Day-of-month profile

The share of a normal month's revenue that has usually landed by each day, from the company's own history. Month-to-date divided by the share landed is the projection, and the range of the share gives the range. Scaling by days elapsed projects a miss that is not there.

DefinitionThe share of a normal month's revenue that has usually landed by each day, from the company's own history. Month-to-date divided by the share landed is the projection, and the range of the share gives the range. Scaling by days elapsed projects a miss that is not there.

Ratios cannot be read mid-period

Coverage, share of wallet and concentration are shown as of the last full period. Revenue and pipeline are projected with a range.

Never beside a full month

A partial figure is shown with its expected share, not as a comparable bar.

How it is computed

From two or three years of history, the cumulative share of a normal month's revenue that has landed by each working day.

Example

By working day 10 the business has usually booked 38 percent of the month. This month it has $1.6 million by day 10 against a target of $4.0 million: 40 percent, slightly ahead, not behind as a straight line would suggest.

Where it goes wrong

Month-to-date compared with a straight line. Most businesses are back-loaded, so they look behind until the last week every month.

Articles that use this term

Forecast and pipeline

Reading a measure before the period closes: month-to-date without fooling yourself

Why a month-to-date figure read on the 12th misleads in three predictable ways, the day-of-month profile that says how much of a normal month has usually landed by each day, the projection that follows and its range, which measures can be read mid-period and which cannot, and the rule that a partial-period figure is always shown with its expected share and never beside a full period as if comparable.

16 Sept 20262 min read