7 Critical Mistakes in Sales Forecasting and Budget Preparation

Sales Forecasting Budget Preparation July 26, 2020

Jin Hyun

Writer

Without a precise sales forecast, it will be difficult to understand the needs of customers. And without a firm budget in place, businesses will struggle to prepare the company financially for any sudden changes.

Proper budgeting of business expenses and projections for future sales can help businesses make data-informed decisions to ensure they are meeting customer expectations and maintaining healthy cash flows within the company.

Therefore, it's important to consider carefully are your sales and budget reporting up to scratch?

What is Forecasting and Budgeting?

With a sales forecast, the company uses previous sales data as well as research tools and software to build a clear image of what to expect in terms of profit in the next quarter, year, or otherwise. This can help business owners predict future trends and ensure they're prepared to meet the demands of all potential customers to prevent lost profits due to missed opportunities.

Meanwhile, budget control prepares the company financially for challenges and changes in the industry expected in the months to come. Using a mixture of historical data, financial reports and the company's projected income, businesses can build a reliable budget to guide them through the coming months.

Therefore, ensuring either approach is accurate will be crucial to the business' growth.

It's important to remember, however, that sales forecasting and budgeting are not always easy to manage. If the plans are inaccurate by even a small measure, there is a risk of losing valuable revenue. In some cases, when businesses fail to accurately budget for changing demands, it could also negatively impact their reputation as a result of poor customer service.

Common Mistakes

Forecasting revolves around informed estimates and predictions. In business, managers should be ready to plan expenses, marketing costs, labor costs, and more. However, this can be difficult to perfect, at least in the beginning.

With a firm plan in place, owners can encourage their businesses to grow carefully. Whether they operate a small company or a large firm, running operations on a day-to-day basis is poor planning.

Consider some of the most common mistakes in sales forecasting and budget preparation-

Overestimating figures - It can be easy to over-estimate sales figures. In fact, it may even seem like a safer option, given that this could prevent under-spending. However, over-spending could lead to unnecessary loss of capital, which will stunt long-term growth potential.
Not paying attention to historical data - Many businesspeople are too willing to ignore precedents and sales histories. However, it's essential to keep past sales data in mind when building plans and projections. One way to do this, for example, is to measure roughly how long it takes to close a sale.
Relying on hunches - The number of business owners who pay attention to hunches is staggering. While sales predictions are estimates, they should at least have a basis in data. Therefore, the forecasts are always more likely to produce clearer, more actionable results compared to naive guesses.
Lacking flexibility - It is also possible to rely on sales history too much. Good sales plans and budgets should be ready to adapt and take into account the potential for abrupt change. Of course, this is not always easy to achieve, which means it may be beneficial to set up a plan of action through forecasting software to aid the business through uncertain times.
Relying on spreadsheets - Depending on outdated spreadsheets is not ideal. Manually calculating and entering data on these platforms can leave plenty of room for human errors and take up too much of the manager's time. The key to smarter forecasting and budgeting is to keep things simple. By automating this process using software, businesses can create more reliable forecasts with less effort.
Overcomplicating finances - The same will apply to budgets in general. Many businesses over-complicate their finances to the point where it becomes too easy to lose track. The key, again, is to ensure accounting is simplified to the basics. Have clear budgets in place for different aspects of the business labor, inventory, cleaning supplies, etc. and communicate this budget plan with the management team so everyone is on the same page.
Not updating forecasts regularly - Even if managers are confident in the data they have produced it's important to update and fine-tune this information as often as possible. With seasonal factors that could affect the business' sales or traffic, projections will need to be reevaluated frequently for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

How to Avoid Errors

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If you are guilty of any of the above mistakes or errors, there is no need to worry. Accurate sales forecasting and budget planning are crucial to the success of businesses. However, there are ways to develop more realistic plans in the future.

Business forecasting software can help create simple, adaptable plans. By automating sales forecasting and budget preparation, businesses can remove the risk of human errors. What's more, they will be able to develop plans of action that can grow and evolve with consumer demand.

Whether it's in the retail, food service or hospitality industries, using the right software can improve business operations and financial management by optimizing budget preparation and financial forecasting procedures with minimal effort.