Revenue across time periods

Revenue can be measured over any time period you need, such as a day, week, month or year. If sales bring in the same amount each period, you can scale the revenue up or down to match the period in a question.

Shorter period to longer period

To convert revenue from a shorter period to a longer period, multiply by the number of shorter periods in the longer period. This works because the longer period contains several of the shorter periods, so the revenue is repeated.

For example, a dog-walking business earns £240 in a week. If it earns the same every week, its yearly revenue is £240 × 52 = £12,480, because there are 52 weeks in a year. To go from a day to a week, multiply by 7; from a month to a year, multiply by 12.

Longer period to shorter period

To convert revenue from a longer period to a shorter period, divide by the number of shorter periods in the longer period. This gives the average revenue for each shorter period.

For example, an online phone-case shop has annual revenue of £18,000. Its average monthly revenue is £18,000 ÷ 12 = £1,500. Dividing is the opposite of multiplying, so do not multiply when you are going from a year to a month.

Keep the time units consistent

Use the same time unit throughout a calculation, and finish by converting to the period the question asks for. If a question gives daily revenue but asks for a yearly figure, work out the revenue for one week using the number of trading days, then multiply by 52.

For example, a market stall takes £95 per day and trades 6 days a week. Weekly revenue is £95 × 6 = £570. Annual revenue is £570 × 52 = £29,640. Mixing days and weeks without converting would give a figure in the wrong time period.