How do I Prepare a Business Plan Financial Statement?
Financial statements help a business communicate its performance and provide a snapshot of the future financial sustainability to its stakeholders. You must include three types of financial statements: the income statement that emphasizes the expected revenues and expenses of the business; the balance sheet statement that gives a quick view of the current business financials at a particular period; and the cash flow statement that specifies the amount of money the business possesses at a particular time.
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Instructions
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Make a list of the services or products you will offer or sell in your business and develop a pricing strategy for each of them. Compare your peers' pricing in the industry, and choose a strategy that suits your business and locality.
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Forecast your expected income for the next year, in addition to your cash flow, current and fixed assets, and liabilities. Estimate these figures depending on real-world examples by searching and comparing the organizations in your industry or your locality or a similar geographic region.
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3
Prepare a cash flow analysis that estimates your sales figures based on your pricing strategy. Organize the statement by including net income, sales, assets and stocks and dividend payments. Begin with the ending cash balance of the previous month, and add the current cash balance to the estimated sales. Subtract all estimated expenses. This becomes the pro forma cash flow statement.
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4
Calculate your revenue from your projected sales, interest and cost of goods sold. Incorporate your projected expenses such as operating costs, tax payments and property depreciation. You will finally arrive at the net income for your business by subtracting your expenses, depreciation and taxes from your revenues. This becomes the pro forma income statement.
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Gather all financial data that you need to include: current, fixed assets; current and non-current liabilities; and information regarding shareholder equity. Calculate the shareholder's equity by subtracting your liabilities from your assets. This becomes the pro forma balance sheet.
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Prepare a pro forma financial statement with these estimated figures. This statement must summarize income and expenses by monthly, quarterly and annual periods as necessary.
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Includes in this pro forma statement your revenues and expenses, at least until the first five years of operation, if you need to obtain a loan or find investors.
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Tips & Warnings
Hire a certified public accountant to complete these tasks faster. Try to be as realistic as possible in your projections. It is better to include pro forma statements for all cases such as best, expected or the worst scenarios.
References
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