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The Global Insight

What budgets are prepared before the sales budget?

Author

Michael Gray

Updated on February 07, 2026

Always remember that the sales budget is prepared first before any budget is created. Accordingly, after the sales budget, the production and cash budget then follows.

How do you prepare a monthly sales budget?

The basic calculation in the sales budget is to itemize the number of unit sales expected in one row, and then list the average expected unit price in the next row, with the total sales appearing in a third row. The unit price may be adjusted for marketing promotions.

What are the steps in preparing a master budget?

Learning Outcomes

  1. Summarize the impact of the sales forecast on the master budget.
  2. Outline the sequence of components of the master budget.
  3. Create a production budget.
  4. Create a direct materials budget.
  5. Create direct labor budget.
  6. Create a manufacturing overhead budget.
  7. Create an ending inventory budget.

How do I prepare a sales budget?

How to Prepare a Sales Budget

  1. Select a Period for the Budget.
  2. Gather Sales Prices.
  3. Pull Historical Sales Data.
  4. Look at Industry Benchmarks.
  5. Factor in Market Trends.
  6. Take the Size of Your Sales Team Into Account.
  7. Consider Any Changes to Your Business Model.
  8. Talk to Your Sales Reps.

How does a company prepare a Master Budget?

The master budget starts with the preparation of a sales forecast, which allows all other departments to: Work from the sales number to develop budgets based on the number of products needed to be produced. The sales forecast is used to create the cash budget, and then the company can work backwards to do production planning.

Which is the first budget to prepare for sales?

The sales budget is the first budget we need before we can prepare additional budgets. Once this is in place, the production budget is prepared to help us: Know how many items we need to produce to meet sales numbers.

When do you need to prepare a production budget?

Once we get the sales budget prepared, you can see on the flow chart that the next budget we need to work on is the production budget. This budget is necessary to provide all of the details we need to prepare direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead budgets that come next.

Why do you need sales forecast and sales budget?

Put simply, the sales budget shows the desired direction and goal of your company over the course of a year while the sales forecast shows how likely your sales team is to stay on track and reach that destination on time. You now understand exactly what a sales budget is, but you’re probably still wondering how do you prepare a sales budget?