Sales Report

Students will:

· Prepare a professional report for a supervisor and/or sales team in a memo format that includes a visual.

· Apply an Excel formula to calculate increase/decrease in sales, interpret results, and make recommendations for business operations.

Discussion

A sales report is one of many short reports that are listed on page 461. A sales report provides data that helps managers plan for the future. It can show popular items, stagnant sales, seasonal products, and trends in purchases.

Assignment

Using a memo format and the data in #3 on page 492, prepare a sales report to your supervisor that shows the percentage increase/decrease in sales for all appliances and treatments. Add a column to the chart to show the percentage change. Include the chart in your memo.

To calculate the difference you will need to subtract October sales from November sales and divide by October sales. For example, for the first item, refrigerators, the percentage increase is:

103 – 72

72 = 43.06% Limit the decimal places to two.

Calculate Percentage

You can easily calculate the percentage change in Excel by creating a formula. Symbols for commands are found at Home on the toolbar.

· Enter the data from the exercise, including the product name.

· From Home on the toolbar, create the formula: =SUM(C2-B2)/B2

Note: Line 1 will be the column headings.

· Highlight the percentage column and use the down arrow to fill in the formula for the entire column.

· Press enter. Results will appear for each appliance.

· To limit the decimal places to two, use the 00 icon found on Home.

· Then use the percent symbol (%) to change your fraction to a percentage.

· Following is a sample of the steps.

Sample

Product

October Sales

November Sales

Percentage Increase/ Decrease

Refrigerators

72

103

0.43055556

Dishwashers

27

14

0.48148148

Product

October Sales

November Sales

Percentage Increase/ Decrease

Refrigerators

72

103

43.05%

Dishwashers

27

14

-48.14%

In your memo, identify the product that had the best percentage sales and best unit sales.

Based on the data, make three recommendations for sales, production, store promotions, and/or reordering or stocking appliances. Remember you are using last year’s sales to plan for the upcoming fall season. A sample sales report is on page 471. Be careful and note that you are writing about appliances, not entrees (food).

Submit your assignment in Blackboard.

Page 492 Data #3

3.Assume you work for a household appliance store. Prepare a sales report based on the information contained in the following table. Include a section on recommendations for your manager.

Number Sold

Product

October

November

Kitchen Appliances

Refrigerators

72

103

Dishwashers

27

14

Freezers

10

36

Electric ranges

26

26

Gas ranges

10

3

Microwaves

31

46

Laundry Appliances

Washers

50

75

Dryers

24

36

Air Treatments

Room air conditioners

41

69

Dehumidifiers

7

2

Sales Report Example