Sales quota planning template: the short answer
A quota plan splits the company revenue target into quotas per rep and month. It adds a buffer on top of the target (over-assignment), so the target can be reached even if not every rep hits 100%, and it takes seasonality, new reps ramping up, territories with different potential, part-time reps and reps with a fixed quota into account. Download our free sales quota planning template in Excel and get the quota per rep per month straight away.
Download the sales quota planning template (Excel, free)
The workbook has seven sheets, ordinary formulas and no macros, so it works in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice. It contains example data for 10 reps in four territories in 2026. You only type in the lavender cells; everything else is formulas. Amounts are plain numbers in your currency; the example uses DKK. Below we go through the method and the worked example.
What is a quota plan?
A sales quota is the target each rep is measured against. The quota plan is the calculation behind it: how the company target becomes a quota for every rep and every month. It is usually built top-down, from the company target, and adjusted for what each rep can realistically reach.
The quota plan is part of the sales budget but goes one level deeper. If you need to work out how many reps the target requires, start with our sales budget template. The quota plan takes over once you know the team. For a benchmark of how many salespeople companies of your size have, see our salespeople per employee data from 100 European B2B companies.
How the template is built
| Sheet | What you do | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Instructions | Read | Step by step and how the workbook calculates |
| Settings | Enter target, buffer, planned attainment, ramp curve and seasonality | The quota to assign and the attainment needed |
| Territories | Enter territories and a potential index | Reps, capacity and quota per territory |
| Reps | Enter reps with territory, start, ramp, end, capacity and any fixed quota | Annual quota per rep |
| Calculation | Nothing | Weight per rep and month and the full annual quota |
| Quota plan | Nothing | Quota per rep per month and per territory per month |
| Summary | Nothing | Key figures, checks and quota per territory |
The method: from target to quota
1. Add a buffer on top of the target
Quota to assign = revenue target × (1 + buffer). With a target of DKK 30,000,000 and a 10% buffer, DKK 33,000,000 is assigned. The team then needs to reach 1 ÷ 1.1 = 90.9% of quota on average to hit the target. The template compares this with your planned attainment and shows a warning if the buffer is too small.
2. Give every rep and month a weight
The weight brings together everything that affects how much a rep can sell in a month:
- Seasonality: the month's share of the year. In the example 7% in January, 4% in July and 11% in December.
- Active: 0 before the start month and after any end month.
- Ramp: a new rep has 25% in the first month, 50% in the second and 75% in the third, then 100%. Read more about the ramp period in the glossary.
- Capacity: 50% for a half-time rep or a sales manager who sells half of the time.
- Territory: a potential index where 100 is normal. An index of 120 gives a 20% higher quota.
Weight = seasonality share × active × ramp × capacity × index ÷ 100. A fully productive, full-time rep in a territory with index 100 who is employed all year has a weight of 1.0.
3. Take out fixed quotas and share the rest
Reps with a fixed annual quota, for example a key account manager, keep it. The rest of the quota is shared between the other reps by weight. Full annual quota = quota for the other reps ÷ the sum of their weights, and each rep's quota in a month = full annual quota × the weight in that month.
Worked example: DKK 30 million across 10 reps
Example: these are the template's example numbers. The target is DKK 30,000,000, the buffer 10% and planned attainment 92%. Frederik Sand is a key account manager with a fixed quota of DKK 4,500,000, so DKK 33,000,000 − 4,500,000 = DKK 28,500,000 is left for the other nine reps.
| Rep | Territory (index) | Special case | Weight | Annual quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Holm and Bo Jensen | Capital Region (120) | All year | 1.2 each | DKK 4,585,603 each |
| Camilla Nørgaard and Dennis Lund | Jutland (100) | All year | 1.0 each | DKK 3,821,336 each |
| Gitte Mølgaard | Funen and Zealand (85) | Started in November, ramp step 3 in January | 0.835 | DKK 3,191,293 |
| Emma Krogh | Funen and Zealand (85) | Leaves after September | 0.595 | DKK 2,273,695 |
| Henrik Bak | Jutland (100) | Sales manager, sells half time | 0.5 | DKK 1,910,668 |
| New rep 1 | Jutland (100) | Starts in March | 0.72 | DKK 2,751,362 |
| New rep 2 | Capital Region (120) | Starts in August | 0.408 | DKK 1,559,105 |
| Frederik Sand | Key accounts | Fixed quota | DKK 4,500,000 | |
| Total | 7.458 | DKK 33,000,000 |
The full annual quota is DKK 28,500,000 divided by the sum of the weights, which is DKK 3,821,336 (the weights are shown with three decimals, for example 0.835 for Gitte instead of 0.835125, so 28,500,000 ÷ 7.458 gives a slightly different number). That is the quota for Camilla and Dennis, who have a weight of 1.0. Anna and Bo in the Capital Region get 3,821,336 × 1.2 = DKK 4,585,603. Emma is only active from January to September, which is 70% of the year by the seasonality weights, so her weight is 70% × 0.85 = 0.595.
Ramp month by month
New rep 1 starts in March in Jutland. A fully productive rep in Jutland has a quota of DKK 343,920 in March and DKK 305,707 in April. With the ramp curve, the new rep gets 25% of 343,920 = DKK 85,980 in March, 50% of 305,707 = DKK 152,853 in April, 75% of 343,920 = DKK 257,940 in May and full quota from June.
The buffer is not even across the year
| Month | Total quota | Target by seasonality | Quota as % of target |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | DKK 2,023,615 | DKK 2,100,000 | 96.4% |
| June | DKK 3,018,794 | DKK 2,700,000 | 111.8% |
| December | DKK 3,836,758 | DKK 3,300,000 | 116.3% |
| Year | DKK 33,000,000 | DKK 30,000,000 | 110.0% |
In January, total quota is below the target because the new reps have not started yet and Gitte is still ramping. That is why it pays to track the target per quarter and not only for the year. At the planned attainment of 92%, expected revenue is 33,000,000 × 92% = DKK 30,360,000, which is DKK 360,000 above target.
Quota per territory
| Territory | Reps | Annual quota | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Region | 3 | DKK 10,730,311 | 32.5% |
| Jutland | 4 | DKK 12,304,701 | 37.3% |
| Funen and Zealand | 2 | DKK 5,464,988 | 16.6% |
| Key accounts | 1 | DKK 4,500,000 | 13.6% |
The territory index is the most sensitive assumption. Base it on, for example, sales per rep in each territory over the last 12 months or the number of target accounts, and write the basis in the column next to the index. How territories affect commission is covered in territory vs individual commission.
How big should the buffer be?
There is no fixed rule. The buffer must cover the gap between 100% and the attainment you realistically expect from the team, plus the risk of reps leaving and hires being delayed. Use your own numbers: what share of quota did the team reach over the last two years? When the attainment needed is below your planned attainment, the buffer is large enough in the model. If quota sits too far above the target, quotas become unrealistic and reps' commission falls. See how quota and pay connect in our guide to OTE and quotas.
From quota to commission
Quota is the basis for the commission rate: variable pay at 100% divided by quota. Once the quotas are set, work out the rates with our OTE and pay mix template and write them into the commission plan. You can find all our templates in the overview of free commission and sales compensation templates.
Common mistakes in quota plans
- Quota = target: the sum of quotas equals the target, so the target is only met if everyone hits 100%.
- The same quota in every territory: reps in small markets get an unrealistic quota and reps in large markets an easy one.
- New reps on full quota from day one: ramp costs capacity.
- The same quota every month: seasonality makes some months impossible and others too easy.
- No check of the total: when quotas are edited by hand, the total no longer matches the target.
Prowi and quotas
Prowi calculates commission continuously from CRM data, so reps can follow their earnings and attainment in a mobile app instead of waiting for the monthly statement. Statements are approved in Prowi and passed on to payroll. Book a demo to see it with your own quotas.
FAQ
How do you allocate a sales quota across reps?
Start with the company target, add a buffer, and share the quota according to each rep's capacity: active months, ramp, part-time and territory potential. Reps with a fixed quota are taken out first. The template does it automatically.
What is quota over-assignment?
Over-assignment means the sum of the reps' quotas is higher than the company target. With a 10% buffer, the team must reach 90.9% of quota on average to hit the target.
What quota should a new rep have?
A reduced quota during ramp. In the template it is 25%, 50% and 75% for the first three months and full quota after that, but you can change the curve to fit your sales cycle.
How do you account for seasonality in quotas?
Give each month a weight based on your historical sales, and split the annual quota by the weights. The template works out the shares, so the weights do not need to add up to 100.
Is the sales quota planning template free, and does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. The Excel file is free and uses only ordinary formulas without macros, so it works in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice.