Forecasting
Forecasting is the prediction of outcomes, trends, or the expected future behaviour of a business through the use of statistics.
Forecasting is an attempt to predict the future performance of a new or established business. The business may want to forecast their sales, their cash flow or their overall costs. They may also be interested in forecasting the level of demand in the economy and in their market.
Sales Forecasting
Sales forecasting is the making of projections about future performance, on the basis of past and current conditions and information.
Sales forecasting is the estimate of future sales, which is arrived at by past experience and market research.
Sales forecasting is the process of predicting the sales of services or goods. This is the initial step in preparing a master budget.
Sales forecasting will allow a business to estimate their expected future sales for a given time period.
Sales forecasting is an integral part of business management. Without a firm idea of what your future sales are going to be, you will not be able to manage your inventory, your cash flow or plan for business growth.
The purpose of sales forecasting is to provide information that you can use to make intelligent business decisions.
Sales forecasting for an established business is easier, because there already is a sales forecast record of past sales.
The sales revenues of a business from the same month in a previous year, combined with the knowledge of general economic and industry trends, will allow a prediction for the sales of a business in the future months.
Sales forecasting for a new business is much more difficult, as there is no record of past sales.
The process of preparing a sales forecast for a new business will really involve researching your target market, your chosen marketplace and your competitors, then analyzing your market research information to make an estimate of your future sales.
Accurate sales forecasting will make a business more successful.
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Thursday, September 11, 2008
What Is Sales Forecasting?
