How to use Templates for Creating a Business Proposal Budget
Perhaps the most daunting part of writing a business proposal is creating the budget. Investors need to know that you understand the real costs of doing business and that you have thought your business plan through for the first year, at least. Fortunately, you do not need to start from scratch because the Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) has created templates in Excel for you to use.
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Instructions
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Start with the personal financial statement page in Excel. Right click to "Save as" and save to your computer. Enter your name and the date in cells 3A and 4A. Now enter your assets and liabilities as prompted by the form. Fill out one of these for each investor in your business. Save each file with a different name. In the narrative of your Business Plan, summarize this information in Section VIII.
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Download and open the template for start-up expenses. This page requires that you know the actual costs of rent or lease, how much inventory you need to buy before Day 1, and other expenses. Calculate 20 percent reserve for contingencies. On your business plan narrative in Section IX, write down the assumptions on which these figures are based; investors and lenders will want to know these.
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Calculate your 12-month profit-and-loss projection and enter sales and costs for the 12 months on the page for profit and loss. The form automatically calculates your loss or profit for the year. While this page is now a projection, save a new copy each month to refine your understanding of your business profit or loss. Next, download and fill in the cash flow projection sheet, which will tell you whether (or when) you will have a negative balance. Plan now how you will avoid this situation.
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Prepare an opening day balance sheet and a break-even analysis based on the information you already know. The competitive analysis, while not strictly a budget document, requires that you understand the competition: the strength and weaknesses of their product in terms of price, reputation, sales method, credit policies and so on.
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Insert these pages into your finished business plan as evidence of your thorough financial preparation to start your business. Having completed your financial plan, you have shown the courage needed to start a business.
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