Sales costs Be clear on how your sales costs break down and therefore how they will impact your bottom line. The following example demonstrates how to calcu- late sales costs for your business. Example Sales Cost Team: 1 sales manager + 5 account executives Salary: Sales Manager: €100k/y (50% variable); Account Executive: €80k/y (40% variable) Assumption: Each account executive brings in €400k in revenues. So: 5 account executives x €400k revenue each = €2 million total annual revenue For €2 million in revenue, the company pays €210k in commissions: €50k commission for sales manager ( = 50% of €100k/y) + 5 x €32k commission per account executive ( = 40% of €80k) = €210k in commissions Assuming that the account executives and the sales manager achieve 100% of their sales quota and thus get 100% of their variable salaries. 28