excel template business plan financials

Free Business Plan Excel Template [Excel Download]

Written by Dave Lavinsky

A business plan is a roadmap for growing your business. Not only does it help you plan out your venture, but it is required by funding sources like banks, venture capitalists and angel investors.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

The body of your business plan describes your company and your strategies for growing it. The financial portion of your plan details the financial implications of your business: how much money you need, what you project your future sales and earnings to be, etc.

Below you will be able to download our free business plan excel template to help with the financial portion of your business plan. You will also learn about the importance of the financial model in your business plan.

Download the template here: Financial Plan Excel Template  

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less! It includes a simple, plug-and-play financial model and a fill-in-the-blanks template for completing the body of your plan.

What’s Included in our Business Plan Excel Template

Our business plan excel template includes the following sections:

Income Statement : A projection of your business’ revenues, costs, and expenses over a specific period of time. Includes sections for sales revenue, cost of goods sold (COGS), operating expenses, and net profit or loss.

Example 5 Year Annual Income Statement

Cash Flow Statement : A projection of your business’ cash inflows and outflows over a specific period of time. Includes sections for cash inflows (such as sales receipts, loans, and investments), cash outflows (such as expenses, salaries, and loan repayments), and net cash flow.

Example 5 Year Annual Cash Flow Statement

Balance Sheet : A snapshot of your business’ financial position at a specific point in time. Includes sections for assets (such as cash, inventory, equipment, and property), liabilities (such as loans, accounts payable, and salaries payable), and owner’s equity (such as retained earnings and capital contributions).

Example 5 Year Annual Balance Sheet

Download the template here: Business Plan Excel Template 

The template is easy to customize according to your specific business needs. Simply input your own financial data and projections, and use it as a guide to create a comprehensive financial plan for your business. Remember to review and update your financial plan regularly to track your progress and make informed financial decisions.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

The importance of the financial model in your business plan.

A solid financial model is a critical component of any well-prepared business plan. It provides a comprehensive and detailed projection of your business’ financial performance, including revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability. The financial model is not just a mere set of numbers, but a strategic tool that helps you understand the financial health of your business, make informed decisions, and communicate your business’ financial viability to potential investors, lenders, and other stakeholders. In this article, we will delve into the importance of the financial model in your business plan.

• Provides a roadmap for financial success : A well-structured financial model serves as a roadmap for your business’ financial success. It outlines your revenue streams, cost structure, and cash flow projections, helping you understand the financial implications of your business strategies and decisions. It allows you to forecast your future financial performance, set financial goals, and measure your progress over time. A comprehensive financial model helps you identify potential risks, opportunities, and areas that may require adjustments to achieve your financial objectives.
• Demonstrates financial viability to stakeholders : Investors, lenders, and other stakeholders want to see that your business is financially viable and has a plan to generate revenue, manage expenses, and generate profits. A robust financial model in your business plan demonstrates that you have a solid understanding of your business’ financials and have a plan to achieve profitability. It provides evidence of the market opportunity, pricing strategy, sales projections, and financial sustainability. A well-prepared financial model increases your credibility and instills confidence in your business among potential investors and lenders.
• Helps with financial decision-making : Your financial model is a valuable tool for making informed financial decisions. It helps you analyze different scenarios, evaluate the financial impact of your decisions, and choose the best course of action for your business. For example, you can use your financial model to assess the feasibility of a new product launch, determine the optimal pricing strategy, or evaluate the impact of changing market conditions on your cash flow. A well-structured financial model helps you make data-driven decisions that are aligned with your business goals and financial objectives.
• Assists in securing funding : If you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, a robust financial model is essential. It provides a clear picture of your business’ financials and shows how the funds will be used to generate revenue and profits. It includes projections for revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability, along with a breakdown of assumptions and methodology used. It also provides a realistic assessment of the risks and challenges associated with your business and outlines the strategies to mitigate them. A well-prepared financial model in your business plan can significantly increase your chances of securing funding as it demonstrates your business’ financial viability and growth potential.
• Facilitates financial management and monitoring : A financial model is not just for external stakeholders; it is also a valuable tool for internal financial management and monitoring. It helps you track your actual financial performance against your projections, identify any deviations, and take corrective actions if needed. It provides a clear overview of your business’ cash flow, profitability, and financial health, allowing you to proactively manage your finances and make informed decisions to achieve your financial goals. A well-structured financial model helps you stay on top of your business’ financials and enables you to take timely actions to ensure your business’ financial success.
• Enhances business valuation : If you are planning to sell your business or seek investors for an exit strategy, a robust financial model is crucial. It provides a solid foundation for business valuation as it outlines your historical financial performance, future projections, and the assumptions behind them. It helps potential buyers or investors understand the financial potential of your business and assess its value. A well-prepared financial model can significantly impact the valuation of your business, and a higher valuation can lead to better negotiation terms and higher returns on your investment.
• Supports strategic planning : Your financial model is an integral part of your strategic planning process. It helps you align your financial goals with your overall business strategy and provides insights into the financial feasibility of your strategic initiatives. For example, if you are planning to expand your business, enter new markets, or invest in new technologies, your financial model can help you assess the financial impact of these initiatives, including the investment required, the expected return on investment, and the timeline for achieving profitability. It enables you to make informed decisions about the strategic direction of your business and ensures that your financial goals are aligned with your overall business objectives.
• Enhances accountability and transparency : A robust financial model promotes accountability and transparency in your business. It provides a clear framework for setting financial targets, measuring performance, and holding yourself and your team accountable for achieving financial results. It helps you monitor your progress towards your financial goals and enables you to take corrective actions if needed. A well-structured financial model also enhances transparency by providing a clear overview of your business’ financials, assumptions, and methodologies used in your projections. It ensures that all stakeholders, including investors, lenders, employees, and partners, have a clear understanding of your business’ financial performance and prospects.

In conclusion, a well-prepared financial model is a crucial component of your business plan. It provides a roadmap for financial success, demonstrates financial viability to stakeholders, helps with financial decision-making, assists in securing funding, facilitates financial management and monitoring, enhances business valuation, supports strategic planning, and enhances accountability and transparency in your business. It is not just a set of numbers, but a strategic tool that helps you understand, analyze, and optimize your business’ financial performance. Investing time and effort in creating a comprehensive and robust financial model in your business plan is vital for the success of your business and can significantly increase your chances of achieving your financial goals.

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Business Plan: How to Create Great Financial Plans in Excel

I guess, you are about to write a business plan and that is why you have come to this page. Very good – because in this article I am going to write down my experience with business plans and what I have learned creating them with Microsoft Excel. As I will point out again further down, I will only concentrate on the financial part of business plans. Specifically, how to set it up in Excel. Of course, you can also download an Excel template .

Parts of business plans

As you reached this page I suppose you already have a rough idea of what a business plan is. So, we will skip this part here.

A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan

But one comment concerning the scope of this article: The formal business plan has usually many different parts, in which you describe the business idea and product, the market, competition, legal construct and so on. But typically, investors are most interested in the financial part. They want to know first, what they can get out of it. Of course, the other parts are also very important, but the financial topics usually put everything described in the other sections into numbers.

I’m not going further into the details of all the other parts than then financial section here. Specifically, we will dive into the basics of the financial part and how to model it in Excel.

Please scroll down to download the business plan template. We are going to explore all the following advice with this template.

How to create a business plan in Excel

Advice 1: be clear about the purpose and the recipient of the business plan.

Before you start opening Excel, make sure that you are 100% clear of the purpose this business plan. Is the business plan just for you? Or do you create it for someone else, for example an investor or bank? Although the next steps might still be the same, the focus might be different. For example: Maybe you have a very good understanding of the major assumptions because you have been working in this field for some time. But for someone external you still need to validate them. Of course, in both cases the assumptions should be realistic and goals should be achievable. But maybe for your own peace of mind you would choose more pessimistic assumptions if the plan was only for you.

Advice 2: Go top-down in terms of line items

Now, let’s start in Excel. But how do we start?

My approach is to go top-down. I usually use a basic P&L (“Profit- and loss” calculation) structure to start with, having some placeholders for revenue and costs.

Specifically, I go through the following parts (also shown on the right-hand side).

Let’s assume that you develop and sell Excel add-ins: 50 EUR per license – once-off. You would now start with assumptions of how many you can sell per month and the price. This is your first revenue item. At this point in time, I would leave it like this. We can later drill further down as much as we need (for example modeling discounts, the connection between marketing spending and number of units sold, price changes, etc.).

If we have multiple products, we calculate them in a similar manner.

Cost of goods sold

Cost of goods sold – or COGS – refers to the direct costs of producing the goods sold. Depending on the complexity you could also summarize cost of sales here or keep it separately.

Often, the COGS are directly linked to the number of units produced so you could refer to the numbers already calculated for the revenues.

In our example from above, we don’t have any direct costs for producing the Excel add-ins because we develop them ourselves and our salary will be regarded under “Salaries and Benefits”.

All other expenses

The structure of the expenses highly depends on your business. I usually start with these:

• Salaries and Benefits
• Rent and Overhead
• Marketing and Advertising
• Other expenses

Again, these items might look completely different for you. Example: if you travel a lot for your business, you might plan travel costs separately.

Subtracting costs from the revenue leads to the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). This is one of the important financial performance indicators.

Amortization and depreciation

If you buy any assets for your business (for example machines, computers, even cars), you usually plan to use them over a certain period. When you first buy them, let’s say for 1,000 USD, you basically just exchange money for assets in the same amount. The problem: The assets will decrease in value the longer you use them. Within the cost items above, you don’t regard the acquisition value. So, how to regard them in your business plan?

You only regard the annual decrease of value. If you plan to use your 1,000 USD item for 5 years, you could (plainly speaking), each year regard 200 USD as depreciation.

Please note: If you later plan your cash, you have to make sure that you fully regard the initial sales price and not the depreciation.

The key difference between amortization and depreciation is that amortization is used for intangible assets, while depreciation is used for tangible assets. https://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/whats-the-difference-between-amortization-deprecia.aspx

Subtracting the amortization and depreciation from the EBITDA leads to the second key performance indicator, the EBIT (earnings before interest and tax).

Interest and taxes

Eventually, you have to prognose your interest costs (for example what you have to pay for bank loans) and your taxes, which is typically just a percentage of the EBT (the earning before taxes).

Advice 3: Think about the business drivers carefully

Good business plans are driver based.

Business drivers are the key inputs and activities that drive the operational and financial results of a business. Common examples of business drivers are salespeople, number of stores, website traffic, number and price of products sold, units of production, etc. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/modeling/business-drivers/

Let me explain with an example: You want to plan the revenues. You have two different options:

• Revenue per month is split into number of units sold times price per unit.
• Number of units sold is further split into number of salespersons and number of items sold per salesperson and month, and so on.
• Or you could just write a number and every following year you assume a growth in percentage (e.g. +2% per year).

Let’s finish this section with some final comments:

• Choose drivers that are measurable. You will most probably later on compare the drivers to reality and therefore make sure that they are not impossible to measure.
• Figure out, which driver has most impact. You should focus on those first. Driver with no or very limited impact can be skipped initially.
• Are drivers depending on each other? If yes, it should be modeled accordingly.

Advice 4: Choose the smallest period from the beginning in your business plan

So far, we have been focusing on the line items, for example costs, revenue, or drivers. Now, let’s talk about the time frame.

The question is: Should you plan on annual, monthly or any other basis? Or a mix?

I have seen many business plans doing it something like this:

• Plan on monthly basis for the first 24 to 36 months.
• Switch to annual planning for the years 3/4 to 5.

Most business plans are not going beyond 5 years planning period.

My recommendation: Plan on monthly basis for the full period. There will be a point in time when you need to break it down into months. And it is always easier to sum up 12 months for annual values than to drill down from years to months.

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Advice 5: Keep a unified, professional business plan structure

This advice should count for most Excel models: Try to keep the same structure throughout the whole Excel file.

• Structure of worksheets: Make sure that most worksheets are set up with the same structure. For example, start with a headline in cell B2, years starting in column H, content in row 10.
• Layout / format of cells: Make sure you use a consistent formatting. For example, Excel provides cell styles – use them. For more recommendations about professional formatting, please refer to this article .
• Universal settings and assumptions should be consolidated on one sheet (for example tax rates, start date, company name).

Advice 6: Document business plan assumptions well

I can not say this often enough: Document your assumptions! Not only the values or variables, also your thoughts behind them. Why have you chosen this value? What is it based on? What is it used for?

Advice 7: Gross vs. net values

This question I am asked quite frequently: Should you use gross or net values? That means, include tax in revenues and costs?

Typically, you only work with net values, excluding VAT. For Germany with a tax rate of 19%, for example, if you invoice 119 EUR to a customer, you would only regard 100 EUR. Also, for costs, you would only regard net values.

Then, in your business plan, you start with revenue minus costs and eventually reach the EBT (earning before tax, please scroll up to see the P&L). From this, you calculate your company tax.

Advice 8: Think ahead

Some more things you should keep in mind when creating your business plan.

• Business plans are “living documents”. Keep in mind that at some point in the future you have to update it or extend it.
• Validate your assumptions: After some time, you will come back to your plan having real life figures. Now, it’s time to compare and – if necessary – adjust the plan.
• a valuation (“Discounted Cash Flow model”),
• liquidity planning,
• bank loan simulations,
• financial dashboards,
• budget planning,
• maybe even the first real official P&L (at least when it comes to the line items of your business plan)
• and much more…

Download business plan template

So, after reading all this description and advice, it’s time to start. Probably many things I have written above sounds like common sense, right? But I can assure you: Doing it and regarding as much advice as possible is not necessarily simple.

That’s why I have decided to create a template. I have pre-filled it with an imaginary example.

I know, there are countless Excel business plan templates around. So, why should you use this one?

• This template is very flexible: I have always included place holders so that you can add much more items if needed.
• In terms of the time frame, I have created monthly columns for up to ten years. Typically, you need less. Then just hide the extra columns.
• Also, I have created a consistent structure throughout the model.
• No fancy Excel functions and formulas, mainly just plain links.

Please feel free to take a look at it. If you like it, just use it. If not, please feel free to create your individual business plan – you now know how to do it!

Download link: Click here to start the download .

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Henrik Schiffner is a freelance business consultant and software developer. He lives and works in Hamburg, Germany. Besides being an Excel enthusiast he loves photography and sports.

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10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

February 13, 2024

Turning your vision into a clear and coherent business plan can be confusing and tough. 

Hours of brainstorming and facing an intimidating blank page can raise more questions than answers. Are you covering everything? What should go where? How do you keep each section thorough but brief?

If these questions have kept you up at night and slowed your progress, know you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve put together the top 10 business plan templates in Word, Excel, and ClickUp—to provide answers, clarity, and a structured framework to work with. This way, you’re sure to capture all the relevant information without wasting time. 

And the best part? Business planning becomes a little less “ugh!” and a lot more “aha!” 🤩

What is a Business Plan Template?

What makes a good business plan template, 1. clickup business plan template, 2. clickup sales plan template, 3. clickup business development action plan template, 4. clickup business roadmap template, 5. clickup business continuity plan template, 6. clickup lean business plan template, 7. clickup small business action plan template, 8. clickup strategic business roadmap template , 9. microsoft word business plan template by microsoft, 10. excel business plan template by vertex42.

A business plan template is a structured framework for entrepreneurs and business executives who want to create business plans. It comes with pre-arranged sections and headings that cover key elements like the executive summary , business overview, target customers, unique value proposition, marketing plans, and financial statements.  

A good business plan template helps with thorough planning, clear documentation, and practical implementation. Here’s what to look for:

• Comprehensive structure: A good template comes with all the relevant sections to outline a business strategy, such as executive summary, market research and analysis, and financial projections 
• Clarity and guidance: A good template is easy to follow. It has brief instructions or prompts for each section, guiding you to think deeply about your business and ensuring you don’t skip important details
• Clean design: Aesthetics matter. Choose a template that’s not just functional but also professionally designed. This ensures your plan is presentable to stakeholders, partners, and potential investors
• Flexibility : Your template should easily accommodate changes without hassle, like adding or removing sections, changing content and style, and rearranging parts 🛠️ 

While a template provides the structure, it’s the information you feed it that brings it to life. These pointers will help you pick a template that aligns with your business needs and clearly showcases your vision.

10 Business Plan Templates to Use in 2024

Preparing for business success in 2024 (and beyond) requires a comprehensive and organized business plan. We’ve handpicked the best templates to help you guide your team, attract investors, and secure funding. Let’s check them out.

If you’re looking to replace a traditional business plan document, then ClickUp’s Business Plan Template is for you!

This one-page business plan template, designed in ClickUp Docs , is neatly broken down into the following sections:

• Company description : Overview, mission, vision, and team
• Market analysis : Problem, solution, target market, competition, and competitive advantage
• Sales and marketing strategy : Products/services and marketing channels
• Operational plan : Location and facilities, equipment and tools, manpower, and financial forecasts
• Milestones and metrics: Targets and KPIs

Customize the template with your company logo and contact details, and easily navigate to different sections using the collapsible table of contents. The mini prompts under each section guide you on what to include—with suggestions on how to present the data (e.g., bullet lists, pictures, charts, and tables). 

You can share the document with anyone via URL and collaborate in real time. And when the business plan is ready, you have the option to print it or export it to PDF, HTML, or Markdown.

But that’s not all. This template is equipped with basic and enterprise project management features to streamline the business plan creation process . The Topics List view has a list of all the different sections and subsections of the template and allows you to assign it to a team member, set a due date, and attach relevant documents and references.

Switch from List to Board view to track and update task statuses according to the following: To Do, In Progress, Needs Revision, and Complete. 

This template is a comprehensive toolkit for documenting the different sections of your business plan and streamlining the creation process to ensure it’s completed on time. 🗓️

If you’re looking for a tool to kickstart or update your sales plan, ClickUp’s Sales Plan Template has got you covered. This sales plan template features a project summary list with tasks to help you craft a comprehensive and effective sales strategy. Some of these tasks include:

• Determine sales objectives and goals
• Draft positioning statement
• Perform competitive analysis
• Draft ideal customer persona
• Create a lead generation strategy

Assign each task to a specific individual or team, set priority levels , and add due dates. Specify what section of the sales plan each task belongs to (e.g., executive summary, revenue goals, team structure, etc.), deliverable type (such as document, task, or meeting), and approval state (like pending, needs revisions, and approved).

And in ClickUp style, you can switch to multiple views: List for a list of all tasks, Board for visual task management, Timeline for an overview of task durations, and Gantt to get a view of task dependencies. 

This simple business plan template is perfect for any type of business looking to create a winning sales strategy while clarifying team roles and keeping tasks organized. ✨

Thinking about scaling your business’s reach and operations but unsure where or how to start? It can be overwhelming, no doubt—you need a clear vision, measurable goals, and an actionable plan that every member of your team can rally behind. 

Thankfully, ClickUp’s Business Development Action Plan Template is designed to use automations to simplify this process so every step toward your business growth is clear, trackable, and actionable.

Start by assessing your current situation and deciding on your main growth goal. Are you aiming to increase revenue, tap into new markets, or introduce new products or services? With ClickUp Whiteboards or Docs, brainstorm and collaborate with your team on this decision.

Set and track your short- and long-term growth goals with ClickUp’s Goals , break them down into smaller targets, and assign these targets to team members, complete with due dates. Add these targets to a new ClickUp Dashboard to track real-time progress and celebrate small wins. 🎉

Whether you’re a startup or small business owner looking to hit your next major milestone or an established business exploring new avenues, this template keeps your team aligned, engaged, and informed every step of the way.

ClickUp’s Business Roadmap Template is your go-to for mapping out major strategies and initiatives in areas like revenue growth, brand awareness, community engagement, and customer satisfaction. 

Use the List view to populate tasks under each initiative. With Custom Fields, you can capture which business category (e.g., Product, Operations, Sales & Marketing, etc.) tasks fall under and which quarter they’re slated for. You can also link to relevant documents and resources and evaluate tasks by effort and impact to ensure the most critical tasks get the attention they deserve. 👀

Depending on your focus, this template provides different views to show just what you need. For example, the All Initiatives per Quarter view lets you focus on what’s ahead by seeing tasks that need completion within a specific quarter. This ensures timely execution and helps in aligning resources effectively for the short term.

This template is ideal for business executives and management teams who need to coordinate multiple short- and long-term initiatives and business strategies.

In business, unexpected threats to operations can arise at any moment. Whether it’s economic turbulence, a global health crisis, or supply chain interruptions, every company needs to be ready. ClickUp’s Business Continuity Plan Template lets you prepare proactively for these unforeseen challenges.

The template organizes tasks into three main categories:

• Priorities: Tasks that need immediate attention
• Continuity coverage: Tasks that must continue despite challenges
• Guiding principles: Resources and protocols to ensure smooth operations

The Board view makes it easy to visualize all the tasks under each of these categories. And the Priorities List sorts tasks by those that are overdue, the upcoming ones, and then the ones due later.

In times of uncertainty, being prepared is your best strategy. This template helps your business not just survive but thrive in challenging situations, keeping your customers, employees, and investors satisfied. 🤝

Looking to execute your business plan the “lean” way? Use ClickUp’s Lean Business Plan Template . It’s designed to help you optimize resource usage and cut unnecessary steps—giving you better results with less effort.

In the Plan Summary List view, list all the tasks that need to get done. Add specific details like who’s doing each task, when it’s due, and which part of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) it falls under. The By Priority view sorts this list based on priorities like Urgent, High, Normal, and Low. This makes it easy to spot the most important tasks and tackle them first.

Additionally, the Board view gives you an overview of task progression from start to finish. And the BMC view rearranges these tasks based on the various BMC components. 

Each task can further be broken down into subtasks and multiple checklists to ensure all related action items are executed. ✔️

This template is an invaluable resource for startups and large enterprises looking to maximize process efficiencies and results in a streamlined and cost-effective way.

The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality. 

It provides a simple and organized framework for creating, assigning, prioritizing, and tracking tasks. And in effect, it ensures that goals are not just set but achieved. Through the native dashboard and goal-setting features, you can monitor task progress and how they move you closer to achieving your goals.

Thanks to ClickUp’s robust communication features like chat, comments, and @mentions, it’s easy to get every team member on the same page and quickly address questions or concerns.

Use this action plan template to hit your business goals by streamlining your internal processes and aligning team efforts.

For larger businesses and scaling enterprises, getting different departments to work together toward a big goal can be challenging. The ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template makes it easier by giving you a clear plan to follow.

This template is packaged in a folder and split into different lists for each department in your business, like Sales, Product, Marketing, and Enablement. This way, every team can focus on their tasks while collectively contributing to the bigger goal.

There are multiple viewing options available for team members. These include:

• Progress Board: Visualize tasks that are on track, those at risk, and those behind
• Gantt view: Get an overview of project timelines and dependencies
• Team view: See what each team member is working on so you can balance workloads for maximum productivity

While this template may feel overwhelming at first, the getting started guide offers a step-by-step breakdown to help you navigate it with ease. And like all ClickUp templates, you can easily customize it to suit your business needs and preferences.

Microsoft’s 20-page traditional business plan template simplifies the process of drafting comprehensive business plans. It’s made up of different sections, including:

• Executive summary : Highlights, objectives, mission statement, and keys to success
• Description of business: Company ownership and legal structure, hours of operation, products and services, suppliers, financial plans, etc.
• Marketing: Market analysis, market segmentation, competition, and pricing
• Appendix: Start-up expenses, cash flow statements, income statements, sales forecast, milestones, break-even analysis, etc.

The table of contents makes it easy to move to different sections of the document. And the text placeholders under each section provide clarity on the specific details required—making the process easier for users who may not be familiar with certain business terminology.

No business template roundup is complete without an Excel template. This business plan template lets you work on your business financials in Excel. It comes with customizable tables, formulas, and charts to help you look at the following areas:

• Highlight charts
• Market analysis
• Start-up assets and expenses
• Sales forecasts
• Profit and loss
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow projections
• Break-even analysis

This Excel template is especially useful when you want to create a clear and visual financial section for your business plan document—an essential element for attracting investors and lenders. However, there might be a steep learning curve to using this template if you’re not familiar with business financial planning and using Excel.

Try a Free Business Plan Template in ClickUp

Launching and running a successful business requires a well-thought-out and carefully crafted business plan. However, the business planning process doesn’t have to be complicated, boring, or take up too much time. Use any of the above 10 free business plan formats to simplify and speed up the process.

ClickUp templates go beyond offering a solid foundation to build your business plans. They come with extensive project management features to turn your vision into reality. And that’s not all— ClickUp’s template library offers over 1,000 additional templates to help manage various aspects of your business, from decision-making to product development to resource management .

Sign up for ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan today to fast-track your business’s growth! 🏆

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Free Business Plan Template for Excel

Ajay Jagtap

• October 31, 2023

With 1 in 8 people using Excel, I’d be hard-pressed to believe that anyone has never used it at some point in life.

While we have all used it at least once—be it for school homework, college assignments, or travel planning—we never really got the hang of it.

(Excel formulas are tough!)

Preparing a business plan from scratch using Excel is not a joke; we get that. That’s why we created this business plan template in Excel .

So, no more worrying about Excel formulas or plan structure—download the document and follow the instructions in the article for successful business planning.

Sounds good? Let’s start with understanding the pros and cons of using Excel for planning:

Pros and Cons of Using Excel for Business Plans

Before we head to discussing the Excel business plan template, let’s understand the pros and cons of using Excel for business planning:

• Free to use:  MS Excel is 100% free for all its users, making it a cost-effective choice.
• Data Analysis:  Excel is a powerful tool for performing various financial and data analyses and calculations.
• Collaboration: Collaborating with your team while working on a project using Excel is easier.
• Lack of automation: Excel may not help create dynamic business plans with automated features.
• Limited presentation:  Excel cannot create an appealing business plan like a business plan software.
• Complex formulas: Excel’s formulas are complex and require a significant learning curve to master.

So these were the pros and cons. Let’s cut to the chase and discuss the key components of our free business plan Excel template.

Key Components of Our Excel Business Plan Template

It’s a fact—you cannot use Excel to create the entire plan from scratch, no! Excel is a powerful tool for complex calculations and analyses; let’s use it for that only.

So, we’ll use this business plan Excel template only to perform complex financial analyses and calculations—to prepare financial projections.

Following are the critical components of a good business plan template you must include in your financial plan:

1. Income Statement

The income statement is one of the key financial statements of your financial plan that highlights its profit and loss over a given period of time.

The critical components of your income statement include—revenue/sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), operational costs, EBITDA, interest, and others.

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2. Balance Sheet

Your balance sheet is a statement that reports your company’s assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity, providing a snapshot of its financial position at a specific period of time.

The statement helping you calculate financial ratios includes the following:

• Assets—e.g. Inventory, cash, property.
• Liabilities—e.g. Accounts payable, loans, salaries to be paid.
• Owners equity—e.g. Capital investment/contribution.

3. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement of your financial plan is the projection of your cash in and outflows over a certain period of time.

As one of three key components of your financial plan, the cash flow statement summarizes the amount of cash or cash equivalents entering or leaving your company.

4. Break-Even Analysis

A break-even analysis helps you determine the number of units you need to sell to cover all fixed and variable costs.

The break-even point is considered a measure of safety margin, and anything you sell beyond the point will result in profit.

While your balance sheet already highlights the assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity, assets are considered critical for investors to assess the company’s financial health. So, our simple business plan template (Excel) has a separate sheet for business assets.

6. Accounts Payable & Receivable

The accounts payable refer to the amount due to vendors or suppliers for services or goods received, whereas accounts receivable represent the money due to the company.

The increase or decrease in your accounts payable or receivable can be seen in your cash flow statement.

7. Working Capital

Working capital is the subtraction of your current liabilities from your current assets. As a critical element in identifying your company’s health, it helps investors understand if it has enough capital to pay employees and fund operations to meet short-term goals.

Download the Financial Forecast Template In Excel

We discussed all the critical statements to be covered in your financial plan. Now what? It’s time for you to download the financial forecast template and start preparing your financial plan.

Unlike other free Excel templates, this template has all the reports with the suggested revenue streams, expenses, and other details.

You can directly download and use the template to forecast cash flow, create balance sheets, and prepare income statements that provide detailed information about your revenue and expenses. So what are you waiting for?

How to Use an Excel Business Plan Template

We’re hoping you’ve already downloaded the business plan template. So, the question arises: How can this Excel template be used to prepare realistic forecasts?

Let’s get this over with:

Understand the template structure

Before you start planning, you must understand the structure of the financial portion of your business plan. Get a thorough review of the template and understand:

• What critical statements does it include?
• What are the revenue streams?
• What are considered to be assets and liabilities?
• What does the taxation structure look like?

And others. Once you thoroughly understand the structure, you can move ahead with the next step.

Analyze historical data

Financial forecasting is about assumptions—a lot of them, but accurate ones. If you’re a total stranger to financial forecasting, analyzing historical data will help you get off on the right foot.

Analyze the historical data and try to gain insights about your business financials:

• Monthly revenue over the last year?
• How much you’re spending on day-to-day operations?
• What is your sales growth rate? How fast is it increasing over time?

And others. These historical figures will be of massive help in the next step.

Make pre-assumptions

As I said before, financial forecasts heavily rely on certain assumptions like sales forecasts, operational expenses, revenue growth, and others.

So, in this step, you’ll make assumptions about these variables based on the historical data to make them realistic and accurate.

Prepare key financial reports

Once you have made pre-assumptions, it’s time to prepare forecasts. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a lot of numbers; start by preparing critical financial reports that include—a cash flow statement, balance sheet, and income statement.

Other statements of your plan rely heavily on these reports, so the process will become much easier after having prepared these three beforehand.

Monitor and track progress

After preparing your financial reports, the next step is timely monitoring these reports and tracking progress.

You can compare your assumptions with actual results to see if your projections are accurate and relevant to the changing market trends.

Analyzing metrics like customer acquisition rate, acquisition costs, net profit, and gross margin will help track progress.

If you follow these steps rigorously, you can surely make a decent plan to support your business strategies and achieve financial goals.

Still, it was just about financial planning. What about the entire business plan? Excel is a no-go for business planning; let’s see why.

How Excel may not be the best choice for business planning?

Since Excel doesn’t offer all the necessary features for business planning that a business plan software like Upmetrics would, it is not the tool to be used to create a comprehensive business plan.

Following are a few reasons why Excel may not be a better choice for business planning compared to a tool like Upmetrics:

• Limited features: Since it is not designed specifically for planning, it has limited business planning features compared to software like Upmetrics. A business planning software may include features like business plan builder, financial forecasting, and pitch deck creator.
• Limited collaboration: Everyone knows Excel isn’t the tool with the best collaboration features. Business plan software offers collaboration features, allowing multiple team members to work on a business plan simultaneously.
• No Automation: Upmetrics comes with many automation features like AI assistant and financial forecasting tool, helping entrepreneurs and small businesses save time and reduce human errors.
• No customizable templates: Upmetrics has 400+ business plan examples and templates that make it easier for new users to get started, which has not been the case with Excel.

These were just a few of many reasons why a planning tool is a better alternative than Excel to create a comprehensive plan to support their business strategy.

Improve Your Business Financial Plan with Upmetrics

I’d surely have recommended Excel for financial planning if you had asked maybe a decade ago.

Today? There’s no way Excel stands a chance when competing with a cutting-edge AI business planning solution like Upmetrics.

Upmetrics simplifies business planning with its library of business templates, financial forecasting tool, and AI-powered assistant, making it a much more efficient alternative to Excel.

What are you waiting for? Start planning today!

Make your plan in half the time & twice the impact with Upmetrics

Fill-in-the-blanks, AI-assistance, and automatic financials make it easy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i create a business plan in excel.

It’s challenging to draft an entire business plan in Excel. However, you can use Excel to create the financial portion of your plan using a free business plan Excel template. A ready-made template is always better and faster than preparing your financial reports from scratch.

Are there any alternatives to Excel for creating a business plan?

Yes, there are a few alternatives to Excel for creating a business plan. However, using a business plan software like Upmetrics would be a better alternative to creating a business plan than others.

Why should I use an Excel template for my business financial plan?

You cannot certainly master Excel formulas in one day, and preparing advanced financial reports from scratch means you must be very good at accounting, budgeting, and Excel sheets and ready to spare some intense hours.

So, considering the complexity of Excel—using a ready-made template seems like a great starting point for budding entrepreneurs with no financial planning experience.

Are there any free business plan templates available in Excel?

Although it’s tough to create the entire business plan in Excel from scratch, Upmetrics offers a free business plan Excel template to help you gain inspiration and make the financial portion of your business plan.

Can I share my financial plan online with others using Excel?

Yes, you can share your financial plan online with others using Excel. To share your document with others, simply click on the “Share with People” option and enter their email addresses, and you have shared the doc.

About the Author

Ajay is a SaaS writer and personal finance blogger who has been active in the space for over three years, writing about startups, business planning, budgeting, credit cards, and other topics related to personal finance. If not writing, he’s probably having a power nap. Read more

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You've been dreaming of starting your own business. You've started with some concrete steps, and you're ready to put your proposal together. But how do you start, and how do you know when you have the right information?

How to get it done

Create a business plan with templates in Word:

Start with a template

Download these templates from the Office Templates site to create your plan:

Fill in your Business plan .

Analyze your market with the Business market analysis template .

Detail your financials in a Financial plan .

Divide up the work and track deliverables with this Business plan checklist .

Wrap up with this Business startup checklist .

Need a little help?

Learn how to:

Start a document from a template .

Apply themes to change your plan's look.

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Financial management

Keeping your finances in check is easy to start-and maintain- when you use an excel budget planning template in your financial management routine. customize an excel template to suit your unique financial management needs, whether you're balancing the books of a small business or keeping track of your household budget..

Budget your personal and business finances using these templates

Manage your finances using Excel templates. Stay on track for your personal and business goals by evaluating your income and expenses. Use these templates to add in pie charts and bar graphs so that you can visualize how your finances change over time. Create infographics that show what categories are included in your budget and the types of factors that incorporate each category. Download your financial management template so that you can access it and edit it as you need.

Free Business Plan Template

One of the reasons that so many small businesses fail is that they don't do the necessary up front work to create an accurate and realistic business plan. Creating a business plan doesn't guarantee success, but the process of writing a plan is critical for any successful new business. It isn't our goal to try to tell you everything you need to know about creating a business plan. Instead, our goal is to make the process easier by providing a professionally designed business plan template that you can edit easily using Word and Excel .

Business Plan Template

License : Private Use (not for distribution or resale)

Authors : Jon Wittwer and Jim Wittwer

Update (7/22/2016) : We've added a basic break-even analysis worksheet to the companion Excel workbook.

Description

This template provides a business plan outline with sample questions, tables, and a working table of contents. It was created for newer versions of Word and Excel (Office 2007 or later) so that you can easily change the fonts and color scheme and the file will be compatible with the mobile and web-based Word & Excel apps.

It is best to use Excel for financial statements, data tables and charts. So, we have provided a companion Excel workbook with these sample financial statements and other tables and graphs that you can copy and paste into your Word document.

The companion workbook combines many of the different spreadsheets you can find on Vertex42.com, but customized specifically for inclusion in a business plan.

Using the Business Plan Template

Editing headings and table of contents.

Word allows you to assign format Styles to text and paragraphs, and we've designed the template to use these Styles for defining headings, sub-headings, and figure captions.

If you want to add a new section so that the Table of Contents updates correctly, just add a new heading in the body of the document and assign it the Heading 1 or Heading 2 style.

To update the Table of Contents, go to the References tab and within the Table of Contents group of buttons, click on Update Table and then "Update entire table."

Copy/Paste From Excel to Word

For simple tables, you can use Copy/Paste (Ctrl+c / Ctrl+v) to copy a table from Excel to Word. This will typically paste the data as a formatted and editable table in Word, though none of the formulas will be functional within Word (and the table will not be linked to Excel). If you don't want the table to be editable in Word, you can "Paste as a Picture" using Paste Special or by choosing the "Picture" option when you right-click in Word to paste the table.

Important : When you paste a chart object into your business plan, make sure to "Paste as a Picture" because pasting the chart as an embedded object means that the entire spreadsheet becomes embedded in your Word document (even though what you see is only the chart).

If you want to insert a table into Word as a "Linked Object" so that when you edit Excel, the table in Word will update automatically, you may have a more difficult time preserving the formatting of the original. However, at the least the entire spreadsheet won't be embedded within your business plan Word document.

More Related Templates

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

• Write Your Business Plan at SBA.gov - Anybody starting a business should become familiar with the SBA (small business association). SBA.gov also has an online tool for creating a business plan .
• YouTube: How to Write a Business Plan - Business Wales (3 minutes) - This video offers a quick overview and tips for the essential parts of a business plan.
• YouTube: How to Write a Business Plan - Berkeley-Haas (71 minutes) - This presentation offers both the venture capitalist and entrepreneur perspective on how to write a business plan that can successfully attract funding.
• Write Your Business Plan at Entrepreneur.com - A book written by the staff of a company that should know what they are talking about.
• Sample Business Plans at bplans.com - Finding a business plan for similar businesses in your industry is a great way to get ideas for what to include in your plan. This site is a great resource for not only finding sample plans, but also for creating a business plan online using their step-by-step approach.

Other Free Business Plan Templates

• Business Planning Template Gallery at SCORE.org - This nonprofit organization (supported by the SBA) has provided expertise and free mentorship for millions of small business owners. They also have a useful collection of templates.
• Develop Your Business Plan at business.gov.au - This Australian Government site provides a really good business plan template for Word, including a detailed guide, questions to answer, and sample financial statements.

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Download Business Financial Plan Template In Excel

• Accounting , Business management , Financial Management

Supercharging Your Strategy: Download The Business Financial Plan Template In Excel

Planning is paramount to business success. A detailed, robust financial plan not only paves the way for smooth operations but also acts as a roadmap for growth, investment, and potential risks. However, creating an exceptional financial plan can often seem a complex and overwhelming task. That’s where our Business Financial Plan Template comes in.

Overview of the Business Financial Plan Template

Our template is a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool designed to make financial planning as straightforward as possible. It includes multiple sections, each one tailored to capture critical aspects of your business financials. The sections are:

• Financial Overview: This is where you lay out your financial objectives and strategies.
• Financial Assumptions: Outline the assumptions made in creating the financial plan.
• Key Financial Indicators and Ratios: Highlight the important financial indicators that measure the health of your business.
• Break-even Analysis Report: A graphical presentation and tabular analysis that shows when your business is expected to start making a profit.
• Financial Statements: Detailed income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
• Pro Forma Cash Flow Statement: A projected cash flow statement that provides insight into your business’s future cash position.
• Pro Forma Balance Sheet: A projected balance sheet that helps you plan for future financial stability and potential risks.

The Benefits of Using the Business Financial Plan Template

Here are a few reasons why our Business Financial Plan Template is an excellent tool for businesses:

• Comprehensive: The template covers all the critical aspects of financial planning, ensuring you don’t overlook any crucial details.
• Ease of Use: No need for extensive financial planning experience – the template is designed to be simple, direct, and easy to use.
• Cost-Efficient: A free tool that gives you insights akin to professional financial planning without the hefty cost.
• Visual Representation: Graphical presentations and tabular analyses allow for better understanding and communication of your financial standing.
• Forecasting: Pro Forma Cash Flow and Balance Sheets give you a glimpse of future financial possibilities, allowing for more informed decision-making.

Who Can Use This Template?

Our Business Financial Plan Template is a versatile tool designed for anyone looking to create a detailed, effective financial plan. It’s perfect for:

• Startups: To attract investors, manage funds, and understand when they can expect to start making a profit.
• Established businesses: To analyze performance, strategize for growth, and communicate financial information to stakeholders.
• Consultants: To help clients create robust financial plans and provide valuable financial insights.
• Students: To learn about financial planning and apply theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios.

Financial planning is the backbone of any successful business strategy. It allows you to foresee challenges, strategize for growth, and communicate your business’s financial health to stakeholders. With our free Business Financial Plan Template, you have a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool at your fingertips. This template simplifies the often complex process of financial planning, allowing you to focus on what you do best: growing your business. Remember, good planning today leads to better results tomorrow. So download our template and start paving your path to business success.

Download this Business Financial Plan template in Excel Format

Our easy to use editable Excel templates and save your significant amount of time and effort. Here’s how to download and use one of our templates:

Download this free Excel Template : Once you’ve browsed through our collection of templates and find the one that best fits your needs. Once you’ve found the template you want, click on the download button.

Replace sample data with your actual data: Once the template is downloaded, open it in Excel. You’ll see that it is already set up with sample data. To start analyzing your own data, simply replace the sample data with your actual data.

Customize the template: Our templates are completely editable, which means you can customize them to fit your specific needs. For example, you can change the formatting, add or remove columns, or create new charts and graphs.

Use the Excel template: Once you’ve fed in your data and customized the template, you’re ready to start using it for data analysis. Use the various tools and features of Excel to analyze and visualize your data, and make informed business decisions.

Save and share: Once you’ve finished working on the template, save it to your computer and share it with other members of your team or stakeholders as needed.

Click Download Button To Get Business Financial Plan Excel Template

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Business Financial Plan Template

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• 17 min read

Top 11 Excel Finance Templates and Financial Statements for 2023

1. Business Case Template

2. profit and loss (p&l) statement template, 3. unit economics template, 4. headcount and workforce planning template, 5. runway and cash budget template, 6. balance sheet template, 7. revenue forecasting template, 8. sales compensation plan template, 9. e-commerce demand forecasting template, 10. operating budget template, 11. capitalization table template.

Excel templates and financial models are powerful tools for budgeting and planning. With Excel, you can create a personal budget that helps you track your spending, plan ahead for future expenses and investments, and monitor your overall financial health.

You can also use Excel to build more complex financial models that help with forecasting, decision-making, investment analysis, and more. Whatever your financial goals, Excel provides the templates and tools to help you achieve them.

With Excel templates for budgets, financial statements, forecasting models, investment analysis, and more, Excel gives you the power to make informed decisions about your money.

Excel is easy to use and can be used by anyone, from novice users to experienced financial professionals. It is the premier tool for creating accurate budgets, forecasting future trends, and investing wisely.

So without further ado, here is a list of the top 11 Excel Finance Templates and Financial Models to help you manage your business financials, monitor performance, and make smarter business decisions.

A Business Case Excel Template is a spreadsheet that can be used to make business decisions. It helps you organize and analyze data in order to help you reach the best possible outcome for your project or venture.

The template typically includes excel columns for data such as cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, financials, resource breakdowns, and more. By using the Excel template, you can quickly identify areas of potential savings or risks before making final investment decisions on any business venture.

Additionally, this type of Excel template makes it easier to track progress throughout the project lifecycle and compare results against expectations. With an Excel template, you will have an effective tool for assessing costs and benefits when making important business decisions.

Download the Business Case Excel Template for Free.

A Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement Excel Template is a spreadsheet tool designed to help you organize and track your business's income and expenses each month. This template makes it easy to quickly generate an accurate Profit & Loss statement, which can be used for both internal records as well as external reporting.

The Excel template includes columns for entering revenue and cost of goods sold, as well as expenses such as wages and rent. At the end of each month, it is possible to generate a snapshot of your business's performance for that month.

With this data, you can make better-informed decisions about how to maximize your profits and minimize losses. Using a P&L excel template also helps ensure accuracy in financial reporting. The Excel template is easy to use and can be customized to meet your specific needs. With this tool, you can identify areas of growth and focus on improving them for the future success of your business.

Download the Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement Excel Template for Free.

A Unit Economics Excel Template is an Excel-based document that provides a framework for analyzing the financial performance of each unit within a business. The template enables users to input key metrics such as revenue, cost, and margin per unit to generate comprehensive insights into the performance of their business model.

By leveraging the power of Excel and data visualization, users can gain valuable insight into their business’s efficiency, profitability, and sustainability. The Excel template also serves as a powerful tool for tracking changes in unit economics over time and comparing different scenarios side by side.

With this information at hand, businesses are able to make informed decisions regarding pricing strategies, product development initiatives, marketing campaigns, and more. A Unit Economics Excel Template is an invaluable asset for any company looking to maximize its profits and excel in the market.

Download the Unit Economics Excel Template for Free.

A Headcount and Workforce Planning Template is a customizable Excel template that helps businesses manage their workforce. It is designed to track the current headcount, average hours worked, and employee costs. The template also allows users to plan future staffing needs by setting estimated headcount goals for each quarter or year.

With the help of this Excel template, business owners can make more efficient decisions when planning their budget and personnel resources. The Excel template includes features such as forecasting total labor cost in relation to other operating expenses, tracking changes in employee count over time, and providing graphical visualizations of staffing trends.

This Excel template enables businesses to quickly forecast the size of their workforce based on demand projections for the upcoming fiscal period. It is an invaluable tool for determining your company’s future workforce needs and budgeting accordingly.

Using a Headcount and Workforce Planning template helps businesses save time, money, and resources by giving them an easy-to-use method for tracking changes in headcount over time. The Excel template also serves as a valuable resource for business owners to gain insight into their staff's productivity, performance, and cost-effectiveness. With the help of this Excel template, businesses can easily plan their workforce needs and make better-informed staffing decisions.

Download the Headcount and Workforce Planning Excel Template for Free.

A Runway and Cash Budget Template is an Excel spreadsheet that helps businesses plan ahead by budgeting for their anticipated expenses. It outlines what money will be coming in and going out over a certain period of time, allowing users to adjust and balance their budget accordingly.

The template also provides projections on how much cash the business can expect to have available at any given point during the forecasted period, helping them make informed decisions about when it’s best to purchase assets or hire new staff. Using an Excel template simplifies the process of creating a runway and cash budget, as all of the information can be managed in one place.

It also makes it easy to make changes and tweak different variables, so businesses can always stay up-to-date with their finances. With a Runway and Cash Budget Template, businesses can gain greater insight into their financial situation and make sure that they are always prepared for the future.

Download the Runway and Cash Budget Excel Template for Free.

A Balance Sheet Excel Template is a type of spreadsheet that allows users to create, maintain and analyze their financial information. This template provides a comprehensive overview of an individual’s or company’s financial status at any given point in time. It includes detailed lists of liabilities, assets, and equity accounts which are used to calculate the net worth at any point in time.

By using this template, it will be easier for individuals and businesses to track their financial performance as well as identify potential areas for improvement. With this template, users can also view their overall financial health over time, allowing them to make informed decisions.

Balance Sheets are generally prepared on an annual or quarterly basis, giving accurate insights into your current financial position. They help you to identify areas that require further attention and make informed decisions about your financial future.

Download the Balance Sheet Excel Template for Free.

Top Free Google Sheets Templates and Financial Statements to help you manage your business financials, monitor performance, and make informed decisions.

A Revenue Forecasting Excel Template is a spreadsheet that helps businesses estimate their potential revenues for the upcoming months. It allows companies to quickly make projections about how much money they can expect to generate in the future and plan accordingly. The template usually includes fields for entering past sales figures, projecting cash flows based on historical performance, forecasting seasonality effects, and making other predictions. It can help companies get an accurate picture of their expected revenues, enabling them to optimize their business operations and make better decisions.

Having a reliable revenue forecasting template can help businesses reach their goals faster and with more efficiency. With the right Revenue Forecasting Excel Template, businesses can improve their monthly or yearly performance without having to hire an expensive consultant. It’s a valuable tool for any business, big or small.

Using the template is easy - simply enter your historical data, and it will generate an estimated revenue projection for you. With this information, you can plan better and make sure that your business operates at peak efficiency. The template also helps identify potential areas for improvement, giving you insights into how your business can become more efficient and profitable.

Overall, a Revenue Forecasting Excel Template is an invaluable tool for any business that is looking to maximize its profits and make the most of its resources. It provides valuable insights into future cash flows and helps businesses make better decisions about their operations.

Download the Revenue Forecasting Excel Template for Free.

A Sales Compensation Plan Excel Template is an easy-to-use tool that can help you track and manage your sales compensation plan. It allows business owners to quickly create a comprehensive document outlining the different commission structures applicable to their sales team.

The template offers customizable features such as dynamic columns for data entry and Excel formulas for calculating total payouts, so you can easily manage your compensation plans and make sure everyone gets paid accurately. With a template, you will have all the information at hand when it comes to setting up a successful sales compensation plan. It can be useful in helping to streamline the process of managing sales commissions and tracking employee performance more efficiently.

Additionally, with this template, you'll be able to understand exactly how each employee is performing, enabling you to make better decisions on their compensation plans. You will have a comprehensive overview of your sales team's performance and be able to ensure that everyone is paid fairly and accurately.

With a Sales Compensation Plan Excel Template, you can easily manage the different commission structures for each employee, allowing you to make the most out of your team's performance.

Download the Sales Compensation Plan Excel Template for Free.

An e-commerce demand forecasting Excel template is a spreadsheet tool that helps businesses predict future customer demand for particular products or services. It uses detailed data analysis and predictive analytics, such as historical sales figures, market trends, and competitor performance, to generate forecasts.

The template contains various tools and functions that enable users to easily customize the model according to their own organizational needs and objectives. With this information, businesses can adjust marketing strategies accordingly and make informed decisions on how best to allocate resources.

Additionally, an e-commerce demand forecasting Excel template can be used to analyze current market conditions in order to better understand customer behavior and what drives purchases in certain markets or locations. By understanding these dynamics, businesses are able to design more effective campaigns that will result in higher sales and increased customer loyalty.

Ultimately, an e-commerce demand forecasting Excel template helps businesses make informed decisions about their future products, services, and strategies. With accurate and up-to-date data, they can better plan for customer demand and ensure their continued success in the e-commerce industry.

Download the E-commerce Demand Forecasting Excel Template for Free.

An operating budget Excel template is an easy-to-use spreadsheet that helps you create a detailed plan for managing your business finances. It outlines expected income, expenses, and savings over a period of time. This type of budgeting tool allows you to analyze your current financial position and plan for the future. With the help of a template, it's easier to identify areas for improvement and make changes to reduce costs or increase revenue.

An operating budget also helps you determine if there are any gaps in your cash flow and create strategies to address them. By having an accurate picture of what's coming in and going out each month, you can make better decisions about how to manage your money. Having an operating budget Excel template handy will give you greater peace of mind and help you manage your finances with confidence.

This type of budget template helps to keep track of all the necessary information like income, expenses, and project costs. It also provides you with easy-to-understand charts and graphs that help to visualize your financial data. With an operating budget Excel template, you can quickly and accurately analyze your financial data and make informed decisions about your finances.

It's also a great way to stay organized and on top of your business finances. With the help of an operating budget Excel template, you can easily monitor trends in your finances and create strategies to maximize returns and minimize costs. By taking advantage of an operating budget Excel template, you can ensure that your business is on a sound financial footing and reducing risk.

Download the Operating Budget Excel Template for Free.

A Capitalization Table Excel Template is a useful tool for startups and early-stage companies. It helps you keep track of the company’s equity ownership structure and value, as well as any changes that occur over time. It can also be used to compare different financing scenarios, determine optimal terms and negotiate with investors.

The template typically consists of an Excel spreadsheet that contains columns detailing the names of shareholders, their ownership percentages, the overall percentage ownership of all shareholders combined, the total number of shares outstanding, convertible notes or preferred stock details, and liquidation preferences. This information allows business owners to make more informed decisions regarding their capital structure and investment opportunities.

By using a Capitalization Table Excel Template, entrepreneurs can easily assess the financial position of their business and make decisions that are informed by the current financial structure. It’s also a great way to keep track of events that could potentially affect their company’s value, such as a major acquisition or the release of new products. This tool can help entrepreneurs make sure their company is on the right track for continued growth.

Overall, a Capitalization Table Excel Template provides entrepreneurs with an easy and convenient way to track and manage their company’s equity value, ownership structure, and financing options. By utilizing this powerful tool, entrepreneurs can gain a better understanding of their company’s financial position and make more informed decisions.

Download the Capitalization Table Excel Template for Free.

Hady has a passion for tech, marketing, and spreadsheets. Besides his Computer Science degree, he has vast experience in developing, launching, and scaling content marketing processes at SaaS startups.

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Industry-Specific Financial Model Templates in Excel

Food & Beverage Financial Models

Healthcare Financial Models

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Marketplace Financial Models

Hospitality Financial Models

E-Commerce Financial Models

Beauty & Sport Financial Models

Subscription Box Financial Models

Real Estate Financial Models

Services Financial Models

Retail Financial Models

Software as a Service Financial Models

• Financial Models
• Business Plans

Restaurant Financial Model

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I have been doing capital raising in a wide variety of industries and have been involved on 4 Private Equity Funds. Financial models tend to be either too simplistic or too complicated and useless. But this model is the perfect mix of simplistic and intuitive with enough detail for large project funding analysis. It could even be used as a budgeting tool for smaller mining companies. Well Done! And Thank You very much!

Great financial model template with the most complete set of charts that will ever need! Monthly breakdowns for all the financial statements and a cash valuation. Summary tabs with all the main information you need for a business plan! Could be improved with the addition of financial ratios.

What an incredible find in FinModelsLab! The ASC model is perfect for modeling our healthcare practice… enthusiastically recommend!!!

The spear sheet is just what I needed. I am able to plug in my numbers and the video shows you where to place all information. I can now send the pro-forma to investors. Love it thank you

Henry was a life-saver. If you have a very difficult financial modeling project that you need delivered fast, go with Henry. He will get it done.

Henry is very good at forecasting and business modelling. His communication and responsiveness are excellent.

Henry was the best financial expert for us when it came to financial analysis and building financial complex models for our start-up.

Excellent CFO I have ever come across. He has an eye to detail and is an expert when to comes to financial modeling & planning.

A complete and easy to use Restaurant financial model that gives you clear view and guide when preparing business plan numbers

I really feel there is no finance challenge Henry can't overcome, and I look forward to working with him on many more projects and entrepreneurial initiatives.

Henry is incredibly talented and hard working. He is one of the top-notch players in his niche, He pushed out a rock solid deliverable.

Industry-specific Financial Model Templates in Excel, Business Plan Templates, Excel Dashboards and Pitch Decks

FinModelsLab provides a wide range of industry-specific financial model templates in Excel as well as Excel dashboards, Business Plan Templates, and Pitch Deck Templates. Creating a business plan with detailed financial projections and pitch deck presentation or Excel dashboard is time-consuming. That is why we created a web repository with 1500+ business templates for a wide range of usage cases. We spent 10 000+ hours creating industry-specific financial forecasting model templates in Excel which offers a well-structured as well as best practice financial modeling know-how to users such as c-level executives, entrepreneurs, investors, startup founders, and many more, who are looking for assistance in creating financial projections template.

In today's fast-paced business landscape, effective financial modeling and planning are crucial for the success and growth of any organization. With accurate financial projections, businesses can make informed decisions, secure funding, and navigate potential challenges with confidence. At FinModelsLab, we understand the significance of financial modeling, which is why we offer a comprehensive collection of industry-specific financial model templates in Excel.

The Importance of Financial Modeling

Financial modeling serves as the foundation for strategic decision-making, providing insights into the financial health and performance of a business. It allows organizations to forecast revenue, project expenses, assess profitability, and evaluate potential risks and opportunities. By modeling different scenarios, businesses can optimize their resources, identify growth strategies, and plan for the future.

Addressing the Need for Industry-Specific Templates

Generic financial templates may not capture the unique requirements and dynamics of specific industries. That's where industry-specific financial model templates become invaluable. At FinModelsLab, we recognize the importance of tailoring financial models to the nuances of different sectors. Our extensive collection includes a wide range of industry-specific templates, ensuring that businesses have the tools they need to accurately project revenues, analyze costs, and plan for success in their respective sectors.

• Comprehensive financial model templates designed for specific industries.
• Templates catering to diverse sectors such as manufacturing, e-commerce, healthcare, and more.
• Industry-specific financial model templates for startups, small businesses, and established enterprises.

By providing industry-specific financial model templates, we empower businesses to make informed decisions based on reliable and relevant data, ultimately increasing their chances of success in the marketplace.

About FinModelsLab

At FinModelsLab, we pride ourselves on being a trusted and reliable source for financial model templates. With our commitment to excellence and a comprehensive collection of over 3500+ business templates, we empower entrepreneurs, startups, investors, and professionals to create accurate and detailed financial projections.

Reliable Financial Projections Templates

Our platform offers a vast selection of financial projections templates that cater to various industries and business models. Each template is designed by our team of financial experts, ensuring that they meet industry standards and best practices. Whether you are starting a new venture or seeking to optimize your existing business, our templates provide a solid foundation for projecting revenues, estimating costs, and analyzing profitability.

A Wide Range of Business Templates

With a collection of 3500+ business templates, we cover a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, e-commerce, SaaS, healthcare, and more. Our templates address different aspects of financial modeling, such as cash flow analysis, income statements, balance sheets, and valuation models. This comprehensive assortment enables users to find the templates that best align with their specific business needs.

• 3500+ business templates available for different industries and usage cases.
• Templates for startups, small businesses, investors, and c-level executives.
• Templates covering various financial aspects, including cash flow, income statements, and valuation models.

With FinModelsLab, you can access a wide range of financial projections templates and find the resources necessary to make informed financial decisions for your business.

Expertise and Dedication

At FinModelsLab, we have invested over 10,000 hours of meticulous effort and dedication into creating our financial model templates. This extensive investment of time and expertise reflects our commitment to providing high-quality resources for financial modeling and planning.

Well-Structured Financial Model Templates

Our financial model templates are designed with a well-structured framework that follows industry best practices. Each template encompasses a comprehensive set of financial projections, ensuring that businesses can accurately forecast revenues, expenses, and cash flows. By leveraging our well-structured templates, users can save time and effort, focusing on analyzing the data rather than building models from scratch.

Best Practice Financial Modeling Knowledge

Our team of financial experts brings in-depth knowledge and expertise in financial modeling. We follow best practices and incorporate industry standards into our templates, ensuring that users have access to reliable and accurate financial projections. Whether you are a c-level executive, entrepreneur, investor, or professional seeking robust financial models, our templates provide the necessary guidance and insights to support your decision-making process.

Serving a Diverse Audience

Our financial model templates cater to a diverse audience, including c-level executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals from various industries. We understand the unique needs and challenges faced by different stakeholders, and our templates are tailored to address those requirements. By serving a wide range of users, we aim to empower businesses of all types and sizes to make informed financial decisions and achieve their goals.

• Financial model templates for c-level executives, entrepreneurs, and investors.
• Templates designed to meet the diverse needs of different industries and usage cases.
• Best practice financial modeling knowledge incorporated into every template.

With our expertise and dedication, FinModelsLab strives to provide users with the necessary tools and knowledge to excel in financial modeling and planning.

Benefits of Using Financial Model Templates

Utilizing financial model templates offers significant advantages when it comes to creating accurate financial projections for your business. At FinModelsLab, we understand the importance of these benefits and strive to provide users with the resources they need to succeed.

Accurate Financial Projections Made Easy

Our financial model templates are specifically designed to assist users in creating accurate financial projections. By leveraging these templates, businesses can input their data and variables, which are then automatically calculated to generate comprehensive projections. This process reduces the risk of errors and ensures that the resulting financial projections are reliable and precise.

Time-Saving Pre-Built Templates

Time is a valuable resource for any business, and our pre-built financial model templates help save significant time and effort. Instead of starting from scratch, users can access ready-to-use templates that already include the necessary formulas, calculations, and structure. This allows users to focus on analyzing the projections and making informed decisions, rather than spending excessive time building complex financial models.

Convenience and Ease of Excel for Financial Modeling

Excel has long been recognized as a powerful tool for financial modeling, and our templates capitalize on this convenience. With Excel as the foundation, users can benefit from a familiar and user-friendly interface, making it easier to work with the templates and customize them according to their specific needs. Excel also provides flexibility for users to adapt the templates as their business evolves, ensuring the models remain relevant over time.

• Templates designed to assist in creating accurate financial projections.
• Pre-built templates save time and effort by eliminating the need to start from scratch.
• Excel-based templates provide a convenient and user-friendly platform for financial modeling.

By utilizing our financial model templates, businesses can leverage the benefits of accuracy, time-saving efficiency, and the convenience of working with Excel, ultimately aiding in their financial planning and decision-making processes.

Wide Range of Templates

At FinModelsLab, we offer a diverse selection of financial model templates to cater to various industries and specific business needs. Our extensive range ensures that businesses can find templates tailored to their industry, whether they are a startup, small business, or established enterprise.

Diverse Selection of Industry-Specific Templates

We understand that different industries have unique financial considerations. That's why we provide a wide range of industry-specific financial model templates. From manufacturing to e-commerce, healthcare to SaaS, our templates cover various sectors, ensuring that businesses can create accurate financial projections that align with the dynamics of their industry. These industry-specific templates include revenue forecasts, expense breakdowns, and other relevant financial data, allowing businesses to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions.

Relevance for Startups and Financial Planning

Startups face unique challenges and financial planning is crucial for their success. Our templates include startup-specific financial model templates designed to assist entrepreneurs in their financial planning journey. These templates consider the specific needs of startups, including revenue drivers, cost structures, and funding requirements. By utilizing our startup financial model templates, entrepreneurs can create comprehensive financial projections, pitch to investors, and develop a solid financial strategy for their business.

• A wide range of industry-specific financial model templates.
• Templates catering to startups with startup-specific financial projections.
• Templates covering various industries, including manufacturing, e-commerce, healthcare, SaaS, and more.

Whether you are starting a new venture or operating an established business, our diverse selection of financial model templates ensures that you have the resources needed to create accurate financial projections and drive your business forward.

Importance of Financial Statements

Financial statements play a vital role in business plans, providing a comprehensive view of a company's financial health and performance. At FinModelsLab, we understand the significance of financial statements and offer templates that facilitate the creation of robust and accurate financial statements for your business plan.

Significance of Financial Statements in Business Plans

Financial statements are essential components of any business plan as they present a clear picture of a company's financial position. These statements, including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, allow stakeholders to assess the company's profitability, liquidity, and overall financial stability. Financial statements provide crucial information for investors, lenders, and potential partners, aiding in informed decision-making and demonstrating the viability and potential of the business.

Creating Comprehensive Financial Statements with Templates

Our templates are specifically designed to assist users in creating comprehensive financial statements for their business plans. These templates offer a structured framework and predefined formulas that simplify the process of compiling financial data and generating accurate statements. By utilizing our templates, users can input their financial information, and the templates automatically calculate key metrics and generate professional-looking financial statements. This ensures that your business plan is well-supported with accurate and visually appealing financial information.

• The significance of financial statements in business plans for assessing financial health and performance.
• Templates designed to aid in the creation of comprehensive financial statements.
• Financial statements as crucial components for investors, lenders, and potential partners.

With our financial statement templates, you can confidently present a clear and compelling financial snapshot of your business, showcasing its potential and strengthening your business plan.

Excel-Based Financial Templates

At FinModelsLab, we provide a wide range of financial templates that are specifically designed in Excel format, offering users easy customization and flexibility. Our Excel-based templates empower businesses to create accurate and tailored financial models, enabling effective financial planning and decision-making.

Easy Customization and Flexibility

All our financial templates are available in Excel format, which provides users with the ability to easily customize and adapt the templates to suit their specific needs. Excel's intuitive interface allows users to input their own data, adjust formulas, and make modifications as required. Whether it's adding new variables, changing assumptions, or incorporating specific industry metrics, Excel enables users to tailor the templates to their unique requirements, ensuring that the resulting financial models are precise and relevant to their business.

Advantages of Using Excel for Financial Modeling

Excel has long been recognized as a powerful tool for financial modeling, and there are several advantages to utilizing it for your financial planning needs. Excel offers a wide range of built-in functions and formulas, making complex calculations and projections more accessible. Its spreadsheet format provides a structured and organized way to present and analyze financial data, allowing for easy data entry, manipulation, and visualization. Excel's widespread familiarity among professionals also ensures that users can collaborate, share, and present their financial models seamlessly.

• Templates provided in Excel format for easy customization and adaptability.
• Excel's flexibility allows users to tailor templates to their specific needs.
• Advantages of using Excel include built-in functions, structured presentation, and widespread familiarity.

By leveraging our Excel-based financial templates, businesses can benefit from the ease of customization, flexibility, and the robust capabilities of Excel, ultimately enabling them to create accurate and dynamic financial models that drive better financial planning and decision-making.

Financial Forecasting and Planning

Financial forecasting plays a crucial role in effective business planning and decision-making. At FinModelsLab, we recognize the significance of financial forecasting, and we offer a wide range of forecast templates in Excel format to assist businesses in their financial planning endeavors.

The Role of Financial Forecasting in Business Planning

Financial forecasting is a vital component of business planning as it allows organizations to anticipate future financial outcomes based on historical data, market trends, and key assumptions. By creating comprehensive financial forecasts, businesses can gain valuable insights into revenue projections, expense management, and cash flow dynamics. These forecasts help in identifying potential risks, setting realistic targets, and making informed strategic decisions to drive business growth.

Availability of Forecast Templates in Excel

Our forecast templates, available in Excel format, provide businesses with a convenient and efficient way to create accurate financial forecasts. These templates are designed to simplify the forecasting process by incorporating pre-built formulas and intuitive interfaces. Users can input their data, adjust variables, and instantly generate forecasts based on different scenarios. The flexibility of Excel allows for easy customization of the templates to align with specific business needs, ensuring that the resulting forecasts are tailored and reliable.

• The importance of financial forecasting in business planning and decision-making.
• Forecast templates available in Excel format for convenient and accurate financial forecasting.
• Financial forecasts as valuable tools for identifying risks, setting targets, and making strategic decisions.

By utilizing our forecast templates in Excel, businesses can streamline their financial forecasting processes, gain valuable insights, and enhance their overall planning capabilities.

Tailored for Startups

At FinModelsLab, we understand the unique financial planning needs of startups, and we offer a range of templates specifically tailored to meet those needs. Our startup-specific financial projections templates provide startups with a solid foundation for their financial planning and enable them to make informed decisions to drive growth and success.

Relevance of the Templates for Startups' Financial Planning

Startups face distinctive challenges and requirements when it comes to financial planning. Our templates address these specific needs by providing startup founders and entrepreneurs with a comprehensive framework to forecast revenue, estimate expenses, and project cash flow. These templates incorporate startup-specific assumptions and variables, allowing startups to create accurate financial projections that align with their business models, growth strategies, and funding requirements.

Startup-Specific Financial Projections Template

Our startup-specific financial projections template is a valuable resource for startups seeking to create robust financial forecasts. This template encompasses key startup metrics, such as customer acquisition costs, customer lifetime value, and funding rounds, to accurately project revenue, expenses, and funding needs over a defined period. By leveraging this template, startups can effectively communicate their financial projections to potential investors, demonstrate their growth potential, and secure the funding necessary to fuel their development.

• Templates specifically tailored to meet the unique financial planning needs of startups.
• Importance of accurate financial projections for startups to make informed decisions.
• Startup-specific financial projections template incorporating key startup metrics.

Our startup-focused templates empower entrepreneurs and startup founders to navigate the financial landscape with confidence, ensuring that their financial planning aligns with their business goals and positions them for long-term success.

Excel-Based Financial Modeling

Excel is a powerful tool for financial modeling, and at FinModelsLab, we leverage the capabilities of Excel to provide comprehensive and effective financial model templates. Our Excel-based financial models offer numerous benefits for businesses, empowering them to make informed financial decisions and drive success.

Benefits of Using Excel for Financial Modeling

Excel provides a range of benefits that make it an ideal platform for financial modeling. Its built-in functions and formulas allow for complex calculations, enabling accurate financial projections and analysis. The spreadsheet format of Excel provides a structured and organized way to present and manipulate financial data, making it easier to input and track variables, assumptions, and key metrics. Excel's flexibility also allows for scenario analysis, sensitivity testing, and the creation of dynamic charts and graphs, enhancing the visibility and understanding of financial models.

Availability of Excel Financial Model Templates

Our Excel financial model templates provide businesses with ready-to-use frameworks for various financial modeling purposes. These templates are designed to streamline the financial modeling process, incorporating best practices and industry-specific assumptions. By leveraging our Excel financial model templates, businesses can save valuable time and effort in building their own models from scratch, while still having the flexibility to customize and adapt the templates to their specific needs.

• Excel's capabilities for complex calculations, accurate projections, and analysis.
• The structured format of Excel for organized financial data management.
• Excel's flexibility for scenario analysis, sensitivity testing, and visual representation.
• Availability of ready-to-use Excel financial model templates for streamlined financial modeling.

By utilizing our Excel-based financial model templates, businesses can harness the power of Excel and benefit from its robust features to create accurate, dynamic, and customizable financial models that drive better financial decision-making and planning.

In today's competitive business landscape, financial modeling is essential for informed decision-making and successful planning. At FinModelsLab, our industry-specific financial model templates in Excel offer a range of benefits to empower businesses and individuals in their financial projections and planning endeavors.

Reaping the Benefits of Industry-Specific Financial Model Templates

Our industry-specific financial model templates provide users with a host of advantages. By utilizing these templates, businesses can save valuable time and effort, as our templates are pre-built with best practices and industry-specific assumptions. This enables users to create accurate and reliable financial projections that align with their unique needs and goals. Whether you are a c-level executive, entrepreneur, investor, or startup founder, our templates offer a well-structured and comprehensive financial modeling know-how, supporting your financial planning and decision-making processes.

Explore Our Wide Range of Templates

We invite you to explore our extensive collection of 3500+ business templates, including financial modeling Excel templates and financial projections template Excel. Our diverse selection ensures that you will find the right template for your industry and specific use case. Whether you are starting a new venture, seeking funding, or managing an existing business, our templates provide the foundation you need for accurate financial projections and comprehensive planning.

• The benefits of using industry-specific financial model templates for informed decision-making and successful planning.
• Time-saving advantages through pre-built templates with best practices and industry-specific assumptions.
• Wide range of 3500+ business templates, including financial modeling Excel templates and financial projections template Excel.

Begin your journey towards effective financial modeling and planning by exploring our wide range of templates. Empower your business with accurate financial projections and make confident decisions to drive growth and success.

Why is a Financial Plan Important to Your Small Business?

A well-put-together financial plan can help you achieve greater confidence in your business while generating a better understanding of how to allocate resources. It shows your business is committed to spending wisely and its ability to meet financial obligations. A financial forecasting model helps you determine if choices will impact revenue and which occasions call for dipping into reserve funds.

It’s also an important tool when asking investors to consider your business. Your startup financial plan shows how your organization manages expenses and generates revenue. It shows where your business stands and how much it needs from sales and investors to meet important financial benchmarks.

Used by Professionals from 300+ Companies Including

Frequently Asked Questions

Of course! Yes. All our templates are fully editable . All formulas, cells and sheets are completely unlocked, so you can edit anything to your liking. Each row on every sheet has a note about what that row’s calculations are trying to do, and many of the components are explained in the help files, so that you can see how I did it - and help you figure out how to change it to your liking.

This financial model is perfect for entrepreneurs to quickly build financial projections for fundraising decks or business modeling.

With this all-in-1 model, you’ll be able to forecast your sales, profits, and cash flow in seconds. Plus, you’ll have all the data, metrics and reports you’ll need to effectively present your business plan to investors & prospects. This financial model was crafted in Excel by expert analysts with 15-years consulting background to assist entrepreneurs with forecasting efforts.

Take advantage of this Excel model to effortlessly forecast your financials, create investor-friendly reports, and build a better business!

You don’t have to be an expert to model your Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) with this straightforward financial model excel template. Our financial projection makes that easy for even the most novice finance background. Just enter your financials and our sophisticated financial model will do all the work, giving you a clear view of your company’s current state, predictions for future performance, and an action plan for scaling revenue. With financial projections that can be easily updated as assumptions change, you’ll have all the information you need to project your company’s future & pitch investors!

Yes. Our financial model excel templates are fully editable, you can change many assumptions including the currency of your business.

You may change currency inputs and currency outputs by applying the exchange rate.

All our financial model templates are Microsoft Excel™ files, and they are available for download immediately after purchase. Can be imported into the Google Sheets™ for editing and customizations. I recommend using Excel or Google Sheets™ for financial modeling, both in general and for our templates specifically. In practice, I use Excel to build and edit models, and Google Sheets to share or collaborate with users. Excel is usually a faster platform for building models, but Google Sheets can be easier for sharing models with people. My models can be used in both Excel and Google Sheets interchangeably; simply upload the Microsoft Excel model template from FinancialModelExcel.com into Google Sheets, and everything will work fine.

Unfortunately no. Unlike a physical product where you can send it back to the seller, because it is a digital product you can still use it after refund. This makes it quite difficult for us to manage honest refund requests. If you have any questions about the financial model excel templates, please contact us so we can guide you and answer any questions you have.

Yes. We accept all major credit cards, debit cards and PayPal. Payments are powered by Stripe and PayPal via our payment processing provider. All transactions are secured and your card payment information encrypted and sent directly to Stripe and PayPal, no payment details are stored on our website.

Yes. Of course! Every financial model excel template has a button to download immediately a DEMO version of the particular template. With the Demo version you will get the read-only financial model template.

By purchasing the template on our website, you will receive an email from us including the link to download your template. Additionally, you should see the download links right after the payment at the checkout page.

Yes, we provide free email support via email at [email protected] . We are in the Europe time zone hence please bear with us and we will catch up as soon as we are back online!

5-Year Financial Plan Template

Whether you are already running a business, or making plans to start one up, financial planning is a vital part of ensuring your success. Not knowing your expected income and expenditure will make it difficult to plan, and hard to find investors.

This 5-Year Financial Plan spreadsheet will make it easy for you to calculate profit and loss, view your balance sheet and cash flow projections, as well as calculate any loan payments you may have. Whilst the wording on this spreadsheet is focussed around products, it can just as easily be used for businesses who largely provide services to their customers.

5-Year Financial Plan Projection

How to use Financial Plan

Model inputs.

Use the Model Inputs sheet to enter information about your business that will be used to model results seen on the other pages.

Forecasted Revenue

The forecasted revenue section allows you to estimate your revenue for 4 different products. Simply use the white boxes to enter the number of units you expect to sell, and the price you expect to sell them for, and the spreadsheet will calculate the total revenue for each product for the year. If you want to give your products names, simply type over the words "Product 1", "Product 2" etc. and these names will be carried through to the rest of the spreadsheet.

Cost of Goods Sold

Your margins are unlikely to be the same on all of your products, so the cost of goods sold allows you to enter your expected gross margin for each product into the white boxes in Column B. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate the annual cost of goods sold based on this information, along with your forecasted revenue.

Annual Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul

As the cost of annual maintenance, repair and overhaul is likely to increase each year, you will need to enter a percentage factor on your capital equipment in the white box in Column B. This will be used to calculate your operating expenses in the profit and loss sheet.

Asset Depreciation

Use the white box to enter the number of years you expect your assets to depreciate over. This may vary greatly from business to business, as assets in some sectors depreciate much more quickly than they do in others.

In most parts of the world, you will have to pay income on your earnings. Enter the annual tax rate that applies to your circumstances in the white box in Column B. If you have to pay any other taxes, these can be entered later on the Profit and Loss sheet.

Although you cannot be certain of the level of inflation, you will still need to try and plan for it when coming up with a 5-year financial plan. The International Monetary Fund provide forecasts for a number of countries, so is a good place to look if you are unsure what to enter here. Simply enter your inflation rate in the white box.

Product Price Increase

As a consumer, you are no doubt aware that the price of products goes up over time. Enter a number in the white box to show the expected annual price increase of your products to enable the spreadsheet to calculate income in future years. If you are unsure what to put here, increasing your product price in line with inflation is a good starting point. If your business is just starting out, you may be able to command higher prices for your products or services as the years go on, as you build up brand recognition and a good reputation.

The funding section allows you to enter information about your business loan. To use this section, simply fill in the three white boxes representing the amount of the loan, the annual interest rate and the term of the loan in months - for example, 12 for 1 year, 24 for 2 years, 36 for 3 years, 48 for 4 years, or 60 for a 5 year loan.

Profit and loss

This sheet calculates your profit and loss for each year over a 5 year period. The profit and loss assumptions, along with income, are automatically calculated using information entered in the model inputs sheet.

Non-Operation Income

You may have, or be expecting some income in addition to your operating income. These can be entered manually in the white cells in Column B for Year 1, Column C for Year 2 and so on. There are pre-entered categories for rental, lost income and loss (or gain) on the sale of assets, as well as an additional row where you can enter your own non-operation income.

Operating Expenses

Some parts of this are already filled in based on information you put on the Model Inputs, for example, depreciation, maintenance and interest on long-term debt. Years 2-5 are also filled in for you across all categories based on the inflation information entered in the Model Inputs sheet. You therefore only need to enter your Sales and Marketing, Insurance, Payroll and Payroll Tax, Property Taxes, Utilities, Administration Fees and any Other Expenses into the white cells in Column B for Year 1.

Non-recurring Expenses

This section is for entering any expenses that you will not be paying on an annual basis. The Unexpected Expenses row allows you to enter a contingency for unexpected expenses, whilst the Other Expenses row allows you to enter any other one off expenses you may be expecting to make, for example the purchase of new equipment part way into your 5 year plan.

Income Tax is filled in based on the information you enter into the model inputs. Depending on where your business is based, you may find yourself having to pay other taxes. These can be entered in the Other Tax row. You can rename this row by typing over the "Other Tax (specify)" text.

Balance Sheet

The annual balances for Years 1-5 are, in most cases, filled in for you, based on the information you have entered on the Model Inputs sheet and in the Initial Balance column of the Balance Sheet column itself. This makes it very easy to use.

Current Assets

This is where you can enter the value of any of your current assets, with spaces to enter information about Cash and Short-term Investments, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Prepaid Expenses and Deferred Income Tax. At the bottom of this section is a space for you to enter any other current assets you may have that do not fall into any of these categories.

Property and Equipment

Depending on the nature of your business, you may have assets such as Buildings, Land, Capital Improvements and Machinery. Enter the value of these assets into Column B, and these values will be copied over to each of the 5 years of the plan. The depreciation information entered into the Model Inputs sheet will be used to calculate the depreciation expenses, which allows a total for property and equipment to be calculated automatically.

Other Assets

This section is for entering information on any assets that don't fit in the other sections. These could be Goodwill Payments, Deferred Income Tax, Long-term Investments, Deposits, or any Other long-term assets. Enter the information into Column B, and it will be carried across to the yearly columns automatically.

Current Liabilities

As well as assets, your business is likely to have liabilities. There are spaces to enter Accounts Payable, Accrued Expenses, Notes Payable and Short-term Debt, Capital Leases and Other current liabilities. Just leave blank any rows where you do not have any liabilities, and the totals will be calculated for you.

Your long-term debt/loan information will have already been entered in the Model Inputs sheet, so the only thing to do here is to enter any other long-term debt. Unlike much of the rest of the Balance Sheet, you can manually enter different amounts for each year, as you may, for example, be expecting to take on another loan to purchase some new equipment in Year 3 as your business expands.

Other Liabilities

Use this section to enter any liabilities not covered by the pre-defined labels. You can amend the text in Column A, in order to specify the liabilities, and then enter the cost of these liabilities in Column B.

Your business is likely to have some equity, and this can be entered into this section. You can fill out the Owner's Equity, Paid-in Capital and Preferred Equity in Column B. Your retained earnings are automatically calculated based on the Profit and Loss sheet.

Much of the information on the cash flow sheet is based on calculations in the Balance Sheet. It is important to plan your cash flow carefully, so that you know what funds you will have available to buy new stock and equipment.

Operating Activities

Much of this section is automatically filled in based on your balance sheet. There are only three rows to fill out, which are Amortization, Other Liabilities and Other Operating Cash Flow. You only need to fill out the white boxes in Column B for Year 1, as these values will automatically be carried over into subsequent years for you.

Investing Activities

Your capital expenditures and sale of fixed assets will be automatically populated if you have filled out the relevant sections of the Balance Sheet. They will be blank if they do not apply. As investing activities can vary year on year, you will need to fill out any investment activities for each of the 5 years in the appropriate columns for Acquisition of Business, and any Other Investing Cash Flow items.

Financing Activities

The long-term debt/financing row will be pre-filled based on the loan information previously entered. Use Column B to fill out your Preferred Stock, Total Cash Dividends Paid, Common Stock and Other Financing Cash Flow items for Year 1. This information will automatically carried over to Years 2-5.

Loan Payment Calculator

There is nothing to enter on this sheet, as it is for information only. Whether or not you already have a loan, or are using this spreadsheet as a part of a business plan to help you obtain one, it allows you to easily see how much you will be paying each month, showing how much you are paying off your loan, and how much you are paying in interest. This will allow you to get an idea of whether or not you can afford to borrow a bit extra, if you feel it would allow you to push your business into higher places, or whether you need to shop around for a better interest rate or adjust the loan term in order to afford the loan payments.

Related Templates

Cash Flow - Business Plan Forecast Template

Use our business plan financial projections template to create financial projections for a business plan which includes 12 monthly periods and 5 annual periods. The template includes a detailed income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet in Excel. Cash flow projections are based on user defined turnover, gross profit and expense values and automated calculations based on a series of assumptions.

• Includes 12 monthly & 5 annual periods
• Suitable for service and trade based businesses
• Reporting periods based on a single user input cell
• User input limited to basic template assumptions
• Expense accounts can be customized & more accounts added
• Automated income statement, cash flow statement & balance sheet
• Accommodates loan amortization or interest-only loans
• Includes sales tax, income tax, payroll accruals & dividends

How to use the Cash Flow - Business Plan Forecast template

This template enables users to create cash flow projections for a business plan which includes 12 monthly periods and five annual periods. The template includes a monthly income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. The cash flow projections are based on turnover, gross profit and expense values that are entered by the user as well as a number of default assumptions which are used to create an automated balance sheet. These assumptions include opening balance sheet balances, working capital ratios, payroll accruals, sales tax, income tax, dividends and loans. The monthly reporting periods are based on any user defined start date.

Note: We have included 12 monthly and 5 annual reporting periods in this template because this format is frequently required by financial institutions when submitting business plans. If you only require annual cash flow projections, refer to our Annual Cash Flow Projections template and if you only require monthly cash flow projections, refer to our Monthly Cash Flow Projections template.

The following sheets are included in the template: Assumptions - this sheet includes the default assumptions on which the monthly & annual cash flow projections are based. IncState - this sheet includes a detailed monthly income statement for 12 monthly periods and 5 annual periods. All the rows that are highlighted in yellow in column A require user input and the codes in column A are mainly used in the sales tax, receivables & payables calculations. The rows that do not contain yellow highlighting in column A contain formulas and are therefore calculated automatically. CashFlow - as with the income statement, only the rows with yellow highlighting in column A require user input. All the other rows contain formulas and are therefore calculated automatically. BalanceSheet - all balance sheet calculations are based on the template assumptions and the income statement & cash flow statement calculations. No user input is therefore required on this sheet. Loans1 to Loans3 & Leases - these sheets include detailed amortization tables which are used to calculate the interest charges and capital repayment amounts that are included on the income statement and cash flow statement. Each sheet provides for a different set of loan repayment terms to be specified.

Note: If you do not want to include any of the line items that are listed on the income statement, cash flow statement or balance sheet, we recommend hiding these items instead of deleting them. If you delete items which are used in other calculations, these calculations will result in errors which you then need to fix or remove.

Business Name & Reporting Periods

The business name and the start date for the cash flow projections need to be entered at the top of the Assumptions sheet. The business name is included as a heading on all the sheets and the reporting periods which are included in the template are determined based on the start date that is specified. This date is used as the first month and the 11 subsequent months and four subsequent years are added to form the 5 year projection period.

The income statement and cash flow statement only require user input where there is yellow highlighting in column A and the user input only relates to the 12 monthly periods. All annual totals are calculated automatically and all rows without yellow highlighting are calculated automatically in both the monthly and annual columns.

Income Statement

All monthly income statement projections need to be entered exclusive of any sales tax that may be applicable.

Turnover & Gross Profits

Monthly turnover values need to be entered on the IncState sheet for the first 12 months. The projected monthly gross profit percentages also need to be entered on this sheet and are used in order to calculate the gross profit values. The monthly cost of sales projections are calculated by simply deducting the gross profit values from the monthly turnover values.

The year 2 to 5 turnover amounts are calculated based on the totals for the first year and adjusted by the annual turnover growth rates that are specified on the Assumptions sheet. Gross profit percentages for each turnover line need to be entered on the IncState sheet. Gross profit values and cost of sales totals are calculated automatically.

The template includes two default lines in each of these sections - one for a typical product based item and one for a typical service based item. The template can therefore be used for both service and trade based businesses. There are no cost of sales and gross profit values in service based businesses and a gross profit percentage of 100% can therefore be specified. You can also hide the cost of sales and gross profit sections if you do not want to include them in your cash flow projections.

Note: You can insert as many additional line items as required by inserting the required number of items in each section and then entering the appropriate values where user input is required or copying the formulas from one of the existing lines. We recommend inserting additional line items between the two existing default line items.

Note: The codes in column A are used in the sales tax and trade receivables calculations. The first two characters represent the sales tax code and the last two characters represent the payment status. Refer to the Balance Sheet - Sales Tax and Balance Sheet - Trade Receivables sections for more information on these codes.

Other Income

Monthly projections of other income should be entered in this row. Note that other income may consist of items like interest or dividends received and this line item is therefore not included in trade receivables and sales tax calculations. If you want to include other income in the trade receivables or sales tax calculations, you need to add the income to the Turnover section as an additional line item.

The year 2 to 5 totals for other income are calculated by applying the annual turnover growth percentages on the Assumptions sheet to the previous year's total.

Operating Expenses

All the monthly operating expense projections need to be entered in the operating expenses section of the income statement. The template contains 22 default operating expense line items but you can add as many additional items as required or delete the line items that you do not need. When adding additional line items, remember to copy the formulas in the total columns from one of the existing line items.

The year 2 to 5 totals for operating expenses are calculated by applying the annual expense inflation percentages on the Assumptions sheet to the previous year's total.

Note: The codes in column A are used in the sales tax and trade payables calculations. The first two characters represent the sales tax code and the last two characters represent the payment status. Refer to the Balance Sheet - Sales Tax and Balance Sheet - Trade Payables sections for more information on these codes.

Staff Costs

All the monthly staff cost projections need to be entered in the staff costs section of the income statement. The template contains 2 default staff cost line items but you can add as many additional items as required or delete the line items that you do not need.

The year 2 to 5 totals for staff costs are calculated by applying the annual expense inflation percentages on the Assumptions sheet to the previous year's total.

Note: Staff costs have been included in a separate section on the income statement in order to be able to calculate payroll accruals. If you do not need to include payroll accruals in your cash flow projections, we recommend entering nil values and hiding these rows. If you delete the section, some of the payroll accrual formulas may result in errors and you therefore may need to delete them as well.

Depreciation & Amortization

Monthly & annual projections for depreciation and amortization charges need to be calculated independently of the template and included in this section. We unfortunately cannot include default depreciation or amortization calculations because some businesses may have very different asset bases than others with existing assets which may already have been depreciated over a number of years. Any calculation which is based on a percentage of the balance sheet asset value may therefore not be accurate.

If you already have a sheet which is used for depreciation or amortization calculations, you can include it in this template and add formulas in the depreciation & amortization section of the income statement to include your calculations in the appropriate line items.

The monthly depreciation & amortization charges for the first 12 months need to be included on the IncState sheet and the totals for year 2 to 5 need to be included on the Assumptions sheet.

We also realize that some users may want to include depreciation and amortization as part of their operating expenses. We have therefore provided for this in that the depreciation and amortization calculations on the cash flow statement are based on the default code which is included in column A. You can therefore enter nil values in the depreciation & amortization section on the income statement, hide the section and include these line items in the operating expenses section and as long as you also include the default codes in column A, the cash flow statement values for depreciation and amortization will be calculated correctly.

Interest Paid

All interest paid calculations are automated and based on the amortization tables on the Loans1 to Loans3 and Leases sheets. The template accommodates the inclusion of loans & leases based on four different sets of loan repayment terms which need to be specified on the Assumptions sheet.

Opening loan balances are based on the balance sheet opening balances section on the Assumptions sheet and additional loan amounts can be entered in column C of the appropriate amortization table.

You do not need to use all four loan amortization sheets - if you only need to include loans based on one set of repayment terms, you can delete the other loan amortization sheets, delete the other interest paid rows on the income statement, delete the other proceeds from loans rows on the cash flow statement, delete the other repayment of loans rows on the cash flow statement and delete the other loan balances from the balance sheet.

The template provides for four sets of loan repayment terms - the same amortization table can basically be used for all loans with the same repayment terms by adding additional loan amounts as proceeds to the cash flow statement in order to add new loans to the appropriate amortization table.

If you need to add more than four sets of loan repayment terms, you will need to copy one of the amortization sheets, change it to reflect the appropriate loan terms and then change the formulas in the amortization table to be based on the correct loan repayment terms at the top of the sheet. This means that you need to add another set of repayment terms to the Assumptions sheet and link the fields at the top of the new amortization table to the appropriate cells on the Assumptions sheet.

If there is an opening balance for the required additional loan terms, you need to include a new code in the balance sheet opening balances section on the Assumptions sheet and base the opening balance calculation in the first period of the amortization schedule on this code. You also need to add new rows to the interest paid section on the income statement, the loan proceeds section on the cash flow statement, the loan repayment section on the cash flow statement and the loan balances section on the balance sheet. The appropriate formulas can be copied from one of the existing items and the sheet reference in the copied formula can then just be replaced by the sheet name of the new amortization table that you've added.

The taxation line item on the income statement is automatically calculated based on the profit before tax and the income tax assumptions which are specified on the Assumptions sheet. If you do not want to include income tax in the cash flow projections, simply enter an income tax rate of 0%. This will result in no income tax being calculated.

If you do want to include income tax calculations, the appropriate income tax percentage needs to be entered in the Income Tax section on the Assumptions sheet. You can also enter a value for an assessed loss (as a positive value) which may have been carried over from a previous tax year which would result in income tax only being calculated after profits exceed the value of the assessed loss.

You also need to specify the payment frequency in months and the first calendar month in which a payment needs to be included. The template automatically provides for income tax based on what is due and includes the income statement amount and a provision for taxation on the balance sheet. The payment frequency and month of payment assumptions are then used to determine when the income tax liability will be settled which will result in the appropriate cash outflow being recorded on the cash flow statement and the provision for taxation being reduced.

The template can accommodate income tax calculations based on current and subsequent month payments. If you select the Current option, the income tax payment amount will be calculated based on all amounts that have accrued up to and including the month of payment. If you select the Subsequent option, the income tax payment amount will only be calculated based on all amounts which have accrued up to the previous month end.

Example: If you select the Current option in the Income Tax section of the Assumptions sheet, all income tax amounts up to and including the current month will be included in the income tax payment amount. This means that the provision for taxation at the end of the particular month will be nil. The Current setting is therefore usually appropriate for provisional taxpayers.

Example: If you select the Subsequent option, all amounts up to and including the previous month end will be included in the income tax payment amount. The provision for taxation balance on the balance sheet will therefore not be nil at the end of the month of payment and include the current month's income tax charge.

The template also includes automated dividends calculations. If you do not want to include any dividends in your cash flow projections, you can simply specify a dividend percentage of zero percent.

If you want to include dividend calculations, you need to specify a dividend percentage which will be applied to the profit for the period in order to calculate the dividend value. You also need to specify the frequency in months of dividend payments and the first payment month. The frequency of dividends determines when the dividends are included on the income statement and the first month of payment determines when the dividend payment is included on the cash flow statement (only has an effect if the dividend payment option is Subsequent).

You can also specify whether the dividend is paid in the month of calculation (Cash option), the month after calculation (Next option) or in a subsequent month. When you elect the subsequent month option, the payment of the dividend will be included based on the relative position of the first month of payment in relation to the year-end period (which is determined based on the template start date at the top of the Assumptions sheet).

Example: If you want to include a dividend in the last month of each financial year, select a payment frequency of 12 months and month 12 as the first payment month. Then select the Cash option in order to include both the dividend on the income statement and the payment in the last month of the year.

Example: If you want to include a dividend in the last month of each financial year but delay payment to the first month of the next financial year, select a payment frequency of 12 months and month 12 as the first payment month. Then select the Next option in order to include the dividend on the income statement in the last month of the financial year and the payment in the first month of the next financial year. A dividend payable amount will then automatically be included on the balance sheet at year-end.

Balance Sheet

All the calculations on the balance sheet are automated and no user input is therefore required.

Opening Balances

If you need to compile cash flow projections for an existing business, you will need to include the opening balance sheet balances at the start of the cash flow projection period. This is facilitated in the Balance Sheet Opening Balances section on the Assumptions sheet. The opening balances that are entered here are included in the first column on the balance sheet.

You can use the trial balance as at the end of the period immediately before the start of the cash flow projection period for this purpose. All assets should have positive balances and all equity & liabilities should have negative balances. The opening balances should also balance to a total of nil as with any accounting system trial balance. If you enter balances and the total of all balances is not nil, the entire opening balances section on the Assumptions sheet will be highlighted in orange.

You then need to fix the imbalance by adjusting the opening balances so that the total comes to a total of nil. The orange highlighting will then be removed automatically. Also note that the cash flow projection balance sheet cannot balance if the opening balances do not balance.

Note: If you are preparing a cash flow projection for a new business, you can include zero balances for all the balance sheet items in the opening balances section.

Non-Current Assets

The property, plant & equipment balances on the balance sheet are calculated by adding the purchases of property, plant & equipment (entered on the cash flow statement for the first 12 months and on the Assumptions sheet for year 2 to 5) and then deducting the appropriate depreciation charges that are included on the income statement.

Intangible assets balances are calculated in much the same way by adding the purchases of intangible assets (as per the cash flow statement for the first 12 months and the Assumptions sheet for year 2 to 5) and deducting the appropriate amortization charges as per the income statement. The calculation of the investments balances on the balance sheet is a bit simpler in that only the purchases of new investments (as per the cash flow statement for the first 12 months and the Assumptions sheet for your 2 to 5) are added to the previous period's balance and there is no depreciation or amortization on investments.

Note: Purchases of property, plant & equipment, intangible assets and investments all need to be entered as negative values. The purchases for the first 12 months need to be entered on the cash flow statement and the purchases for year 2 to 5 need to be entered on the Assumptions sheet.

Current Assets - Inventory

The inventory balances on the balance sheet are calculated based on the inventory days assumption which is specified on the Assumptions sheet. The number of days that are entered here is applied to the monthly cost of sales in order to calculate the appropriate inventory balance. This calculation is based on the actual number of days in each month if the inventory days assumption is greater than the number of days in the appropriate month.

Example: If you enter an inventory days assumption of 60 days and the month is April, the entire cost of sales value for April will be included in the inventory balance because April only has 30 days. After including the 30 days in April, there is a difference of 30 days between the 60 days assumption and the 30 days in April. The March cost of sales balance will therefore be used, divided by the 31 days in March and multiplied by the 30 remaining days. The inventory balance at the end of April will therefore consist of the cost of sales total for April and an equivalent of 30 days of the 31 day cost of sales of March.

Note: The above calculation principle is applied regardless of the number of days which are entered as the inventory days assumption on the Assumptions sheet even if the value of the inventory days assumption requires the inclusion of more than 2 months. This method of calculation is the most accurate way of projecting inventory balances even for businesses where there is significant sales volatility.

Note: If your business does not carry inventory, you can simply enter a nil value in the inventory days assumption on the Assumptions sheet. The inventory line on the balance sheet will then also contain nil values.

If you want to include variable monthly inventory days, you can do so by changing the inventory days assumption in the Workings section of the balance sheet which has been included below the section with the ratios. Simply replace the formula which links the inventory days assumption to the value on the Assumptions sheet by overwriting it with the appropriate inventory days value.

The year 2 to 5 inventory balances are calculated by applying the annual turnover growth percentage to the inventory balance at the end of year 1. This method ensures that the monthly trend in year 1 is reflected in the year 2 to 5 balances. If you amend the inventory days in the Workings section of the balance sheet, the amended days for the appropriate year will be used in the calculation.

Current Assets - Trade Receivables

The trade receivables balances on the balance sheet are calculated based on the debtors days assumption which is specified on the Assumptions sheet. The debtors days number can be determined based on the average trading terms which has been negotiated with customers. The debtors days is applied to the monthly turnover in order to calculate the appropriate trade receivables balance. This calculation is based on the actual number of days in each month if the debtors days assumption is greater than the number of days in the appropriate month.

Example: If you enter a debtors days assumption of 60 days and the month is April, the entire turnover value for April will be included in the trade receivables balance because April only has 30 days. After including the 30 days in April, there is a difference of 30 days between the 60 days assumption and the 30 days in April. The March turnover balance will therefore be used, divided by the 31 days in March and multiplied by the 30 remaining days. The trade receivables balance at the end of April will therefore consist of the turnover total for April and an equivalent of 30 days of the 31 day turnover of March.

Note: The above calculation principle is applied regardless of the number of days which are entered in the debtors days assumption on the Assumptions sheet even if the value of the debtors days assumption requires the inclusion of more than 2 months. This method of calculation is the most accurate way of projecting trade receivable balances even for businesses where there is significant sales volatility.

Where sales tax is applicable, the appropriate sales tax value relating to monthly turnover will be added to the trade receivables balance. Sales tax codes are defined on the Assumptions sheet and the codes in column A next to the turnover amounts on the income statement are used to determine the appropriate rate of sales tax to be used.

The trade receivables calculation will also only include lines that are coded with a sales tax rate code (in the first two characters) and a "C1" at the end of the code. The C1 part of the code refers to credit sales while the inclusion of a C0 code at the end refers to cash sales. Cash sales do not need to be included in the trade receivables calculation and turnover lines with C0 or no code in column A are therefore ignored when calculating trade receivable balances.

Example: If the standard rate sales tax code is V1 and the appropriate turnover line needs to be included in the calculation of trade receivables, the code V1C1 needs to be added in column A of the appropriate turnover line on the income statement. If you do not want to add sales tax in the trade receivables calculation but you do want a trade receivables line to be included in the balance sheet, you can add a code which refers to a 0% sales tax calculation as well as the C1 credit sales indicator.

Example: If you do not want a particular turnover line to be included in the trade receivables calculation, you can include any sales tax rate followed by C0 in order to exclude the line in the trade receivables calculations. For example, a turnover line with a code of V1C0 would not form part of the trade receivables calculations.

Note: If your business has no trade receivables, you can simply enter a nil value in the debtors days assumption on the Assumptions sheet. The trade receivables line on the balance sheet will then also contain nil values.

If you want to include variable monthly debtors days, you can do so by changing the debtors days assumption in the Workings section of the balance sheet which has been included below the section with the ratios. Simply replace the formula which links the debtors days assumption to the value on the Assumptions sheet by overwriting it with the appropriate debtors days value.

The year 2 to 5 trade receivables balances are calculated by applying the annual turnover growth percentage to the trade receivables balance at the end of year 1. This method ensures that the monthly trend in year 1 is reflected in the year 2 to 5 balances. If you amend the debtors days in the Workings section of the balance sheet, the amended days for the appropriate year will be used in the calculation.

Current Assets - Loans & Advances, Other Receivables

The loans and advances & other receivables balances cannot be calculated by basing them on specific income statement items and they are therefore calculated by adding the movements in these balances (as per the cash flow statement for the first 12 months and the Assumptions sheet for year 2 to 5) to the balances of the previous month. If you therefore want to increase or decrease these balances, you need to add the amount of the increase or decrease to the line with a matching description on the cash flow statement (under the changes in operating assets section) for the first 12 months or the Assumptions sheet for year 2 to 5.

Current Assets - Cash & Cash Equivalents

The cash & cash equivalents balances on the balance sheet are linked to the closing cash balances on the cash flow statement. If the resulting cash & cash equivalents balance has a negative value, it will automatically be included in the bank overdraft line in the Current Liabilities section of the balance sheet.

Equity - Shareholders Contributions, Reserves

The shareholders contributions & reserves balances cannot be calculated by basing them on income statement items and they are therefore calculated by adding the movements in these balances (as per the cash flow statement for the first 12 months and the Assumptions sheet for year 2 to 5) to the balances of the previous month. If you therefore want to increase or decrease these balances, you need to add the amount of the increase or decrease to the line with a matching description on the cash flow statement or Assumptions sheet.

Note: The shareholders contribution line on the cash flow statement can be found under the cash flow from financing activities and the reserves line on the cash flow statement under the non-cash adjustments.

Equity - Retained Earnings

The retained earnings balances on the balance sheet are linked to the retained earnings for the year which is calculated on the income statement.

Non-Current Liabilities - Loans 1 to 3, Leases

The template provides for loans & leases to be included based on 4 different sets of loan repayment terms. Loans with the same repayment terms can be grouped together in the appropriate line item. There is no difference between the treatment of loans 1 to 3 and leases. If you do not have finance leases and have loans with 4 different sets of repayment terms, you can use the Leases sheet and rename the appropriate line items accordingly.

Note: The loan repayment period in years is limited to a maximum period of 30 years. If you want to include a loan repayment period which exceeds this period, you need to change the data validation settings in the appropriate input cell by selecting the data validation feature from the Data tab on the Excel ribbon and editing the maximum value of 30 which has been set in the loan repayment period cells.

Each of the loan repayment terms can be specified in the Loan Terms section on the Assumptions sheet. The loan terms include the annual interest rate, loan repayment period in years and a selection field which can be used to indicate interest-only loans. These loan repayment terms are then included at the top of the appropriate loan amortization sheet on the Loans1 to Loans3 and Leases sheets.

Note: A set of loan terms can be specified as interest-only by selecting the "Yes" option from the interest-only drop-down list in the appropriate loan terms on the Assumptions sheet. If this selection is made, the loan will be interest only and not include any loan repayments.

All the calculations on the amortization sheets are fully automated. The only user input that is required on these sheets is entering the additional loan amounts in column C. The loan terms are taken from the Assumptions sheet and the opening balances in the first row of the amortization table are based on the opening balances that are entered in the balance sheet opening balances section of the Assumptions sheet.

The loan repayments, interest charged and capital repayments are calculated based on the outstanding balances at the beginning of each period. The outstanding loan or lease balances at the end of the appropriate monthly or annual period are then included in the appropriate lines on the balance sheet.

Current Liabilities - Bank Overdraft

The bank overdraft as well as cash & cash equivalents are based on the closing cash balances which are calculated on the cash flow statement. If the appropriate monthly closing balance is negative, the balance is included as a bank overdraft and if it is positive, it is included as cash under current assets on the balance sheet.

Current Liabilities - Trade Payables

The trade payables balances on the balance sheet are calculated based on the creditors days assumption which is specified on the Assumptions sheet. The number of days that are included here can be determined based on the average trading terms which has been negotiated with suppliers.

The monthly cost of sales, operating expenses and staff costs on the income statement are added together in order to determine a monthly value on which the trade payables calculations should be based. Expenses and costs which are paid on a cash basis can be excluded from the trade payables calculation by entering a code which ends in C0 in column A on the income statement. The codes in column A start with the appropriate two character sales tax code and end with the two character payables code.

Example: The expense codes in column A for all line items that need to be included in the trade payables calculation and which need to be subject to sales tax at a standard rate should be V1C1. If the expense item is settled on a cash basis and also subject to the standard sales tax rate, the code in column A should be V1C0 which will then result in the item not being included in the trade payables calculation.

If you want to also include purchases of property, plant & equipment in the trade payables calculation, the standard code of PPE in column A on the cash flow statement needs to be amended to the appropriate code which starts with the sales tax code and ends with C1. For standard sales tax, the code will therefore be V1C1.

Like the calculation of inventory and trade receivables balances, the trade payables balances on the balance sheet are based on the actual number of days in each month if the creditors days assumption is greater than the days in the appropriate month.

Example: If you enter a creditors days assumption of 60 days and the month is April, the entire cost of sales & expense value for April will be included in the trade payables balance because April only has 30 days. After including the 30 days in April, there is a difference of 30 days between the 60 days assumption and the 30 days in April. The March cost of sales & expense balance will therefore be used, divided by the 31 days in March and multiplied by the 30 remaining days. The trade payables balance at the end of April will therefore consist of the cost of sales & expenses total for April and an equivalent of 30 days of the 31 day cost of sales & expense values of March.

Note: The above calculation principle is applied regardless of the number of days which are entered as the creditors days assumption on the Assumptions sheet even if the value of the creditors days assumption requires the inclusion of more than 2 months. This method of calculation is the most accurate way of projecting trade payables balances even for businesses where there is significant sales or expense volatility.

Where sales tax is applicable, the appropriate sales tax value relating to monthly cost of sales & expenses will be added to the trade payables balance. Sales tax codes are defined on the Assumptions sheet and the code in column A next to the cost of sales & expense amounts on the income statement are used to determine the appropriate rate of sales tax to be used.

The trade payables calculation will also only include lines that are coded with a sales tax rate code (in the first two characters) and a "C1" at the end of the code. The C1 part of the code refers to purchases on credit while the inclusion of a C0 code at the end refers to cash purchases. Cash purchases do not need to be included in the trade payables calculation and cost of sales & expense lines with C0 or no code in column A are therefore ignored when calculating trade payables balances.

Example: If the standard rate sales tax code is V1 and the appropriate cost of sales or expense line needs to be included in the calculation of trade payables, the code V1C1 needs to be added in column A of the appropriate line on the income statement. If you do not want to add sales tax in the trade payables calculation but you do want a trade payables line to be included in the balance sheet, you can add a code which refers to a 0% sales tax calculation as well as the C1 credit purchases indicator.

Example: If you do not want a particular cost of sales or expense line to be included in the trade payables calculation, you can include any sales tax rate followed by C0 in order to exclude the line in the trade payables calculations. For example, an expense or cost of sales line item with a code of V1C0 in column A on the income statement would not form part of the trade payables calculations.

Note: If your business has no trade payables, you can simply enter a nil value in the creditors days assumption on the Assumptions sheet. The trade payables line on the balance sheet will then also contain nil values.

If you want to include variable monthly creditors days, you can do so by changing the creditors days assumption in the Workings section of the balance sheet which has been included below the section with the ratios. Simply replace the formula which links the creditors days assumption to the value on the Assumptions sheet by overwriting it with the appropriate creditors days value.

The year 2 to 5 trade payables balances are calculated by applying the annual expense inflation percentage to the trade payables balance at the end of year 1. This method ensures that the monthly trend in year 1 is reflected in the year 2 to 5 balances. If you amend the creditors days in the Workings section of the balance sheet, the amended days for the appropriate year will be used in the calculation.

Current Liabilities - Sales Tax

The template accommodates the inclusion of sales tax in all relevant calculations based on four default sales tax calculation codes and any sales tax period. All income statement and cash flow statement items need to be entered exclusive of any sales tax that may be applicable and the trade receivables and trade payables balances on the balance sheet will be calculated inclusive of sales tax. The net sales tax liability is included in the Sales Tax line on the balance sheet.

The template can be used for general sales tax (GST) and value added tax (VAT) purposes. Where there is no sales tax input which reduces the sales tax liability, the codes in column A on the income statement can simply be changed to contain a sales tax code (in the first two characters of the code) which has a zero percentage. Only the sales tax codes that are included next to the turnover lines will then be included in sales tax calculations (as required by some general sales tax calculations).

The appropriate sales tax percentages can be entered in the Sales Tax section of the Assumptions sheet. The template provides for 4 default sales tax codes, each with its own sales tax percentage. The sales tax codes are numbered from V1 to V4.

The income statement contains codes in column A which affects the calculations of sales tax and trade receivables or trade payables. The first two characters of these codes determine which sales tax percentage is used in the sales tax calculations. If an income statement item needs to be excluded from sales tax calculations, you should use a sales tax code with a zero percentage on the Assumptions sheet.

Note: Each line on the income statement can therefore only be linked to one sales tax percentage. If more than one sales tax percentage needs to be applied to the same income statement item, you need to split the income statement amount into two lines and enter the appropriate sales tax codes in column A for each of the lines.

Note: If you are preparing cash flow projections for a business which is not subject to sales tax, simply enter zero percentages for all four sales tax codes.

The sales tax assumptions that need to be specified on the Assumptions sheet also include the frequency of sales tax payments (in months) and the calendar month of the first payment period. You can therefore calculate sales tax based on any period frequency from one to twelve months.

Example: If your business is subject to sales tax payments of every two months and the first payment is due in February, a frequency of 2 needs to be specified and the first payment month should be set to 2 for February. Similarly, if your business is subject to sales tax payments of every 6 months with payments due in March and August, the frequency should be set to 6 and the first payment month should be set to 3. If your business is subject to monthly sales tax payment periods, the frequency should be 1 and the first payment month should also be 1.

The Current or Subsequent setting in the Sales Tax section on the Assumptions sheet determines how the calculated sales tax amounts of the current period are handled. If you select the Current option, the sales tax amounts of the current period will be included in the calculation of the payment amount which is due in the particular month and the sales tax liability at the end of the payment month will be nil.

If you select the Subsequent setting, the sales tax amount of the current period is not included in the calculation of the payment amount and the sales tax liability at the end of the appropriate payment month will always include at least one month.

Note: The Subsequent setting is usually the appropriate setting to use for sales tax purposes. The Current settings is more applicable to tax types which are subject to provisional tax.

Example: If you set a payment frequency of 1 month, first payment month of 1 and select the Current option, the sales tax liability on the balance sheet will always be nil because the current month's sales tax will be included in the sales tax payment. If you have the same period settings and select the Subsequent option, the sales tax liability on the balance sheet will always include the current month's sales tax because the payment amount will be based on the previous month's sales tax.

Note: The first payment month setting refers to the month of payment and not the sales tax period end. There is a difference - a sales tax period may end in February with payment in March which means that the first payment month of the calendar year is actually January or month 1 (if the payment frequency is two months).

The year 2 to 5 balances for sales tax are calculated by calculating the total sales tax for the appropriate year, dividing it by twelve and then multiplying the value by the number of months that are included in the sales tax balance at the end of the first year.

Current Liabilities - Payroll Accruals

The payroll accrual on the balance sheet is based on the payroll accrual assumptions in the Working Capital section of the Assumptions sheet and the amounts in the staff costs section of the income statement. If payroll deductions are paid in the same month as they are incurred, you can set the payroll accrual percentage to zero and the payroll accrual balances on the balance sheet will also be zero.

Staff costs have been included in a separate section on the income statement to make it easier to calculate payroll accrual balances. You can however include staff costs in operating expenses but you need to ensure that you also include the "PAY" code in column A for all the staff costs that you want to include in the payroll accrual calculations.

You also need to specify the appropriate percentage of staff costs which needs to be included in your payroll accruals. This percentage should be based on the percentage of staff costs which are paid in a subsequent month and is based on the current month's staff costs. Payroll accruals usually consist of salary & wage deductions which need to be paid over to third parties and differ from entity to entity. You therefore need to calculate the appropriate payroll accrual percentage based on the composition of the salary or wage structures of all employees.

The payroll accrual assumptions that need to be specified on the Assumptions sheet also include the frequency of payroll accrual payment periods (in months) and the payment month of the first payroll accrual period. You can therefore calculate payroll accruals based on any payment period frequency from one to twelve months. The calculated payroll accruals are added together in the payroll accrual balance until the month of payment.

Example: If you need to settle payroll accruals every two months and the first payment is due in February, a frequency of 2 needs to be specified and the first payment month should be set to 2 for February. Similarly, if you settle payroll accruals every 6 months with payments due in March and August, the frequency should be set to 6 and the first payment month should be set to 3. If you settle payroll accruals on a monthly basis, the frequency should be 1 and the first payment month should also be 1.

The Current or Subsequent setting in the Payroll Accruals section on the Assumptions sheet determines how the calculated payroll accrual amounts of the current period are handled. If you select the Current option, the payroll accrual amounts of the current period will be included in the calculation of the payment amount which is due in the particular month and the payroll accrual balance at the end of the payment month will be nil.

If you select the Subsequent setting, the payroll accrual amounts of the current period are not included in the calculation of the payment amount and the payroll accrual balances on the balance sheet at the end of the appropriate payment month will always include at least one month.

Note: The Subsequent setting is usually the appropriate setting to use for payroll accrual purposes. The Current setting is more applicable to tax types which are subject to provisional tax payments where payment occurs in the same month as the tax calculation.

Example: If you set a payment frequency of 1 month, first payment month of 1 and select the Current option, the payroll accruals on the balance sheet will always be nil because the current month's payroll accruals will be included in the payment calculation. If you have the same period settings and select the Subsequent option, the payroll accruals on the balance sheet will always include the current month's payroll accrual because the payment amount will be based on the previous month's payroll accrual.

Note: The first payment month setting refers to the month of payment and not the payroll accrual period end. There is a difference - a payroll accrual period may end in February with payment in March which means that the first payment month of the calendar year is actually January or month 1 (if the payment frequency is two months).

If you want to include payroll accruals based on variable monthly payroll accrual percentages, you can do so by changing the payroll accrual percentage assumption in the Workings section of the balance sheet which has been included below the section with the ratios. Simply replace the formula which links the payroll accrual percentage assumption to the value on the Assumptions sheet by overwriting it with the appropriate payment accrual percentage.

The year 2 to 5 payroll accrual balances are calculated by adjusting the previous year's balance by the appropriate expense inflation percentage on the Assumptions sheet.

Current Liabilities - Other Accruals, Other Provisions

The other accrual & other provisions balances cannot be calculated by basing them on specific income statement items and they are therefore calculated by adding the movements in these balances (as per the cash flow statement for the first 12 months and the Assumptions sheet for year 2 to 5) to the balances of the previous period. If you therefore want to increase or decrease these balances, you need to add the amount of the increase or decrease to the line with a matching description on the cash flow statement (under the changes in operating assets section) for the first 12 months or the Assumptions sheet for years 2 to 5.

Current Liabilities - Provision for Taxation

The calculation of income tax on the income statement is based on the profit before tax on the income statement and the assumptions that are specified in the Income Tax section on the Assumptions sheet.

The profit before tax amount is multiplied by the income tax percentage on the Assumptions sheet in order to calculate the monthly or annual income tax value. If there is a loss before tax on the income statement, no income tax will be calculated but if there were profits before the period with the loss, the income tax that was calculated in previous periods will be reversed in the period with the loss.

The template also makes provision for the inclusion of an assessed loss which has been carried over from previous financial periods and income tax will only be calculated after the assessed loss has been fully reduced by profits in the projection periods.

The income tax assumptions on the Assumptions sheet also include the frequency of payment of income tax (in months) and the calendar month of the first income tax payment. You can therefore calculate a provision for income tax based on any payment period frequency from one to twelve months. The calculated income tax amounts are added together in the provision for income tax balance on the balance sheet until the month of payment.

Example: If you need to settle income tax liabilities every six months and the income tax payments are due in February and August of each year, a frequency of 6 needs to be specified and the first calendar month should be set to 2 for February. Similarly, if you settle income tax liabilities at the end of each quarter with payments due in March, June, September and December, the frequency should be set to 3 and the first payment month should also be set to 3. If you need to settle income tax liabilities 9 months after each year-end and the cash flow projection year-end is February, the frequency should be set to 12 months and the first payment month should be set to 11.

The Current or Subsequent setting in the Income Tax section on the Assumptions sheet determines how the income tax amounts of the current period are handled. If you select the Current option, the income tax amounts of the current period will be included in the calculation of the payment amount which is due in the particular month and the provision for income tax balance on the balance sheet at the end of the payment month will be nil.

If you select the Subsequent setting, the income tax amounts of the current period are not included in the calculation of the payment amount and the provision for income tax balance on the balance sheet at the end of the appropriate payment month will always include income tax for at least one month.

Note: The Current setting is usually the appropriate setting to use for income tax purposes if the entity is a provisional taxpayer which effectively means that income tax is paid in advance. If the entity is not a provisional taxpayer, the Subsequent setting should be used because income tax will be settled after being incurred.

The year 2 to 5 balances are calculated by calculating the income tax amount for the appropriate year, dividing it by 12 and multiplying the value by the number of months which needs to be included in the provision. This is determined based on the year-end period and the income tax assumptions on the Assumptions sheet.

Current Liabilities - Dividends Payable

The calculation of dividends on the income statement is based on the profit for the year on the income statement and the assumptions that are specified in the Dividends section on the Assumptions sheet. Dividends will only be calculated if you enter a dividend percentage on the Assumptions sheet - if you therefore do not want to include dividends in your cash flow projections, you can simply enter a zero value as the dividend percentage.

The dividend percentage that is specified on the Assumptions sheet is applied to the profit for the year on the income statement which can be found directly above the dividends line. Dividends will also only be calculated if there is a cumulative profit for the year.

The dividends assumptions on the Assumptions sheet also include the frequency of payment of dividends (in months) and the first calendar month of the dividend payment. You can therefore calculate dividends based on any payment period frequency from one to twelve months (although 6 or 12 months is the norm). The calculated dividends amounts are added together in the dividends payable balance on the balance sheet until the month of payment.

Example: If dividends are declared every six months, you need to specify a frequency of 6 months on the Assumptions sheet and then select the appropriate payment basis. Dividends will be reflected on the income statement every 6 months and the dividends payable balances on the balance sheet will be determined based on the first payment month and the payment option which is selected (Cash, Next or Subsequent). Similarly, if the payment frequency is set to 12 months, dividends will be included on the income statement every 12 months and the dividends payable balance will be determined based on the first payment month and the payment option.

The Cash, Next or Subsequent setting in the Dividends section on the Assumptions sheet determines how the dividends payable balances on the balance sheet are calculated and therefore also when the dividend payment will be included on the cash flow statement.

If you select the Cash option, the dividend payable balances on the balance sheet will always be nil and what this means is that the dividend payment is effectively included in the same month as the month in which the dividend is declared. The month in which the declared dividend is included is based on the payment frequency (in months) and the cash flow projection year-end.

If you select the Next option, the dividend payment will be included in the month after the month in which the dividend amount is included on the income statement. The dividend payable balance on the balance sheet will therefore only contain a balance in the dividend declaration month.

If you select the Subsequent option, dividends will be included on the income statement based on the frequency setting on the Assumptions sheet and the payment of the dividend will be delayed until the first payment month (also as per the Assumptions sheet) is reached. A dividends payable balance will be reflected on the balance sheet in all months until the payment month is reached.

Example: If you set the dividend payment frequency to 12 months, a dividend amount will be included on the income statement in the last month of the appropriate cash flow projection year. If the payment option is set to Cash, no dividend payable amount will be included on the balance sheet and the dividend payment will be included on the cash flow statement in the same month.

Example: If you set the dividend payment frequency to 12 months and the payment option is set to Next, the dividend will be included on the income statement in the last month of the appropriate cash flow projection year, the dividend payable at the end of the financial year will equal the income statement amount and the dividend payment will be included in the first month of the next financial year.

Example: If you set the dividend payment frequency to 12 months and the payment option is set to Subsequent, the dividend will be included on the income statement in the last month of the appropriate cash flow projection year and the dividend payable at the end of the financial year and all subsequent months in the new financial year until the first payment month is reached will equal the income statement amount. The dividend payment will be included in the first payment month as set on the Assumptions sheet but in the year after inclusion on the income statement.

If the cash flow projection year-end as per the above example is February, the first payment month is set to 9 for September and the Subsequent payment option is selected, the dividend will be included in February on the income statement and the same amount will be included as a dividend payable on the balance sheet from February to August of the next financial year. The dividend payment will then be included in September on the cash flow statement and the dividend payable at the end of September will be nil.

The year 2 to 5 balances are calculated based on the profit for the year, the dividend percentage and the payment status of Cash, Next or Subsequent.

Balance Sheet Errors

If the balance sheet for any monthly or annual period does not balance, the amount of the imbalance will be included in the row below the total equities & liabilities and displayed in red. The template has been designed in such a way that the balance sheet should always be in balance as long as the total of the balance sheet opening balances which are included on the Assumptions sheet is nil.

If you see an imbalance on the balance sheet, you therefore need to check the opening balance sheet balances on the Assumptions sheet and ensure that the total of all the opening balances in this section is nil.

If fixing the opening balances does not resolve your imbalance, you can e-mail our Support function and let us know what changes you have made to the formulas in the template so that we can assist you. If you have made a lot of changes, you may need to start over with the downloaded copy of the template.

Balance Sheet Workings

We have included all the calculations which form part of the calculation of balance sheet balances in the Workings section below the balance sheet ratios. These workings will not be printed and are for information purposes only. You can therefore hide this section if you do not want to see it on the sheet but do not delete any of these formulas because it will result in calculation errors if you do!

Cash Flow Statement

All the rows on the cash flow statement which require user input are indicated with yellow highlighting in column A. User input is only required in the monthly columns - the user input for the annual columns need to be included on the Assumptions sheet in the first balance sheet section. All the rows on the cash flow statement which do not contain yellow highlighting contain formulas which automate the calculations of these items.

The input rows on the cash flow statement are all related to balance sheet items where the calculations on the balance sheet are based on adding the movement on the cash flow statement to the previous month's balance on the balance sheet. If you need more guidance on any of these items, refer to the appropriate section for the particular item under the Balance Sheet section of these instructions.

Note: The colour of the codes in column A on the cash flow statement indicate whether positive or negative values need to be entered in order to increase the appropriate balance sheet item's balance. If the code is green, positive input values increase the balance sheet balance and if the code is red, you need to enter negative values in order to increase the balance sheet balances.

Loan Amortization Tables (Loans1 to Loans3 & Leases sheets)

The template makes provision for including loans with up to four different sets of repayment terms in the cash flow projections. The amortization tables that are used to calculate the interest charges, loan repayments and outstanding balances have been included on the Loans1, Loans2, Loans3 and Leases sheets. The only user input that is required on these sheets is the additional loan amounts in column C.

Note: Refer to the instructions in the income statement - interest paid section and the balance sheet - non-current liabilities section for guidance on how these amortization tables have been compiled and where to include user input for each of these amortization tables.

• Purchase History

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14 Best Excel Templates for Business in 2024 (Free & Premium)

• Last updated March 21, 2024

Fact Checked By Cindy Wong

Let’s talk about Excel templates. These pre-made spreadsheets help you improve productivity quickly. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deep into the world of Excel templates, equipping you with the knowledge and tools to streamline your tasks, boost productivity, and make informed decisions.

From understanding what Excel spreadsheet templates are to exploring specialized templates for various industries, we’ve got you covered. Whether you’re a seasoned Excel user or just starting, our friendly yet professional approach will simplify complex concepts and empower you to harness the full power of Excel templates.

What Are Excel Templates?

We provide a host of spreadsheet templates for our readers. And Excel templates are no exception. These pre-designed spreadsheets created to simplify various tasks and processes. They serve as starting points, offering predefined structures, formulas, and formatting. These templates are designed to save you time and effort by eliminating the need to build spreadsheets from scratch.

Key Features of Excel Spreadsheet Templates

• Structured Layout: Templates come with organized rows and columns tailored to the specific task or use case. For instance, a budget template might include categories for income, expenses, and savings.
• Predefined Formulas and Functions: Excel spreadsheet templates often include formulas and functions that perform calculations automatically. For example, a mortgage calculator template may already have formulas for calculating monthly payments and interest.
• Formatting and Styling: Templates feature consistent design, including fonts, colors, and cell borders. This makes your data visually appealing and easy to read.
• Placeholder Data: Templates often contain placeholder data or instructions to guide you in entering your information. These placeholders help you understand how to use the template effectively.
• Customizability: While templates provide a structured framework, they are highly customizable. You can modify them to suit your specific needs by adding or removing columns, changing labels, or adjusting formulas.

Common Uses of Excel Templates

• Budgeting: Excel templates for budgeting help individuals and businesses manage their finances effectively by tracking income and expenses, projecting future financial goals, and analyzing spending patterns.
• Project Management: Project management templates assist in planning, tracking, and managing projects. They often include Gantt charts, task lists, and progress trackers.
• Data Analysis: Excel offers templates for data analysis, such as pivot tables, allowing you to quickly summarize and analyze large datasets.
• Accounting: Accounting templates help businesses maintain accurate financial records, including ledgers, income statements, and balance sheets.
• Inventory Management: Inventory templates help businesses track stock levels, monitor product sales, and manage inventory turnover.

Types of Excel Templates

Excel spreadsheet templates come in various categories, each designed to address specific needs and tasks. Here are some of the most common types of Excel templates:

Financial Excel Templates

Financial templates are geared towards managing finances, budgeting, and financial analysis. You can make your own cash flow template , or use one that’s already made. Common financial spreadsheets include:

• Budget Templates: These templates help individuals and businesses create and manage budgets, ensuring that income and expenses are balanced. Check out our top budget templates for Google Sheets .
• Financial Models: Financial modeling templates are used for forecasting financial performance, especially in business planning and investment analysis.
• Income Statements: Templates for income statements track revenues and expenses to determine profitability.
• Balance Sheets: These templates provide a snapshot of a company’s financial position by displaying assets, liabilities, and equity.

Project Management Excel Templates

Project management templates are essential for planning, executing, and monitoring projects. For example, we covered our favorite project status report templates . Other common templates include:

• Gantt Charts: Gantt chart templates visually represent project schedules, showing tasks, timelines, and dependencies.
• Project Timelines: These templates offer a simplified view of project milestones and deadlines.
• Task Tracking Templates: Task tracking templates help teams assign, track, and manage tasks to keep projects on schedule.

Data Analysis Excel Templates

Data analysis templates are invaluable for individuals and businesses working with data. Key templates include:

• Pivot Tables: Pivot table templates simplify data summarization and analysis, allowing users to create interactive reports.
• Data Visualization Templates: Templates for charts and graphs help transform raw data into visual representations for easier understanding.
• Statistical Analysis Templates: Statistical analysis templates include tools for performing statistical tests and calculations.

Personal and Business Excel Templates

Personal and business templates cover a wide range of tasks. We have an article that covers payment receipt templates . Other common personal and business spreadsheets include:

• To-Do List Templates: These templates help you stay organized by listing tasks and priorities.
• Invoice Templates: Invoice templates streamline the invoicing process for businesses, including itemized lists and payment tracking.
• Business Plan Templates: Business plan templates provide structured frameworks for creating comprehensive business plans, helping startups and established companies alike.

Whether you’re managing finances, overseeing a project, analyzing data, or organizing personal tasks, Excel templates offer a time-saving solution to enhance your productivity.

Top 14 Excel Templates for Business

Now, let’s delve into the top Excel templates that can significantly boost your productivity across various domains. We’ll explore each template, highlighting its key features and benefits.

Financial Management Excel Templates

1. financial model.

The Financial Model Excel template is a versatile tool designed to help businesses of all sizes and types manage their finances effectively. Whether you’re a business, a startup , or operating in specific niches like SaaS , E-Commerce , or Marketplace , this template offers comprehensive financial projections, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. It’s essential for budgeting, forecasting, and making informed financial decisions.

• Accurate Projections: Generate precise financial projections for different business scenarios, aiding in strategic planning.
• Scenario Analysis: Easily assess the impact of various decisions on your financial health by running multiple scenarios.
• Investor-Ready: Impress investors and stakeholders with professional financial reports and insights.
• Data Visualization: Utilize charts and graphs to visualize financial trends and make data-driven decisions.

Price: $74-139 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

2. Profit and Loss Statement

The Profit and Loss Statement Excel template is tailored to specific business models, including startups , marketplaces , SaaS , and E-Commerce ventures. It helps you track your revenues, costs, and expenses to calculate your net profit or loss accurately. With clear and customizable categories, you can gain a deep understanding of your business’s financial performance.

• Business-Specific Tracking: Choose a template that aligns with your business model for precise financial insights.
• Expense Categorization: Easily categorize expenses for better cost management and identification of cost-saving opportunities.
• Year-over-Year Comparison: Track your financial performance over time to identify growth trends or areas that need improvement.
• Tax Preparation: Simplify tax preparation by neatly organizing your income and expenses.

Price: $74 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

3. Revenue Forecasting Tool

The Revenue Forecasting Tool Excel template is indispensable for businesses focused on revenue growth. With different versions tailored to Marketplace , SaaS , E-Commerce , and Agency models, it enables you to project your future revenues based on historical data, market trends, and growth strategies. This tool empowers you to set realistic revenue targets and make informed decisions to achieve them.

• Data-Driven Projections: Utilize historical data and market insights to generate accurate revenue forecasts.
• Goal Setting: Set achievable revenue targets and track progress towards your financial goals.
• Scenario Planning: Assess how changes in pricing, marketing, or sales strategies impact revenue.
• Informed Decision-Making: Make strategic decisions backed by comprehensive revenue projections.

Price: $46 (Use code SPoint10 for 10% off)

Budgeting and Tracking Excel Templates

4. zero-based budget template.

Zero-based budgeting is a meticulous approach to budgeting where you allocate every dollar of your income to expenses, savings, or investments. The Zero-Based Budget Excel template simplifies the zero-based budgeting process, ensuring that your budget accurately reflects your financial priorities and goals.

• Financial Clarity: Gain a clear understanding of where your money goes and prioritize spending according to your goals.
• Savings and Investments: Systematically allocate funds for savings, investments, and debt reduction.
• Expense Tracking: Monitor daily expenses to identify areas for potential savings.
• Emergency Fund Planning: Create a buffer for unexpected costs by including an emergency fund category.

Price: $4.99

5. Inventory and Sales Tracking Template

Managing inventory and tracking sales is crucial for businesses, especially those in retail or e-commerce. The Inventory and Sales Tracking Excel template streamlines inventory management, allowing you to efficiently track stock levels, sales, and product performance.

• Real-Time Inventory: Monitor inventory levels in real-time, ensuring you never run out of stock or overstock products.
• Sales Analysis: Analyze sales data to identify top-performing products and optimize your product offerings.
• Cost Control: Keep tabs on inventory costs and prevent financial losses due to mismanagement.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Use sales insights to make informed decisions about restocking, promotions, and pricing strategies.

Price: $19.99

6. Capital Expenditure Planning Template

Capital expenditures (CapEx) are essential for businesses looking to grow and invest in assets like equipment, technology, or infrastructure. This free CapEx Excel template simplifies the planning and tracking of capital expenditures, ensuring efficient allocation of resources.

• Streamlined Planning: Plan and prioritize capital expenditures in a structured manner.
• Budget Control: Stay within budget by tracking expenses against planned allocations.
• ROI Assessment: Evaluate each capital expenditure’s return on investment (ROI) to make informed decisions.
• Asset Management: Keep a comprehensive record of your business’s assets and their depreciation.

Price: Free!

Investment and Financial Analysis Excel Templates

7. simple investment template.

The Simple Investment Excel template is perfect for individuals or businesses looking to analyze potential investments. It assists in evaluating the financial feasibility of investments, calculating returns, and making informed investment decisions.

• Investment Evaluation: Assess the attractiveness of various investment opportunities.
• Risk Analysis: Consider the risks associated with each investment and their impact on returns.
• Return Calculations: Calculate potential returns, including net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).
• Decision Support: Make well-informed investment choices based on financial analysis.

8. Mortgage Calculator with Amortization Table

Mortgages are a significant financial commitment. This Mortgage Calculator Excel template simplifies mortgage calculations, helping individuals and homeowners understand their loan terms, amortization schedules, and total interest payments.

• Loan Clarity: Understand your mortgage terms, including interest rates, monthly payments, and loan duration.
• Amortization Schedule: View the full amortization schedule, tracking principal and interest payments over time.
• Interest Savings: Explore strategies for paying off your mortgage early to reduce interest costs.
• Financial Planning: Incorporate mortgage payments into your long-term financial planning.

9. CLV vs. CAC Analysis Template

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) are critical business metrics. The CLV vs. CAC Analysis Excel template simplifies the calculation and analysis of CLV and CAC, aiding in strategic marketing and growth decisions.

• Customer Profitability: Determine the profitability of acquiring and retaining customers.
• Marketing Efficiency: Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by comparing CAC to CLV.
• Retention Strategies: Identify opportunities to increase CLV through customer retention and loyalty programs.
• Data-Driven Marketing: Allocate marketing budgets more efficiently based on CLV and CAC insights.

Data Analysis and Metrics Tracking Excel Templates

10. cohort analysis template.

Cohort analysis is a powerful method for examining user behavior over time. The Cohort Analysis Excel template simplifies the process, helping businesses gain insights into customer retention, engagement, and more.

• User Segmentation: Group users into cohorts based on signup date or other criteria for focused analysis.
• Retention Insights: Identify trends in user retention and pinpoint when users drop off.
• Product Improvement: Use cohort analysis to inform product improvements and marketing strategies.
• Churn Reduction: Develop strategies to reduce customer churn based on cohort analysis findings.

11. MRR Dashboard Template

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is a vital metric for subscription-based businesses. The MRR Dashboard Excel template provides a comprehensive dashboard for tracking MRR, analyzing trends, and making data-driven decisions.

• MRR Overview: Get a real-time overview of your MRR, including new revenue, lost revenue, and net MRR growth.
• Churn Analysis: Identify reasons for churn and implement strategies to reduce it.
• Growth Tracking: Monitor your subscription business’s growth and set goals for MRR expansion.
• Data Visualization: Visualize MRR trends with charts and graphs for easier interpretation.

12. User Engagement Dashboard Template

User engagement is critical for online businesses. The User Engagement Dashboard Excel template provides a user-friendly dashboard for tracking user engagement metrics, analyzing user behavior, and optimizing user experiences.

• Comprehensive Metrics: Track key engagement metrics such as session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
• Segmentation: Analyze user engagement based on demographics, devices, or referral sources.
• Content Performance: Identify high-performing content and optimize the user journey accordingly.
• Conversion Optimization: Implement strategies to improve user engagement and conversion rates based on insights.

Business Planning and Management Excel Templates

13. software license management tool.

The Software License Management Excel tool simplifies the process for businesses managing software licenses. It allows you to track software licenses, renewal dates, and compliance, ensuring efficient software management.

• License Tracking: Easily keep track of all software licenses in use across your organization.
• Renewal Alerts: Identify license renewals timely to prevent interruptions.
• Cost Control: Avoid unnecessary software purchases and optimize license utilization.
• Compliance Assurance: Ensure compliance with software licensing agreements to avoid legal issues.

14. Workforce Planning Tool

Effective workforce planning is crucial for businesses of all sizes. The Workforce Planning Excel template streamlines the process by helping you manage employee information, staffing levels, and workforce optimization.

• Employee Database: Maintain a centralized employee information database, including roles, qualifications, and contact details.
• Staffing Analysis: Analyze staffing levels and plan for hiring, training, or restructuring as needed.
• Cost Projections: Estimate labor costs and budgets for workforce expansion or reduction.
• Scenario Planning: Model various workforce scenarios and their financial implications.

These Excel spreadsheet templates cover a wide range of business and financial needs, making them invaluable tools for improving productivity, making informed decisions, and achieving your goals. Whether you’re a financial analyst, business owner, or simply looking to better manage your finances, Excel templates offer a user-friendly and robust solution.

Best Practices for Excel Templates

Excel spreadsheet templates are powerful tools that can significantly enhance your productivity , but it’s essential to follow best practices to make the most of them. Here are some tips and strategies to help you use Excel templates effectively.

Choose the Right Template

Selecting the appropriate template for your specific task is the first step to success. Consider the following factors when choosing a template:

• Task Complexity: Ensure the template aligns with the complexity of your task. Simple tasks may require basic templates, while more complex tasks need advanced templates.
• Customizability: Look for templates that allow customization. Templates that are too rigid may not suit your unique needs.
• Industry or Use Case: Many templates are designed for specific industries or use cases. For financial tasks, for instance, choose templates tailored to your industry, such as retail, healthcare, or real estate.
• Scalability: If your task may grow in complexity or data volume, opt for a template that can scale with your needs.

Understand Formulas and Functions

Excel templates often come with built-in formulas and functions to automate calculations. To use these templates effectively, it’s crucial to understand how these formulas work.

• Learn the Basics: Familiarize yourself with common Excel functions like SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP, and more. These are the building blocks of many templates.
• Review Formulas: Take time to review the formulas used in the template. Understand how they calculate results and what data they depend on.
• Customize Formulas: If needed, customize formulas to suit your specific requirements. Modify cell references or add new calculations as necessary.

Input Data Accurately

Accurate data input is essential to obtain meaningful results from Excel spreadsheet templates.

• Double-Check Data: Ensure all data entered into the template is accurate and error-free. A slight mistake can lead to significant inaccuracies in calculations.
• Use Data Validation: Implement data validation rules to prevent incorrect data entry. Excel can prompt users when data doesn’t meet specified criteria.
• Consistent Formatting: Maintain consistent formatting throughout the template. This includes date formats, number formats, and currency symbols.
• Document Data Sources: Keep track of your data sources, especially if you’re pulling data from external sources. This documentation can help troubleshoot discrepancies later.

Regularly Save and Backup

Excel templates represent valuable work, so protecting your data is essential.

• Frequent Saving: Save your work regularly to prevent data loss in case of unexpected software crashes or power outages.
• Version Control: Maintain version control by saving different iterations of your template. Use meaningful file names and dates to track changes.
• Backup Files: Implement a backup strategy. Regularly create copies of your Excel files and store them in a secure location, whether it’s a cloud service or an external drive.

Understand Template Limitations

Excel spreadsheet templates have limitations, and it’s essential to be aware of them.

• Data Volume: Excel may not handle very large datasets efficiently. Consider using a database or specialized software for extensive data management.
• Complexity: Templates have limits in terms of complexity. You might need to consider custom software or consulting with a specialist for more advanced or intricate tasks.
• Data Security: Be cautious when handling sensitive or confidential data within Excel. Implement password protection and encryption where necessary.

Customize for Your Needs

While templates provide a structured starting point, don’t hesitate to customize them to better suit your unique requirements.

• Add or Remove Fields: Include additional or remove unnecessary fields to streamline data entry and reporting.
• Format and Styling: Adjust the template’s formatting and styling to match your preferences and branding guidelines.
• Automate Repetitive Tasks: Excel allows you to automate repetitive tasks using macros. Learn how to create and use macros to save time.

Stay Updated and Educated

Excel is a continually evolving software, and staying updated with the latest features and best practices can benefit your productivity.

• Software Updates: Keep your Excel software up-to-date to access new features and security patches.
• Online Resources: Explore online resources, spreadsheet tutorials , and forums to expand your Excel skills and troubleshoot issues.
• Advanced Training: Consider advanced Excel training courses or certifications to become an Excel power user.

By following these best practices, you can harness the full potential of Excel spreadsheet templates, streamline your tasks, and make more informed decisions. Excel templates are versatile tools that can save you time and effort, but mastering them requires a combination of knowledge, practice, and attention to detail.

Get Started with the Financial Spreadsheet Template Bundle

Ready to take control of your finances and make smart financial decisions? Our Financial Spreadsheet Template Bundle is the ultimate solution to simplify financial management, investment analysis, and mortgage planning.

This bundle includes five powerful templates that can help you achieve your financial goals with ease:

• Cryptocurrency Portfolio Tracker: Keep track of your cryptocurrency investments, monitor real-time market prices, and analyze your portfolio’s performance effortlessly.
• Inventory and Sales Tracking Spreadsheet Template: Optimize your business operations with this template. Efficiently manage inventory, track sales, and make data-driven decisions.
• Simple Investment Template: Make informed investment choices by analyzing potential returns and risks. This template simplifies investment planning for beginners and experts alike.
• Extra-Payment Mortgage Calculator: Take control of your mortgage payments and reduce the total interest you pay. This tool helps you plan extra payments to pay off your mortgage faster.
• Mortgage Calculator Spreadsheet with Amortization Table: Understand your mortgage terms, visualize your amortization schedule, and make sound financial decisions regarding homeownership.

Purchasing these templates individually would cost you more than $69, but with the Financial Spreadsheet Template Bundle , you can access all of them at a fraction of the price. Save over 40% off the list price and embark on your journey to financial success today!

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Excel templates are your secret weapon for accomplishing tasks faster and more efficiently. With the right template at your fingertips, you can conquer financial challenges, manage projects like a pro, and analyze data with ease. The best part? You don’t need to be an Excel expert to reap the benefits. These templates are designed to simplify your life and make complex tasks feel like a breeze.

So, whether you’re tracking expenses, planning a project, or diving into data analysis, remember that Excel spreadsheet templates are your trusty companions on the journey to productivity and success. Embrace them, customize them, and watch your tasks transform from daunting to doable. Excel templates are your shortcut to getting things done, and the possibilities are endless. Start using them today and take control of your tasks, one spreadsheet at a time!

Free Multiple Project Tracking Template for Excel (2 Options)

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Free Excel Balance Scorecard Templates & Examples

By Courtney Patterson | May 2, 2024

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We’ve compiled the top balanced scorecard templates in Excel to help you improve business operations and outcomes. Included on this page, you’ll find a balanced scorecard heatmap template , a strategy map template , a balanced scorecard dashboard template , and a list of related strategic management templates .

Excel Basic Balanced Scorecard Template

Download the Blank Basic Balanced Scorecard Template for Excel Download the Example Basic Balanced Scorecard Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Use this template, available with or without sample data, to develop a comprehensive management strategy for your organization. It allows you to balance financial measures with performance metrics in key areas, as well as set and evaluate targets across various aspects of business performance, from operational efficiency to employee development. Use this tool during strategic planning sessions to align goals and actions with the overall vision and mission of the company. Notable Template Features: For each strategic objective, you’ll find corresponding measures, five-year targets, and specific initiatives to achieve these goals. This provides a clear roadmap for success. The template also includes a vision statement at the top, so you can ensure that all objectives and measures fit with the company's desired direction and purpose.

Excel Balanced Scorecard Heatmap Template

Download the Blank Balanced Scorecard Heatmap Template for Excel Download the Example Balanced Scorecard Heatmap Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: This balanced scorecard heatmap template allows you to closely monitor your organization’s performance against strategic targets and respond to any issues that arise. Use this template with or without sample data in monthly performance meetings or quarterly strategic reviews, or for ongoing performance management to drive continuous improvement. Notable Template Features: The heatmap feature visually indicates performance levels across different strategic areas, including financial, customer, internal processes, and innovation. Users can set monthly and year-to-date targets for each measure, and the results will appear color-coded in green, yellow, or red to reflect performance. This immediate visual feedback allows you to rapidly identify areas that are off-target for efficient decision-making.

Excel Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map Template

Download the Blank Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map Template for Excel Download the Example Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Use this template with or without sample data when you are setting company direction and need to visualize how different objectives support the overarching mission and vision. Leaders can use this strategy map to align their teams around a common strategy and ensure everyone understands how their objectives contribute to the big picture. Notable Template Features: This template encapsulates strategic areas of business performance and highlights specific objectives that contribute to the mission and vision shown at the top of the map. The visual layout encourages systemic thinking and shows how improvements in one area can positively impact others. The map also facilitates communication with stakeholders by clearly illustrating how various goals connect to one another. The example strategy map illustrates how a transportation company might utilize the template.

Excel Weighted Balanced Scorecard Template

Download the Blank Weighted Balanced Scorecard Template for Excel Download the Example Weighted Balanced Scorecard Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Use this weighted balanced scorecard template to evaluate organizational performance with an emphasis on the relative importance of various objectives. The template is suited to organizations with a broad range of strategic priorities that impact success at different levels. Use this tool during evaluation periods to understand if you are meeting targets and how much each target contributes to the overall strategic goals. Notable Template Features: This template applies a weighting factor to each key performance indicator (KPI), which allows for a nuanced view of performance across different business areas: financial, customer, internal process, and learning. Each KPI has a column for target values and the actual value achieved. The template also calculates absolute performance, providing a clear and actionable snapshot of organizational health and progress.

Excel Balanced Scorecard Dashboard Template

Download the Blank Balanced Scorecard Dashboard Template for Excel Download the Example Balanced Scorecard Dashboard Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Use this dashboard template to track strategic performance across various business areas, pivot quickly in response to trends, and make data-driven decisions. This dashboard is ideal for monthly and annual reviews, and it allows you to assess and adjust strategies in real time to meet evolving business needs. Notable Template Features: This template offers a multifaceted view of performance, breaking down objectives into key areas with different sets of weighted objectives. The trend analysis graph compares actual results against targets over time, providing a visual representation of progress and highlighting patterns that might require attention or intervention.

Excel Balanced Scorecard KPI Template

Download the Blank Balanced Scorecard KPI Template for Excel Download the Example Balanced Scorecard KPI Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Use this template to select and develop the KPIs that you will use in your balanced scorecard framework. Create a measurable action plan that reflects your company's objectives across various perspectives. With or without sample data, this template is ideal for both initial strategy development and ongoing strategy refinement, and it ensures that all KPIs you are tracking align to the company’s broader vision. Notable Template Features: This template organizes KPI planning within four perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, and innovation and learning. There is space to articulate the specific metrics associated with each perspective, with guiding questions to focus on what is most important for each. The template emphasizes how success in one area influences and supports success in others, which will help you create an integrated approach to performance management. Select the example template to see KPIs for a company developing digital healthcare solutions.

Excel Integrated Balanced Scorecard Template

Download the Blank Integrated Balanced Scorecard Template for Excel Download the Example Integrated Balanced Scorecard Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Choose this comprehensive template when your goal is to combine the clarity of a strategy map with the structure of a balanced scorecard. Communicate your organization's vision and translate it into actionable objectives and measurable results. With or without sample data, this template works well for annual planning sessions and when setting up new business strategies to ensure all team members are working toward the same goals. Notable Template Features: This template displays strategic objectives in a visual map and links them to KPIs and specific initiatives, so you can ensure strategic alignment across the organization. The template also includes sections for you to define the company’s vision, purpose, strategic priorities, and results, so you can create a comprehensive view of the strategy and its execution. Download the example version to see a sample balanced scorecard for a sustainable fashion business.

Excel Balanced Scorecard Tree Diagram Template

Download the Blank Balanced Scorecard Tree Diagram Template for Excel Download the Example Balanced Scorecard Tree Diagram Template for Excel  

When to Use This Template: Utilize this balanced scorecard tree diagram template when you need to structure your organization's strategic objectives into a clear hierarchy. This format is particularly helpful for businesses that want to break down long-term visions into short-term actionable measures and targets. This template is well-suited for strategic planning and performance management meetings where goal-oriented discussion and documentation are necessary. Notable Template Features: The template features a tree-like structure that organizes objectives into categories: financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth. Each category branches out into specific strategic objectives, with corresponding measures and targets that provide quantifiable metrics for success. This layout is designed to visually link the organization's overarching vision to tangible performance indicators, offering a straightforward method for teams to align their efforts with strategic goals. The example version of this template shows a balanced scorecard tree diagram for a business selling eco-friendly home products.  See our full collection of  balanced scorecard templates and our in-depth  guide to balanced scorecards for additional resources.

Related Balance Scorecard Templates

Find more downloadable tools for strategic planning and management in the list below, including templates for developing a strategic vision, conducting business analysis, and tracking performance.

Strategic Business Plan Template

Outline the direction and objectives for your business with a  strategic business plan template . Customizable sections include market analysis, financial planning, product development, and risk factors to help guide decision-making.

Strategic Vision Template

Use a  strategic vision template to define the long-term goals and guiding principles of your organization. Articulate your vision statement, core values, and brand promises, along with strategic priorities across varying time frames, from the upcoming quarter to 10-year projections.

SWOT Analysis Strategy Template

Analyze internal and external factors involved in a project or business venture with a  SWOT analysis strategy template . Combine those factors to form actionable plans, such as leveraging strengths to capitalize on opportunities or overcoming weaknesses by addressing threats.

Operating Budget Template

Monitor your organization's financial health, forecast future performance, and allocate resources efficiently with an  operating budget template . You'll get a clear breakdown of revenue and expenditure categories, color-coded variances, and percentage changes year-over-year to help drive operational efficiency.

KPI Performance Dashboard Template

Get a visual summary of business performance and progress with a  KPI dashboard template . Track project health, financials, risks, and issues with color-coded progress bars, detailed monthly and quarterly revenue charts, and other customizable measures to aid in quick assessments and strategic planning. For more related resources, see our collection of free  project scorecard templates . 

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Shoe Store Business Plan PDF Example

• May 29, 2024
• Business Plan

Creating a comprehensive business plan is crucial for launching and running a successful shoe store. This plan serves as your roadmap, detailing your vision, operational strategies, and financial plan. It helps establish your shoe store business’s identity, navigate the competitive market, and secure funding for growth.

This article not only breaks down the critical components of a shoe store business plan, but also provides an example of a business plan to help you craft your own.

Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or new to the retail industry, this guide, complete with a business plan example, lays the groundwork for turning your shoe store business concept into reality. Let’s dive in!

Our shoe store business plan is structured to cover all essential aspects needed for a comprehensive strategy. It outlines the store’s operations, marketing strategy , market environment, competitors, management team, and financial forecasts.

• Executive Summary : Offers an overview of your shoe store’s business concept, market analysis , management, and financial strategy.
• Store & Location : Describes the store’s design, amenities, and why its location is appealing to potential clients.
• Supply & Products : Lists the types of shoes and related products provided by your store, including pricing structure.
• Key Stats : Shares industry size , growth trends, and relevant statistics for the shoe store market.
• Key Trends : Highlights recent trends affecting the shoe sector.
• Key Competitors : Analyzes main competitors nearby and how your shoe store differs from them.
• SWOT Analysis : Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis.
• Marketing Plan : Strategies for attracting and retaining customers.
• Timeline : Key milestones and objectives from start-up through the first year of operation.
• Management: Information on who manages the shoe store and their roles.
• Financial Plan: Projects the store’s 5-year financial performance, including revenue, profits, and expected expenses.

Shoe Store Business Plan

Fully editable 30+ slides Powerpoint presentation business plan template.

Download an expert-built 30+ slides Powerpoint business plan template

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary introduces your shoe store’s business plan, offering a concise overview of your store and its services. It should detail your market positioning, the range of footwear and accessories you offer, its location, size, and an outline of day-to-day operations.

This section should also explore how your shoe store will integrate into the local market, including the number of direct competitors within the area, identifying who they are, along with your store’s unique selling points that differentiate it from these competitors.

Furthermore, you should include information about the management and co-founding team, detailing their roles and contributions to the store’s success. Additionally, a summary of your financial projections, including revenue and profits over the next five years, should be presented here to provide a clear picture of your store’s financial plan.

Make sure to cover here _ Business Overview _ Market Overview _ Management Team _ Financial Plan

Dive deeper into Executive Summary

Business Overview

For a Shoe Store, the Business Overview section can be concisely divided into two main slides: 

Store & Location

Briefly describe the store’s physical environment, emphasizing its design, comfort, and the overall atmosphere that welcomes customers. Mention the store’s location, highlighting its accessibility and the convenience it offers to customers, such as proximity to shopping centers or ease of parking. Explain why this location is advantageous in attracting your target clientele.

Supply & Products

Detail the range of footwear and accessories offered, from casual and formal shoes to sportswear and specialized footwear. Outline your pricing strategy , ensuring it reflects the quality of products provided and matches the market you’re targeting. Highlight any exclusive brands, seasonal collections, or limited-edition items that provide added value to your customers, encouraging repeat business and customer loyalty.

Make sure to cover here _ Store & Location _ Supply & Products

Market Overview

Industry size & growth.

In the Market Overview of your shoe store business plan, start by examining the size of the footwear industry and its growth potential. This analysis is crucial for understanding the market’s scope and identifying expansion opportunities. Highlight relevant statistics and data that demonstrate the industry’s value and projected growth rates over the next few years.

Key Market Trends

Proceed to discuss recent market trends , such as the increasing consumer interest in athleisure footwear, sustainable and ethically produced shoes, and customization options. For example, highlight the demand for footwear that caters to specific needs like orthotic support or vegan materials, alongside the rising popularity of online shopping and augmented reality (AR) try-on features.

Key Competitors

Then, consider the competitive landscape, which includes a range of stores from high-end boutiques to budget-friendly options, as well as online retail giants. Emphasize what makes your shoe store distinctive, whether it’s through exceptional customer service, a unique range of products, or specialization in certain types of footwear. This section will help articulate the demand for shoe store services, the competitive environment, and how your store is positioned to thrive within this dynamic market.

Make sure to cover here _ Industry size & growth _ Key competitors _ Key market trends

Dive deeper into Key competitors

First, conduct a SWOT analysis for the shoe store , highlighting Strengths (such as a diverse product range and prime location), Weaknesses (including high operational costs or strong competition), Opportunities (for example, increasing trends in sustainable and customized footwear), and Threats (such as economic downturns that may decrease consumer spending on non-essential items).

Marketing Plan

Next, develop a marketing strategy that outlines how to attract and retain customers through targeted advertising, promotional discounts, engaging social media presence, and community involvement.

Finally, create a detailed timeline that outlines critical milestones for the shoe store’s opening, marketing efforts, customer base growth, and expansion objectives, ensuring the business moves forward with clear direction and purpose.

Make sure to cover here _ SWOT _ Marketing Plan _ Timeline

Dive deeper into SWOT

Dive deeper into Marketing Plan

The Management section focuses on the shoe store business’s management and their direct roles in daily operations and strategic direction. This part is crucial for understanding who is responsible for making key decisions and driving the shoe store toward its financial and operational goals.

For your shoe store business plan, list the core team members, their specific responsibilities, and how their expertise supports the business.

Financial Plan

The Financial Plan section is a comprehensive analysis of your financial projections for revenue, expenses, and profitability. It lays out your shoe store business’s approach to securing funding, managing cash flow, and achieving breakeven.

This section typically includes detailed forecasts for the first 5 years of operation, highlighting expected revenue, operating costs and capital expenditures.

For your shoe store business plan, provide a snapshot of your financial statement (profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement), as well as your key assumptions (e.g. number of customers and prices, expenses, etc.).

Make sure to cover here _ Profit and Loss _ Cash Flow Statement _ Balance Sheet _ Use of Funds

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