Pipeline goal calculator
Work backward from an annual revenue goal to the opportunities, SQLs, MQLs, and leads it requires — plus the pipeline you need to build each month.
Required pipeline (3x coverage)
$3,600,000
$300,000 / mo · open opp value $4,800,000
- Leads / yr4,233
- MQLs / yr1,481
- SQLs / yr667
- Opportunities / yr400
- Won deals / yr100
Made with marketinque — the demand generation toolkit.
How this calculator works
The calculator starts at your annual revenue goal and divides backward. Goal ÷ average deal size gives the won deals you need; dividing by your win rate gives opportunities; then your SQL → opportunity, MQL → SQL, and lead → MQL rates expand that into the SQL, MQL, and lead volumes for the year. The headline figure is required pipeline at 3x coverage — a common SaaS benchmark that says open pipeline should run about three times the revenue target — broken down into a monthly build rate.
Use your CRM’s trailing win rate and stage conversions where you have them; the defaults are reasonable mid-range assumptions to start. The sales-cycle field does not change the volumes — it changes the timing. With a 90-day cycle, revenue you want in Q4 must enter the pipeline by Q3, so the verdict line tells you how many new leads per month to generate and how far ahead of each target to start.
What good looks like: a plan where the monthly lead number is achievable with your current channels, and where coverage stays near 3x through the year rather than spiking in a scramble before each quarter ends. If the lead requirement looks impossible, the leverage is usually in win rate or deal size, not in squeezing more out of the top of the funnel.
Frequently asked questions
Why 3x pipeline coverage?
With win rates in the 25–35% range, roughly a third of open pipeline converts, so carrying about three times your target is the standard buffer. If your win rate is much higher or lower, read the coverage figure accordingly.
What revenue number should I enter?
The new revenue your funnel must source for the year — new business plus any expansion you expect marketing to influence. The backward math is the same either way.
How does the sales cycle affect the plan?
It shifts timing, not volume. A 90-day cycle means pipeline created in one quarter closes in the next, so start generating leads at least one full cycle ahead of each revenue target.
What if I do not know my stage conversion rates?
Start with the defaults — 35% lead to MQL, 45% MQL to SQL, 60% SQL to opportunity — then replace them with CRM data as you get it. Even rough rates from one or two quarters beat assumptions borrowed from benchmark posts.
Turn the lead target into drafted work
marketinque plans each cycle against a goal like this one and drafts the campaigns to hit the monthly lead number — every publish, send, and dollar waits for your approval.
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