Daily Run Rate
What is daily run rate?
Daily run rate is the pace at which a rep is closing revenue, expressed as revenue per selling day, and used to project where they will finish the period if nothing changes. It answers the only question a rep actually asks mid-quarter: am I going to make it?
The calculation is trivial. The reason it matters is that quota attainment is a lagging metric — it tells you what happened. Run rate is the same data turned into a leading one.
How to calculate daily run rate
Daily run rate = Revenue closed to date ÷ Selling days elapsed
Projected attainment = (Daily run rate × Total selling days in period) ÷ Quota
"Selling days" — not calendar days. Weekends and holidays do not close deals, and a quarter with 61 selling days behaves very differently from one with 64. Companies that run the calculation on calendar days systematically mislead reps in December.
A worked example
Sam, an AE. Quarterly quota: $250,000. The quarter has 62 selling days. On day 28, Sam has closed $95,000.
What this means?
Sam is not "at 38% of quota with a month to go." He is on pace for 84%, and to recover he must lift his daily pace by 34% for the rest of the quarter. Those are two completely different conversations, and only the second one is actionable.
The last row is the one that matters. Attainment tells Sam where he is; required run rate tells him what he has to do. Most commission dashboards show the first and not the second.
Where daily run rate misleads
Run rate assumes revenue arrives linearly. It does not. Three distortions to correct for:
Deal lumpiness. A rep with three $80K deals in play has a run rate that means almost nothing — one close swings the projection by 32%. Run rate is most reliable at high volume and low ACV, and least reliable in enterprise.
Quarter-end skew. B2B revenue is famously back-loaded. A linear projection on day 28 of a quarter where 40% of deals close in the final two weeks will understate every rep on the team, every time.
Ramping reps. A rep on a ramp quota has a different denominator. Projecting them against full quota produces a number that is both wrong and demoralising.
Why daily run rate matters for finance teams
Run rate is the input to commission accrual. If you accrue commission based on closed-to-date, you under-accrue in a back-loaded quarter and then take a large hit at close. If you accrue on a projected run rate, the accrual moves with the pace and the true-up at close is smaller. Neither is wrong; the choice should be deliberate, and most teams have never made it explicitly.
It is also the earliest signal you have on the commission line. A team tracking 15% below required run rate in week four is a commission expense forecast that needs revising in week five — not at close.
Common mistakes with daily run rate
1. Using calendar days instead of selling days
It inflates the denominator and understates every rep's pace, most severely in quarters with holidays.
2. Showing pace without showing the required pace
"You are at $3,393/day" means nothing on its own. "You need $4,559/day for the remaining 34 days" is a plan.
3. Applying a linear projection to a back-loaded pipeline
If your historical close distribution is 20/30/50 across the three months of a quarter, weight the projection accordingly. A flat run rate will tell you the quarter is lost in week five of every quarter you eventually win.
How Visdum handles daily run rate
Visdum shows each rep their attainment, their current pace, and the pace required to hit quota over the days remaining — computed on selling days, against their actual quota including any ramp adjustment, and updated as CRM deals move. Reps stop rebuilding this in a personal spreadsheet, which is where shadow accounting starts. Managers get the same view across the team, so a rep tracking below required pace is a conversation in week four rather than a surprise at close, and finance gets a commission projection that moves with the pipeline instead of a single number computed at quarter-end.
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Related terms
Quota Attainment · Commission Forecast · Sales Quota · Commission Accrual · Shadow Accounting
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Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate daily run rate in sales?
Divide revenue closed to date by the number of selling days elapsed. A rep who has closed $95,000 in 28 selling days has a daily run rate of $3,393. Multiply that by the total selling days in the period and divide by quota to project final attainment. Use selling days, not calendar days — weekends and holidays do not close deals.
What is a good daily run rate?
Whatever equals your required run rate: quota divided by total selling days in the period. A rep with a $250,000 quarterly quota across 62 selling days needs $4,032 a day. "Good" is entirely relative to that number, which is why showing a rep their pace without showing the required pace is close to useless.
What is the difference between run rate and quota attainment?
Attainment is a lagging metric — it tells you what percentage of quota has been closed so far. Run rate is the same data turned forward: it projects where the rep will finish if the current pace holds. A rep at 38% of quota on day 28 of a 62-day quarter is actually on pace for 84%, which is a different conversation entirely.
Why is daily run rate misleading in enterprise sales?
Because run rate assumes revenue arrives linearly and enterprise revenue does not. A rep with three $80,000 deals in play has a projection that swings by 30% or more on a single close. Run rate is most reliable in high-volume, low-ACV motions and least reliable where a handful of deals determine the quarter.
Should run rate account for back-loaded quarters?
Yes. B2B revenue is heavily back-loaded, so a flat linear projection made in week four will understate almost every rep on the team. If your historical close distribution across a quarter is roughly 20/30/50 by month, weight the projection to match — otherwise the model declares the quarter lost every quarter you eventually win.
How does run rate affect commission accrual?
It determines how much you accrue mid-period. Accruing on closed-to-date alone under-accrues in a back-loaded quarter and produces a large hit at close. Accruing on a projected run rate keeps the accrual moving with actual pace and makes the true-up smaller. Neither approach is wrong, but the choice should be deliberate — and most teams have never made it explicitly.