Gross sales measures a company's total sales without adjusting for the expenses of generating those sales. The gross sales formula is calculated by totaling all sale invoices or related revenue transactions. However, gross sales do not include operating expenses, tax expenses, or other charges, which are all deducted to calculate net sales.

Gross Sales Formula

The gross sales figure is calculated by adding all sales receipts before discounts, returns, and allowances together. The formula for gross sales is a simple equation that helps businesses calculate their total revenue before any deductions: Gross Sales = Sum of all sales (Total units sold x Sales price per unit).

Let's consider a hypothetical tech company, TechXYZ. In a quarter, it sells 10,000 units of its flagship product at $200 each. Applying the formula Gross Sales, we get the following:

Gross Sales = 10,000 units x $200/unit Gross Sales = $2,000,000

So, the gross sales of TechXYZ for that quarter is $2,000,000 before considering business expenses, deductions, discounts, returns, and allowances.

What Gross Sales Can Tell You

Gross sales can be important, especially for retail stores, but it is not the final word on a company's revenue. It reflects a business's total revenue during a specific period but does not account for all the expenses accrued. This is why gross sales are not typically listed on an income statement or listed as total revenue. Net sales reflect a truer picture of a company's top line.

Nevertheless, analysts often find it helpful to plot gross sales, net sales, and the difference between both figures to determine how each value trends over a period. If the difference between gross and net sales increases over time, this could indicate trouble with product quality. This is because it suggests an unusually high volume of sales returns, discounts, or allowances. These figures should be watched to determine their meaning.

Example of How to Use Gross Sales

Most companies don’t provide gross sales in their publicly filed financial statements. Instead, it’s generally used as an internal number. For example, companies like Dollar General Corp. (DG) or Target Corp. (TGT) are well-known retailers. However, they offer discounts and experience product returns. These companies and many others choose not to report gross sales instead, they present net sales on their financial statements. Net sales already have discounts, returns, and other allowances factored in.

Gross Sales vs. Net Sales

Gross sales are the total sales transactions within a specific period for a company. Net sales are calculated by deducting sales allowances, sales discounts, and sales returns from gross sales.

Net sales reflect all customer price reductions, discounts on goods, and any refunds paid to customers after the sale. These three deductions have a natural debit balance, while the gross sales account has a natural credit balance. Thus, the deductions are constructed to offset the sales account.

Limitations of Using Gross Sales

Gross sales are generally only significant to companies in the consumer retail industry, reflecting the amount of a product a business sells relative to its major competitors. A company may decide to present gross sales, deductions, and net sales on different lines within an income statement.

However, this is generally more confusing, so net sales are typically the only value presented. The figure can be misleading when gross sales are presented on a separate line because it tends to overstate sales and inhibits readers from determining the total of the various sales deductions.

The Bottom Line

Gross sales is a straightforward metric that reveals a company's total revenue from sales and serves as an initial gauge of business activity. However, it doesn't provide an overall view of a company's financial condition. This is because gross sales doesn't account for returns, allowances, discounts, and operating expenses. While it helps to get a handle on the scale of a company's operations and gain deeper insights into profitability and financial health, a broader range of financial indicators should be analyzed.