Forecast - Sales Forecast
Updated Tue 27 Oct 2026
Running the report
Report options
What day of the month is payday?
The day of the month on which your customers typically get paid. The report uses it to tell busy days from quiet ones, because sales are usually highest in the week after payday and lowest in the week before it. The default is the 25th. Change it if most of your customers are paid on a different day, for example the last day of the month.
If you choose the 29th, 30th or 31st, payday falls on the last day of any month that is shorter than that. The report prints your choice under Selected parameters and above each month's table.
The report at a glance
The two month names are this month and next month. The report always starts from the current trading day, so there is no date range to pick. A trading day is the period from the time your store's day starts until the same time the next day, so sales made just after midnight can still belong to the previous day.
- How the forecast works: a short explanation of the method.
- This month: one line per day with the original forecast, your turnover so far, how far you are from the forecast and the adjusted forecast, then the month totals and a chart.
- Next month: one line per day with the forecast, the month total and a chart.
How the forecast works
Every day in the report gets a Label that says where it sits in the pay cycle, and a day of the week. The report then looks back about three months, finds the past days with the same day of the week and the same label, and averages what you sold on them. Only days on which you actually traded are averaged.
- Payday week
- The payday itself and the six days after it. Usually your busiest week.
- Week before payday
- The seven days before payday. Usually your quietest week.
- Other days
- Everything else.
So the forecast for a Friday in the week before payday is the average of your Fridays in that week in earlier months. If there is no matching past day yet, the forecast shows a dash.
This month
A table of every day of the current month, followed by the totals and a line chart of the original forecast, your turnover and the adjusted forecast.
| October 2026 sales forecast Payday: 25 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date 1 | Label 2 | Original forecast 3 | Turnover (incl Vat) 4 | Turnover % from original forecast 5 | Adjusted forecast 6 |
| Fri 16 Oct 26 | Other days | 14 200.00 | 15 340.00 | 8% more than forecast | 15 340.00 |
| Sat 17 Oct 26 | Other days | 16 800.00 | 15 960.00 | 5% less than forecast | 15 960.00 |
| Sun 18 Oct 26 | Week before payday | 11 500.00 | 11 270.00 | 2% less than forecast | 11 270.00 |
| Mon 19 Oct 26 | Week before payday | 9 400.00 | 9 870.00 | 5% more than forecast | 9 870.00 |
| Tue 20 Oct 26 | Week before payday | 9 800.00 | - | Todays sales are only calculated at the end of the day | 10 290.00 |
| Wed 21 Oct 26 | Week before payday | 10 200.00 | - | 10 710.00 | |
| ... the rest of the month ... | |||||
| October 2026 totals: 7 | 301 500.00 | 126 000.00 | 316 575.00 | ||
The mock-up shows six days of the month. The totals row covers the whole month.
1 Date
The trading day, printed as the report prints it, for example Fri 16 Oct 26.
2 Label
Where the day sits in the pay cycle: Payday week, Week before payday or Other days.
3 Original forecast
The average turnover of similar past days, worked out before the month started trading, so it never changes during the month. Hover over it to see the past days it was built from. A dash means there are no similar past days yet.
4 Turnover (incl Vat)
What you actually sold on that day, including value-added tax (VAT, or your country's equivalent sales tax). Voided invoices are not counted. Today and future days show a dash, because today's sales are only counted once the trading day has ended. A past day with a dash means you made no sales that day.
5 Turnover % from original forecast
How far the day's turnover was from its original forecast, in green when you sold more and red when you sold less. For today it says that today's sales are only calculated at the end of the day. Days that have not traded yet are left empty.
6 Adjusted forecast
For days that have already traded this is simply your actual turnover, shown in blue. For today and the rest of the month it is the original forecast raised or lowered by the percentage you are ahead of or behind the original forecast for the month so far. In the mock-up you are 5% ahead, so Tue 20 Oct 26 goes from 9 800.00 to 10 290.00. The adjusted forecast is never lower than zero. Hover over it to see the explanation.
7 Totals and month to yesterday
Under the table the report adds up the month: the original forecast for the whole month, the turnover so far and the adjusted forecast for the whole month. Below that three lines compare the month so far with what was forecast for the same days:
| Month to yesterday original forecast: | 120 000.00 |
| Month to yesterday turnover: | 126 000.00 |
| Month to yesterday turnover from original forecast: | 6 000.00 |
| 5% more than the original forecast | |
Green means you are ahead of the forecast, red means you are behind. This percentage is what drives the adjusted forecast. A line chart under the totals plots the original forecast, your turnover and the adjusted forecast for every day of the month.
Next month
The same idea for next month, with a table of every day, a total and a line chart. Next month is not adjusted: each figure is the plain average of similar past days, and this month's days so far count as history too.
| November 2026 sales forecast Payday: 25 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Label | Forecast |
| Sun 01 Nov 26 | Other days | 11 800.00 |
| Mon 02 Nov 26 | Other days | 9 600.00 |
| Tue 03 Nov 26 | Other days | 10 100.00 |
| ... the rest of the month ... | ||
| Wed 18 Nov 26 | Week before payday | 9 700.00 |
| November 2026 totals: | 288 400.00 | |
The totals row covers the whole month, not just the rows shown.
Hover over a forecast to see the past days it was averaged from. The report ends with a short explanation of the method and a reminder that menu changes, promotions, public holidays, special events and the weather can skew the data.
Watch the video
A short walkthrough of the Sales forecast report and how to read the forecast and the adjusted forecast.
Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the original forecast and the adjusted forecast?
The original forecast is worked out from past months only and does not change during the month. The adjusted forecast starts from the original forecast and moves it up or down by the percentage you are ahead of or behind it for the month so far. Days that have already traded show your actual turnover instead.
Why does the report say there is not enough data?
The store needs at least one full month of trading, counted from its first sale, before the report can forecast. Until then it shows a message asking you to try again later. The same message appears if no forecast could be worked out at all.
Why is today's turnover a dash?
Today's sales are only counted once the trading day has ended, so a half-finished day does not look like a bad day. Until then the report shows a dash and a note in blue. Today is also left out of the month to yesterday comparison.
Why does a past day show a dash for turnover?
You made no sales on that trading day, for example because the store was closed. It still counts as a day in the month to yesterday comparison, using its original forecast, so a closed day pulls the comparison down.
Why is a day's forecast a dash?
There is no similar past day yet. The report needs at least one earlier day with the same day of the week and the same label (payday week, week before payday or other days) in the last three months on which you traded.
Why do the figures not match my other sales reports?
This report adds up the total of every valid invoice including VAT, by trading day. Voided invoices are not counted. Reports that show sales excluding VAT, or that group by calendar day instead of trading day, will show different figures.
A public holiday or promotion is coming up. What should I do?
The forecast only knows about the past, so it cannot see holidays, promotions, special events or the weather. Treat the figures as a starting point and adjust them yourself for days like these.
What does changing the payday do?
It moves the payday week and the week before payday, so different past days are matched to each day and the forecasts change. Use the day on which most of your customers are paid.
Glossary
- Adjusted forecast
- For days that have traded, your actual turnover. For today and the rest of this month, the original forecast raised or lowered by how far you are ahead of or behind the original forecast for the month so far.
- Month to yesterday
- The days of this month from the 1st up to and including yesterday. Today is left out because it is not finished.
- Original forecast
- The average turnover of similar past days (same day of the week, same label), worked out from the months before this one.
- Other days
- Days that are neither in the payday week nor in the week before payday.
- Payday week
- The payday and the six days after it.
- Trading day
- The period from the time your store's day starts until the same time the next day. Sales made just after midnight can belong to the previous trading day.
- Turnover
- The total of your valid (not voided) invoices for the day, including VAT.
- VAT
- Value-added tax, or your country's equivalent sales tax.
- Week before payday
- The seven days before payday.