Sales management · Forecasting and budgeting
Build the sales budget three different ways and trust the figure where they meet.
A sales budget is the plan for the revenue you expect and the money you will spend to get it. This page shows how to build the expense side from last year, from a percentage of sales and from the tasks you need done, then compare the three. It also ties spend to where deals sit in your pipeline.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A sales budget is the plan for the revenue you expect and the money you will spend to get it. This page shows how to build the expense side from last year, from a percentage of sales and from the tasks you need done, then compare the three. It also ties spend to where deals sit in your pipeline.
A machine-tool dealer in Peenya keeps the sales budget in the owner's head. Travel claims arrive in dribs, a trade fair appears in the calendar in February, and a dealer meet is announced in March. The year closes with the expense line far over what anyone expected, and nobody can say which item caused it.
A written budget starts with revenue by product, customer group or territory, taken from the forecast. Then it builds the expense side three ways. The historical method takes last year's lines and adjusts for known changes. The percentage method applies your usual expense share to projected sales. The task method lists what you must do to reach the sales and prices each task.
The sales head prepares the revenue side, the accountant the historical and percentage budgets, and the owner the task budget and the final choice. It replaces the mental budget, and it gives the quarterly variance review something to measure against.
Figures go in lakh, grouped into the quarters of the April to March financial year, and revenue is entered without GST. If you also run a marketing budget, keep it separate so the two are not mixed and double counted.
Where this sits
Topic 10 of 14 in sales management: forecasting and budgeting. Estimating sales and spend for the next period and checking against actuals.
- The topic before
- Quotas and targets
- The topic after
- Territory management
If you want this done for you
Stop marketing and sales from competing for the same rupee of budget.
The work
What this is actually like.
“The three methods disagree for a reason”
The historical budget assumes the future looks like the past. The percentage budget assumes spend grows with sales. The task budget starts from what must be done. When they differ, ask which assumption is wrong. That discussion is the budget meeting.
“Cost by pipeline stage shows where money goes”
An early meeting costs less than a site visit with a technical person and a demo. Set a standard cost per visit for each stage, multiply by deals and expected visits, and you have an expense forecast that moves with the pipeline.
“The event calendar belongs inside the budget”
Trade fairs, dealer meets and the push before the year ends in March load spend into particular weeks. List them with their costs at the start of the year, so that the cost is planned and not a surprise in the last quarter.
“A budget without a shortfall plan fails in the first bad quarter”
If sales fall short, which line is cut first and who decides? Write the answer down before it is needed. Add a small reserve line so that a minor miss does not force an unplanned cut.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The revenue budget
Rows by product group, with columns for each financial-year quarter in lakh excluding GST. Add territory or customer group where it helps decisions. The sales head fills it from the signed forecast.
Result: Finished when the revenue total ties to the forecast the owner approved.
The three expense budgets
Three columns beside the same expense lines: last year adjusted, a percentage of projected sales, and the task budget. Typical lines include conveyance and fuel, two-wheeler allowance, daily allowance for outstation visits, mobile and data, scheme spend and distributor claims.
Result: Finished when all three columns cover the same lines in the same order.
The stage-cost sheet
A table of pipeline stages, standard cost per visit, expected visits per deal and the number of deals in each stage. The product of the three is the planned expense for that stage.
Result: Finished when the total sits within reach of the task budget and any gap is explained.
The reconciled budget
The final expense figure for each line, with a sentence on which method it came from and why. Commission is calculated as revenue times rate. Set up a cost centre for each territory in your accounting software, so the variance review later is easy.
Result: Finished when the owner and accountant have both signed the page.
The shortfall playbook
One page saying what you cut first, second and third if revenue falls short, and the trigger for each. Add a reserve line. Share the budget with purchasing and production so stock is planned from the same revenue.
Result: Finished when purchasing has seen the revenue figure it is expected to buy against.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Which of the three methods is best?
What expense percentage should I use for the percentage method?
Should the budget include incentives?
How often should I revise the budget?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of forecasting and budgeting
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.