Choose a Financial Planning Track
Select the option that best matches your needs:
These appear in the PDF report, the Excel export and the file name, and help you identify the project when you return to it. Optional - you can complete them later.
Step 4: Additional data — P&L and cash flow
These fields are optional. If left blank, the model assumes D&A of 0, interest expense and principal repayments of 0, an opening cash balance of 0, and an estimated income-tax rate of 23% - an illustrative default. Reports are still produced using these defaults. Complete the fields to reflect your own forecast assumptions and expected cash movements.
Depreciation & Amortization (D&A)
Needed for accurate EBIT and net profitExisting business: Take depreciation and amortization from the P&L statement or from the cash flow statement under adjustments to net income.
New business / CapEx: If there are no financial statements yet — enter the equipment value and annual depreciation rate, and the system will calculate it.
If left blank, the system assumes depreciation 0 (EBIT = EBITDA). If the business has equipment, vehicles or depreciable assets, enter annual depreciation from the statements or detail the assets for more accurate profit and valuation.
Advanced field only — mainly for intangible assets. In most businesses this can be left at 0.
Equipment, machinery, vehicles, computers and leasehold improvements. Do not include inventory, working capital or cash. This amount is used only to calculate depreciation and is not added to the initial investment.
Examples: computers 33% · equipment and machinery 7–15% · vehicles 15–20% · renovations 10% — illustrative only; rates vary by asset type and jurisdiction
Financing and tax — to complete the P&L report
Completes net profit & cash flowNo loans — leave 0
Principal is not a P&L expense, but it does leave the cash flow. Spread evenly over 12 months.
The starting point of the cash-flow report. Without it the opening balance is 0 and the liquidity picture may be incomplete. Overdraft - tap + to enter a negative balance.
Enter a single estimated effective tax rate for the business. The 23% default is illustrative only and may not apply to your entity type or jurisdiction. This is tax at the company level; distributions to owners are not included and may be taxed separately.
Tax is calculated on annual profit, including offsetting loss months. Consult an accountant for accurate tax planning.
Feasibility & Financing
Initial investment details and required return. Financing structure and cost are included below.
Equipment, renovation, franchise, opening inventory — for payback and return analysis
Available cash. A positive balance reduces the required loan; for overdraft click + to switch to negative.
Only this amount reduces the loan. The rest is retained as operating liquidity - for payroll, suppliers, VAT and contingencies. Do not use all available cash merely to reduce the reported financing requirement.
Owner/investor equity beyond existing cash. If none, leave 0.
The return you require for the business risk - pre-tax, like all valuation figures. Default 15% - for illustration only; a small, risky business may warrant a higher rate (owner dependence, customer concentration). The return implies a multiple of ~6.7 - a theoretical approximation for a no-growth business (1 / return), not a market multiple. Used to discount Estimates 1 and 2 and as the benchmark for project IRR. It does not set the terminal value in Estimate 1, which comes from the selected multiple.
Default ~5%, based on a five-year government-bond yield; update it for the relevant market, currency and date. Used only for Estimate 3: five years of pre-tax EBIT discounted with no terminal value. Note: Estimate 3 is a reference scenario, not a guaranteed floor - the ordering of the three estimates can change with the inputs, and a government yield is not a business-risk rate. Business profits are a risky stream, so a low rate raises this figure; a higher rate (up to the required return) is the more conservative reading. Estimates 1-2 discount at the required return above
Uses of funds
Fill in as needed. If the breakdown is empty, the system will use the total amount entered above.
Financing structure
The budget and feasibility tracks are calculated from the same data. The detailed budget model, based on monthly and annual revenue and expense allocation, supports a more accurate feasibility and valuation analysis than a shortened model. Switching between modes keeps all entered data.
Revenue vs. operating expenses (monthly)
Forecast EBITDA (12 months)
Profit before depreciation, amortization, interest and tax
Annual expense breakdown
COGS + marketing + payroll + other fixed costs + D&A + financing
Annual comparison — revenue ($ thousands)
Previous year · current year · forecast
Forecast cash flow — monthly and cumulative
Bars = monthly net cash flow · solid line = cash balance (runway) · dashed line = the same balance before collection timing
Cash flow is calculated on a cash basis - every sale is collected in the month it happens. Getting paid on Net 30 terms, or buying from suppliers on credit? to see when the money actually arrives.
Want a professional review of the forecast you built?
Ezra Eliezer, CFO and Senior Financial Consultant — initial consultation at no cost.
Forecast Financial Statements
All reports are based on the forecast data entered. Changes in the sensitivity sliders are reflected immediately in all tables.
| Budget line item |
|---|
When does the money actually arrive?
Changes the cash flow only - profit, break-even and valuation stay on accrual basis and are unchanged.
D&A is excluded from the cash flow — it is an accounting expense, not a cash outflow. Months with negative balances are marked in red ⚠️
Sensitivity analysis
Change the sliders — all reports update in real time
Applies a uniform percentage change to forecast revenue and updates gross profit, EBITDA, net profit and cash flow. Monthly break-even revenue does not move: it depends on the contribution margin and the fixed costs, and neither changes here.
The percentage increase or decrease applies to base payroll only — employees added in the growth simulation are not affected.
Save scenarios for comparison
Adjust the sliders, click Save, and compare different scenarios.
Save scenarios to compare different assumptions
Want a professional review of the forecast you built?
Ezra Eliezer, CFO and Senior Financial Consultant — initial consultation at no cost.
Step 7: Actual vs. Forecast
Basis: enter actual receipts, excluding VAT — what reached the account this month. The comparison against the forecast is made on a cash basis: the forecast is translated into collections and supplier payments using the credit terms you set (DSO/DPO), so both sides sit on the same basis.
What is based on estimates: depreciation, interest, principal repayments and the tax rate come from the forecast assumptions — not from actuals. The net profit and cash flow shown are therefore estimates.