About the Sales Capacity Calculator
This sales capacity calculator turns a revenue goal into a hiring plan. Enter the new bookings or new ARR you need this year, the annual quota per rep, the share of quota reps typically hit, how long new hires take to ramp and how many reps you already have. It returns the number of new reps to hire at the start of the year and the total capacity that plan delivers.
It is designed for sales leaders building an annual plan, RevOps teams stress-testing targets, and founders deciding when to add account executives. Because new reps rarely produce at full speed straight away, the model accounts for ramp, and it reduces existing capacity for expected attrition.
Assumptions: new hires start on day one of the year and ramp linearly to full productivity over the ramp period; departures happen evenly through the year and are not backfilled. If you hire later in the year, you will need more reps than shown.
With the default inputs, the new reps to hire now is 6. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the sales capacity calculator
- 1Enter the new bookings or new ARR target for the year.
- 2Enter annual quota per rep and typical quota attainment.
- 3Enter ramp time for new hires and your current ramped headcount.
- 4Enter expected annual attrition.
- 5Read how many reps to hire now and check the monthly capacity chart.
Formula and method
Each fully ramped rep is expected to close their quota multiplied by the typical attainment rate. Existing capacity is reduced by half the annual attrition rate, because departures are assumed to happen evenly through the year, so on average a leaver works half the year.
A new rep ramps linearly from zero to full productivity over the ramp period, which costs exactly half the ramp months of output in their first year. The remaining gap is divided by that first-year capacity and rounded up. Steady-state reps needed ignores ramp and attrition.
- Quota
- Annual bookings quota per account executive
- Attainment
- Average share of quota reps actually close
- Ramp
- Months until a new hire reaches full productivity
- Attrition
- Share of reps expected to leave during the year
Worked examples
$6M target with five reps today
Each rep closes 80% of an $800k quota, or $640k. Five reps minus half of 15% attrition give $2.96M, leaving a $3.04M gap. A new hire with a 4-month ramp delivers $533,333 in year one, so six hires are needed, for $6.16M of capacity.
Building a team from scratch
Reps hitting a $600k quota with a 6-month ramp deliver $450k in year one. $3M ÷ $450k = 6.7, so seven hires are needed, even though five fully ramped reps would suffice in steady state.
Target already covered
The existing five reps provide $2.96M of capacity after attrition, above the $2M target, so no new hires are required.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate how many sales reps I need?+
Divide your bookings target by the realistic output of one rep (quota × average attainment), then adjust for ramp time and attrition. New hires produce less in their first year, so you need more of them than the steady-state figure.
What is a typical sales ramp time?+
Ramp times of about 3 months for SMB sales and 6–9 months for enterprise account executives are common, roughly tracking the length of the sales cycle. Use your own historical data when you have it.
Why plan on less than 100% quota attainment?+
In most sales teams a significant share of reps miss quota in a given year. Planning on average attainment rather than full quota avoids building a plan that only works if everyone hits target.
Does hiring later in the year change the result?+
Yes. This model assumes hires start at the beginning of the year. A rep hired mid-year contributes far less that year, so staggered hiring needs extra headcount or an earlier start.