Sales contest template: the short answer
Our free sales contest template in Excel helps you plan and run a sales contest: period, what is measured, participants, prizes and budget. You log results day by day or week by week, and the workbook builds the leaderboard, assigns the prizes and shows whether the contest stays within budget and pays for itself.
Download the sales contest template (Excel, free)
The template contains an example contest for new customers in March 2026 with 8 reps, so you can see how it works before entering your own numbers. Everything is ordinary formulas with no macros, so it works in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice. If you still need a format, start with our list of 18 sales contest ideas.
What is in the template
The workbook has six sheets. You only type in the lavender cells.
| Sheet | What it does | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Instructions | Short guide and the rules the workbook applies | Read it once |
| Setup | Name, start and end date, what is measured, ranking, minimum, prizes, team target and budget | Fill in before the start |
| Participants | Name, team, personal target and whether the person is in the contest. Result, place and prize are calculated on the right | Enter the participants |
| Results | One row per result with date, participant, value and whether it counts | Update daily or weekly |
| Leaderboard | Ranked list with result, percent of target, result by week, prize and the gap to the place ahead | Share it on screen or as PDF |
| Budget check | Maximum cost, cost on current standings and extra value | Check before the start and along the way |
How to set up the contest
- Period: enter the start and end date. Only results dated inside the period count. The workbook splits the period into weeks from the start date.
- What is measured: for example new customers, revenue, meetings or qualified pipeline. Enter 1 per new customer or meeting, or the amount if you measure revenue.
- Ranking: by result or by percent of personal target. Percent lets reps with different targets compete on equal terms.
- Minimum: the score needed to win a placement prize, so nobody wins on a result you do not want to reward.
- Prizes: up to five placement prizes, a threshold prize for everyone who reaches a given percent of target, and a team prize when the team as a whole reaches the team target.
- Budget: the total budget, other costs such as a celebration or trophy, your normal level without a contest and the value per unit, for example the gross margin on a new customer.
Set "In contest" to No for managers and others who should see their numbers but cannot win. They are not ranked and do not count towards the team result.
The leaderboard: ranking, ties and gaps
A leaderboard is what keeps energy up during the contest. The template's leaderboard sorts participants automatically and shows result, percent of target, result by week, prize on current standings and the gap to the place ahead. The gap matters for the middle of the pack: chasing one more deal is easier than chasing first place.
When there is a tie, the tied participants share the place and split the prizes for the places they occupy together. If two reps tie for 3rd, they split the prizes for 3rd and 4th. The rule is easy to explain and needs no draw, but write it down before the contest starts.
Budget check: what does the contest cost, and does it pay off?
The budget check calculates three things:
- Maximum cost: all placement prizes, plus the threshold prize and team prize for every participant, plus other costs. If it exceeds the budget, the sheet says "Over budget", and you should adjust the prizes before you start.
- Cost on current standings: what the prizes would cost if the contest ended today.
- Effect: the extra result compared with your normal level, times the value per unit, and break-even: how many extra units are needed to cover the cost.
Some of the extra result may be deals pulled forward from next month. Compare with the months after the contest before you conclude it worked.
Worked example: new customers in March 2026
Example: these are the template's example numbers, in DKK. Eight reps compete for the most new customers from 2 to 27 March 2026, four weeks. The team normally closes 10 new customers in four weeks, and the team target is 14. The manager is on the list but not in the contest.
| Setup | Value |
|---|---|
| Placement prizes | DKK 8,000 each for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place |
| Team prize | DKK 2,000 per participant if the team reaches 14 new customers |
| Other costs and reserve | DKK 8,000 |
| Budget | DKK 48,000 |
| Value per new customer (first-year gross margin) | DKK 60,000 |
The leaderboard after four weeks
| Place | Rep | New customers | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anna Holm | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | DKK 10,000 |
| 2 | Bo Jensen | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | DKK 10,000 |
| 3 | Camilla Nørgaard | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | DKK 6,000 |
| 3 | David Lund | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | DKK 6,000 |
| 5 | Emma Krogh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | DKK 2,000 |
| 5 | Frederik Bach | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | DKK 2,000 |
| 5 | Gitte Sørensen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | DKK 2,000 |
| 5 | Hassan Ali | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | DKK 2,000 |
| Total | 15 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | DKK 40,000 |
Emma Krogh closed two customers, but one cancelled within 14 days. That row is marked "Counts: No" in Results, so she stands at 1.
Camilla and David tie for 3rd and split the prizes for 3rd and 4th: (8,000 + 0) ÷ 2 = DKK 4,000 each. The team reached 15 new customers, above the target of 14, so all eight get the DKK 2,000 team prize. Anna and Bo therefore get 8,000 + 2,000 = DKK 10,000, Camilla and David 4,000 + 2,000 = DKK 6,000, and the other four DKK 2,000.
The budget check
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Placement prizes | 8,000 + 8,000 + 4,000 + 4,000 | DKK 24,000 |
| Team prizes | 8 × 2,000 | DKK 16,000 |
| Other costs | DKK 8,000 | |
| Total cost | DKK 48,000 | |
| Extra new customers | 15 − 10 | 5 |
| Extra value | 5 × 60,000 | DKK 300,000 |
| Extra value minus cost | 300,000 − 48,000 | DKK 252,000 |
| Break-even | 48,000 ÷ 60,000 | 0.8 extra customers |
The maximum cost is also DKK 48,000 (24,000 + 16,000 + 8,000), exactly the budget, so the contest cannot cost more than planned. The budget equals 20% of the extra value if the team hits the target of 14 exactly: 4 × 60,000 = DKK 240,000, and 20% of that is DKK 48,000. These numbers were chosen for the example. Use your own.
Write the rules down before the start
Most arguments about sales contests come from rules nobody wrote down. The template has the fields, but the rules belong in a short text everyone gets before the start:
- Who takes part, and what applies to new reps who are still ramping
- What counts, and which date and CRM field decides it
- What happens with cancelled deals, split deals and ties
- The prizes, and when and how they are paid
- Who decides edge cases
Set a minimum and remove cancelled deals with "Counts: No". It protects against sandbagging and deals closed only to win the contest.
Prizes and tax in Denmark
As a rule, prizes from an employer are taxable. The Danish Tax Agency says benefits given to employees as a reward are taxed in full. Cash gifts are always taxable, and gift cards are taxable if they can be exchanged for cash; digital gift cards can always be exchanged and are therefore taxable. Cash prizes therefore usually go through payroll like other variable pay. Rules differ outside Denmark, so check with your accountant or payroll provider how a specific prize should be handled.
Sales contest, SPIF or incentive program?
A sales contest has a ranking, a threshold or a team target, and the prize depends on the result. A SPIF pays a fixed amount for a specific action, for example DKK 1,000 per module sold, to everyone who does it. Read more in our guide to SPIFF programs. Both are parts of a wider sales incentive program, and the contest should pull in the same direction as commission. If commission rewards gross margin, the contest must not reward discounting.
For more free templates, such as the commission statement template, see our list of free commission and sales compensation templates.
Prowi and sales contests
A spreadsheet needs someone to type in the results. Prowi calculates commission continuously from your CRM data, and reps see their earnings in a mobile app without anyone typing in numbers. Book a demo to see it with your own data.
FAQ
How do I make a sales contest leaderboard in Excel?
Keep a list of participants and a log with date, participant and value for each result. Sum each person's results inside the period with SUMIFS, find the place with COUNTIF, and pull the sorted list with INDEX and MATCH. The template has all of this built in.
How do you handle ties in a sales contest?
Decide the rule before the start. In the template, participants with the same score share the place and split the prizes for the places they occupy. Alternatives are earliest result or an extra prize.
How much should a sales contest cost?
There is no fixed rule. Work backwards from the extra value the contest is meant to create, and set a budget that the maximum prize cost cannot exceed. The budget check in the template shows both numbers.
Can the template be used for team contests?
Yes. Set a team target and a team prize per participant. The workbook sums the results for everyone in the contest and triggers the team prize when the target is reached.
Are sales contest prizes taxable?
In Denmark, as a rule, yes. The Danish Tax Agency taxes benefits given as a reward in full, and cash gifts are always taxable. Check local rules if you are outside Denmark.