Percentage to Goal Calculator
Find what percentage of your goal you have achieved and how much remains. Track a target from zero, measure progress from a starting value, or work out the daily pace you need.
How to calculate percentage of goal
Divide the amount you have achieved by your target, then multiply by 100. Both amounts must use the same units, such as dollars, items sold or tasks completed.
Percentage of goal = achieved amount / target x 100
If you have raised $750 toward a $1,000 fundraising target, you have reached 75% of your goal. You need another $250 to reach it. The same calculation works for 750 items sold against a target of 1,000.
For a general part-and-whole calculation without a target, use the percentage of total calculator. For more everyday calculations, visit the Percent Calculator.
Progress from a starting value
Choose Progress from start when your goal is to move from an initial value to a different target. The calculator compares the change you have made with the full change you need.
Progress = (current – start) / (target – start) x 100
Suppose sales start at $40,000, reach $60,000 and have a target of $100,000. You have added $20,000 out of the required $60,000 increase, so the progress is 33.33%. Dividing current sales by the target gives 60%, but that measures a different thing: the share of the final sales target already attained.
| Measure | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Share of target attained | 60,000 / 100,000 x 100 | 60% |
| Progress from 40,000 | (60,000 – 40,000) / (100,000 – 40,000) x 100 | 33.33% |
To measure growth relative to the original amount instead, use the percentage increase calculator. In this example, the increase from $40,000 to $60,000 is 50%. It is different from both goal measures above.
Goals that go down, including a target of zero
The starting-value mode also handles reductions. If you want to reduce waste from 500 units to 200 and the current amount is 350, you have removed 150 of the required 300 units. That is 50% progress, with another 150 units to remove.
A target of zero works in this mode when the starting value differs from zero. Reducing from 500 to 350 toward a target of zero completes 30% of the planned reduction. A result below 0% means you have moved away from the target since starting.
This measures progress along the interval between your start and target. A business may define a different scoring rule for a lower-is-better KPI; use its stated rule when reporting that score.
What if you exceed your goal?
Achieving 1,200 against a target of 1,000 gives 120% of goal. You have exceeded the target by 200, or 20% of the target amount. The result remains 120%; the progress indicator simply shows that the target is reached.
Use the commission calculator if reaching a sales target changes your commission rate or takes you into another earnings tier.
Work out the daily pace you need
Open the daily pace section and enter the number of days remaining. The calculator divides the amount still needed by those days. With 250 remaining and 5 days left, the required average is 50 per day.
For a decreasing goal, the output is the average reduction needed each day. For an increasing goal, it is the average increase. The pace describes what is required; it does not predict what you will achieve. Once the target is reached, no further change is needed.
Percentage to goal in Excel or Google Sheets
With achieved amount in A2 and target in B2, use the following formula and format the result cell as a percentage.
=A2/B2
For progress from a starting value, put the start in A2, current value in B2 and target in C2:
=(B2-A2)/(C2-A2)
Percentage formatting converts a decimal such as 0.75 to 75%. Do not multiply by 100 as well. The first formula needs a nonzero target; the second needs a target different from the start.
Common questions
Is percentage to goal the same as percentage increase?
No. Percentage to goal compares your achieved amount with a target. Progress from start compares completed change with planned change. Percentage increase compares the change with the starting amount.
Why does a target of zero give an error?
Dividing an achieved amount by zero is undefined. If you are reducing an amount to zero, switch to Progress from start and enter the starting value, current value and zero target.
Can the result be over 100% or below 0%?
Yes. Over 100% means the goal has been exceeded. In the starting-value mode, negative progress means the current value has moved in the opposite direction from the target. The numerical result is not capped.
What happens when my start already equals my target?
There is no change interval to measure, so a percentage of progress is undefined. The calculator asks for a different start or target instead of inventing a percentage.
Can I use dollars, units or tasks?
Yes. Use the same unit throughout a calculation. Do not mix a dollar amount with an item count, or values measured over different reporting periods.