revenue into your business long-term. It’s in Excel and can be downloaded for free. All you do is plug in your sales data and the formulas will calculate your sales forecast and create corresponding graphs.
2. Budget Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Startups & Businesses Wanting A View Of Expenses
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Template Archive (Template 12)
Budget Sales Forecast Template
This quarterly budget template is great for startups and businesses looking to get a view of their sales forecasts and their budget. It’s an effective template if you want to visualize from quarter to quarter how your revenue from sales will cover your expenses. This template is free and is in Excel. All you need to do is download it and input your sales and budget data.
3. The 12-Month Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Businesses tracking month-to-month sales by product
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Smartsheet
12-month Sales Forecast Template
The template above is a 12-month template and is great for sales forecasting because it shows a monthly breakdown of forecast sales. This template works for product-focused businesses as the sales are broken out by product. The template is free in Excel, and can be downloaded and edited. The only thing you need to do is add your monthly product and sales data.
4. Deal-based Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: B2B businesses looking to manage sales by opportunity
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Hubspot
Deal-based Sales Forecast
This is a quarterly sales forecast that focuses on deals. Sales are divided out by company, opportunity, dollar amount, sales rep, and probability to close. It’s ideal for sales managers looking to do a sales forecast based on how deals are looking in the pipeline. It can also serve as a handy coaching tool for your team. The template is in Excel and can be downloaded and further customized.
5. Multi-product Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Business with multiple products
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Close
Multi-product Sales Forecast Template
The sales template above is a 12-month multi-product template and is great for businesses with lots of different products because it breaks down the forecast by product. For instance, if you have several different laptop models that your company sells, you can forecast each model in this template. All you need to do is input projected sales data in each product area. This template is in Excel and is free of charge.
6. B2B Lead Driven Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: B2B businesses that depend on lead generation
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Close
B2B Lead Driven Sales Forecast
This template is quarterly and based on leads, their stage, and likelihood to close. It’s great if you forecast your sales by quarter and let the stage of your prospects drive how you forecast. It’s also great for B2B sales. The template is in Excel and can be downloaded and used for free. All you do is add your lead or prospect information and their status.
7. Cash Flow-based Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Startups or Businesses With An Emphasis on Cash Flow
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Close
Cash Flow-based Sales Forecast
Cash Flow focused sales forecast templates are useful for visualizing how your sales impact month to month cash flow. This template is ideal for businesses needing to focus on cash and want to know right away if their projected sales will yield enough minimize financial exposure. The template is in Excel and is free to use. All you do is download it and add your sales forecast information to the spreadsheet.
8. Retail Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Retail businesses
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Plan Projections
Retail Sales Forecast Template
This is an annual sales forecast template and uses retail-focused metrics like foot traffic in addition to daily sales. It’s perfect for brick and mortar retail businesses, however, can be adapted for online retailers. The template is in Excel and is free to download. To use it, enter key data like foot traffic, percentage of customers who purchase, etc.
9. Hotel Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Hotels
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Plan Projections
Hotel Sales Forecast Template
The sales forecast above is specifically created for the hospitality industry. This is because its yearly sales forecast includes metrics important to hotels like occupancy rates. It’s a free template in Excel. The only thing you need to do is add information specific to your hotel to use it.
10. Product-based Sales Forecast Template
Format: PDF
Best For: Business with various products, wanting to compare past, forecast, and actual sales
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Entrepreneurship In A Box
Product-based Sales Forecast Template
Unlike other sales forecast templates that consolidate sales over time into a single cell, this template allows you to track sales by product. It’s great for businesses selling products that want to compare last year’s sales, forecast sales, and actual sales by product all in one spreadsheet. This template is a pdf and would be easiest to use if it was re-created in Excel or Google Sheets. It’s free to download.
11. Subscription-based Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Subscription-based businesses
Cost to Download: Free
Source: BPlans
Subscription-based Sales Forecast Template
This subscription-based sales template captures month-to-month sales and revenue from subscriptions. It also factors in important metrics like churn rate. It’s great for SaaS businesses and other businesses like magazines or subscription boxes. This template is free and is in Excel. It’s easy to download and enter data that pertains to your subscription-based business.
12. The 1-Year Opportunity-based Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Businesses that forecast based on pipeline deals
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Office Templates
1-year Opportunity-based Sales Forecast Template
This 1-year opportunity-based template is quarterly and based on opportunities and is sorted by opportunity and sales rep. It’s a fantastic tool for professionals involved in sales management looking to project closed deals by sales rep and can be used for coaching. The only thing you and your sales team would need to do is add deals and details such as dollar value and probability to close. The template is in Excel and is free for download.
13. Monthly Sales Forecast Template With Graph
Format: Excel
Best For: Businesses wanting to do sales forecasts monthly
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Office Templates
Monthly Sales Forecast Template With Graph
The sales forecast in this section covers one month. It’s great for businesses wanting to stay focused on their forecast month-to-month without the distractions of data from other months or time frames. It’s in Excel and can be downloaded for free. All you do is add your starting timeframe and monthly forecast.
14. New Product Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Business launching new products wanting to forecast sales
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Office Templates
New Product Sales Forecast Template
This is a new product sales forecast template showing yearly projected sales over a five year period. It’s a useful template if you launch products and want to project yearly revenue and income. The only thing you need to do is add your company-specific new product sales projections. The template is in Excel, is free, and can be easily downloaded.
15. Startups Google Sheets Sales Forecast Template
Format: Google Sheets
Best For: Startups or Businesses Seeking Funding
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Financial Projections
Startups Sales Forecast
This is a 3-year forecast template that also shows monthly sales and cost details. It’s great for forecasting sales and costs monthly and over a long period of time and ideal for startups or businesses seeking funding since this information is key to getting funded. It’s in Google Sheets and can be downloaded for free. Simply input your sales and cost information.
16. High-level Sales Forecast Template
Format: Google Sheets
Best For: Startups or Businesses Seeking Funding
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Analytical Marketer Article; Analytical Marketer Template
High-level Sales Forecast Template
Sometimes all you need are high level sales numbers that aren’t broken out by product, opportunity, or sales rep. That’s why this template comes in handy. It takes your actual sales by month comparing them to your sales forecast. It does the same thing with conversions and shows the data on trend line graphs. It’s in Google Sheets and is free to download.
17. Food Truck Sales Forecast Template
Format: Excel
Best For: Food Trucks
Cost to Download: Free
Source: Plan Projections
Food Truck Sales Forecast
This sales forecast template is specifically made for food truck entrepreneurs. It has food truck specific metrics around meals, drinks, and foot traffic. It’s in Excel and can be downloaded for free. All you need to do is add metrics specific to your food truck business.
How to Create Your Own Sales Forecast
Ready-made templates are great, but sometimes you need to create your own. A few of the steps involved in creating your own sales forecast include determining the purpose of your sales forecast, examining your historical sales, reviewing industry data that will influence your forecast, and deciding the timeframe you want to cover.
Below are more details on the six steps involved in creating your own sales forecast:
- Determine the purpose of your sales forecast: The first thing you should do is determine your purpose. Once you’ve decided why you’re creating a sales forecast, it is easier to create it so that it gives you and senior managers the answers your need.
- Examine historical sales: When you have an understanding of your past sales, it’s easier to predict future sales. For instance, if you see that sales increase in the summer months, you can factor this increase into your sales forecast.
- Collect industry data: Industry data and trends often influence sales. Factoring this in makes your sales forecast more accurate. For instance, if industry sales are going down by 3% yearly, factor this into your sales forecast if you think it will impact you.
- Identify key business activities: If your company will invest in lead generation, factor this into your sales forecast by showing an increase in sales as a result.
- Define your scope: Your sales forecast should only include the information you’re interested in. For example, if you’re interested in sales for only the next year, you won’t need to forecast sales into the next five years because that would be out of scope.
- Create your layout and calculate your forecast: Sales forecasts can take on a variety of layouts. Create one that works best for you and build formulas to calculate your forecast. Use the templates below for inspiration.
Bottom Line – Sales Forecast Template (Excel & Google Sheet)
Sales forecasts are a necessary tool all businesses should use, but they’re so much easier to create when you can start with a template. Review the options presented here to find the best options for your business. Before making your choice, be sure to go through the steps to creating a sales forecast to help you decide on the best options for you.
While a manual sales forecast template, excel or otherwise, can allow for easy customization, it’s typically better to refer to the sales forecasts data found in a CRM than rely on a spreadsheet. Even better, some CRMs, like Pipedrive offer automated calculation in addition to data capture, making them an even more robust tool. Pipedrive has robust sales forecasting features and sales reports. To learn more, sign-up for a free trial.
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