Well, one of the more popular, efficient ways to approach the situation would be to employ something known as the percent of sales method. She estimates that approximately 2 percent of her credit sales may come back faulty. Larger companies allow for a certain percentage of bad credit in their financial analysis, but many small businesses don’t, and it can lead to unrealistic projections and unforeseen loss.

• The percentage of sales method often is used to construct forecasts of future business performance, often represented by pro-forma — or forward-looking — financial statements.
• To calculate a percent of sales, divide the sales of a specific item by the total sales, then multiply by 100.
• Now that we have these figures, we can now move ahead to the next step.
• Financial forecasting typically involves forecasting sales and expenses incurred to generate those sales.

Estimate fixed asset account . Fixed assets do not fit neatly into either spontaneous or discretionary account.  Change in fixed assets in response to a change in sales depends upon the firm’s current production capacity utilization.  A financial statement that projects an estimate for future periods “as if” sales grew as predicted. The https://www.bookstime.com/ is a marketing technique in which a company sets an objective that it will make 50% of their sales from one particular product.

Overview of Percent Of Sales Method

Here, WCC stands for working capital components, i.e., the item of which forecasted value is required. This may be gathered from historical data if the company has been in operation for quite some time already. If the company is new, gathering data from competitors of the same size may also serve as a good source of information. Determine whether there is a historical correlation between sales and the item to be forecasted. Next, Barbara needs to calculate her estimated sales for the upcoming year. Determine if a correlation between sales and specific line items you want to forecast exists. When performing any financial calculations, accurate data is your number-one priority.

Learn more about this method, how it’s used, and the formula for percentage of sales calculations. Then, with the help of an example, explore determining the sales forecast, retained earning changes, and forecasted financial statements. This alternative computes doubtful accounts expense by anticipating the percentage of sales that will eventually fail to be collected. The percentage of sales method is sometimes referred to as an income statement approach because the only number being estimated appears on the income statement. The account of ABC Trading Concern as of December 31st, 2019, shows total sales of Rs. 10,00,00, of which 80% are in credit and sales return and allowance of Rs. 12,000.

Forecasted Financial Statements

The Percentage of Sales method is a simple, yet powerful marketing strategy that allows you to use your existing sales data to pinpoint where value can be gained and lost. This is ideal for companies looking to increase profits, get closer to customer needs, and track the impact of marketing campaigns. Application of percentage of sales to the items of which forecasted value is required. For example, if the CGS ratio increased to 65 percent next year, management would have to examine why their production costs are increasing relative to sales. This could happen because of a number of supply issues or environmental changes.