How sales forecasting enables a business to make important decisions regarding other important aspects such as production, marketing, inventory, supply chain, expansion plans and contributes to the success of a business in 2020.

A forecast is an indicator of what is likely to happen in the future. Similarly, sales forecast indicates the volume of sales in a specified time frame. When it comes to conducting a business, sales forecasting is a key factor. As you gain knowledge of the marketplace, it helps to improve your strategic plans. Sales forecasting is crucial for a business as it helps to estimate the amount that needs to be produced. Based on the sales forecast, arrangements for raw materials, equipment, labor and estimate of expenses 2020 are made in advance. Assessing the market trends in advance is essential for all manufacturing companies. It helps management to take important decisions and also estimate revenue generation. It estimates the sales potential of a business and all important business strategies are based on the sales forecast. In other words, the sales force with their forecast allows companies to set production targets and plan for future growth of the business.

- Sales plan: When the sales team makes a forecast, in the process they also plan their future activities. This provides each of the team members with a plan about how to manage their respective territories. As each of them has a sales target that needs to be met, the forecast of sales in 2020 acts as a tool to identify potential customers to reach their target.
- Estimating demand: Sales projection is the best tool to estimate demand for the product that a company manufactures. Since it is the sales team which directly interacts with the customers, they are in the best position to collect information regarding demand of a product.

- Expansion plans: Estimating sales helps with projection of profit and predict about revenue generation. This information can be further used by businesses to explore any possibility of increasing the revenue and profit. The accuracy of the sales forecast can be improved further by continuously revising the process which improves business performance from all aspects.

- Improved OTIF performance: Businesses can improve their OTIF delivery, with accurate sales projection. The data collected from forecast of sales in 2020 helps to determine the volume of production or the products to be ordered which can be delivered to the customers on time. This results in customer satisfaction.

- Better inventory management: Accurate sales projection leads to better management of inventory. It enables a business to maintain the inventory that is required and thereby avoid any overstock and stock-out situations. As a result, it helps to manage production better.

- Management of supply chain: When demand, sales and production is predicted, it leads to better management of supply chain which involves flow of goods and services. In other words, businesses can reap the benefits of just-in-time ordering. This helps to minimize cost of carrying inventory.

- Internal management: Having knowledge about estimated production rates helps to control internal operations better. Sales projection allows a business to take decisions regarding recruitment both permanent and contractual, marketing strategies and growth plans.

- Prepare marketing strategies: Based on sales projection and projection of profit, businesses can prepare their marketing strategies. For instance, if the forecast is on the weaker side companies can schedule promotions accordingly and discontinue the products which are not in demand.

The way mobile invoicing helps

One of the best ways to estimate sales is to integrate invoice app to your mobile to get all-in-one solutions, as it has got forecasting functionality. The forecasts get filled up on its own when invoices and bills are generated. This would allow you to send professional yet creative invoices, sales order creation and manage your sales team when you are traveling with real time reporting. This allows you to access estimate and purchase order in any platform. You can have your expense receipts in seconds and the data remains safe and secured in the server. The data can be retrieved in the event of any hardware failure or the device getting lost. You will be able to respond to your client’s query or feedback and manage all the conversations in a single location. Therefore, when you integrate invoice app to your mobile to get all-in-one solutions you can avail special features like estimates, expenses tracking or time tracker, generating reports, credit notes and more. Consequently, all these features allow you to estimate sales which is a key factor for successful business in 2020.

Sales projection plays a significant role in the success of a business and nowadays it can be done conveniently with mobile invoicing apps.

Recurring Payments Vs Recurring Invoices

Recurring Payments	Recurring Invoices
Recurring payments charge the customer’s credit card account or debit card account on a predetermined schedule for the same amount as preapproved.	Send an invoice to your customer on a regular basis. The client receives the invoice but, money is not paid unless the customer approves.
A business that takes prepayment of money and sells a monthly subscription service and product. Subscription services are excellent examples of this.	A company that provides fixed services with billable hours is an excellent choice for recurring billing. For example law firms and consulting agencies.

Pros and Cons of Recurring Invoices

Pros	Cons
You eliminate the possibility of human error by automating the billing process. If you use a recurring invoice, you will not be concerned about forgetting to charge your customers for the things they ordered.	You must exercise caution while recurring billing to prevent issuing inaccurate pricing. This also holds for price changes that could take place right once an invoice is created.
If you provide your customers with the option for recurring billing, they are more likely to buy products regularly.	It could be difficult to cope with recurring invoices if a transaction fails for any reason.

Net 45	Invoice is due in full within 45 days with no early payment discount offered
2/10 net 45 terms	2% discount if you pay within 10 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days
1/15 net 45 terms	1% discount if you pay within 15 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days
1/10 net 45 terms	1% discount if you pay within 10 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days
1/7 net 45 terms	1% discount if you pay within 7 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days

Category	Net Method vs. Gross Method	Explanation
Calculation Approach	- Applies tax credits first; reduces taxable income before computing tax liability.	- Doesn't apply tax credits; computes taxable income without considering tax credits.
Tax Credit Eligibility	- Allows for greater likelihood of tax credit eligibility due to reduced taxable income.	- Limits tax credit eligibility because taxable income hasn't been reduced yet.
Itemized Deduction Requirement	- Lowers threshold requirement for itemizing deductions due to decreased taxable income.	- Raises threshold requirement for itemizing deductions due to higher taxable income.
Advantages	- Leads to lower taxable income and increases chances of meeting qualifications for other tax benefits.	- Results in higher taxable income compared to net method.
Disadvantages	- May miss opportunity to reduce tax burden if taxpayer doesn't itemize deductions or take advantage of tax credits.	- Increases taxable income and may result in higher overall tax bill.