A financial plan template is an important document used to make a financial plan for personal or business projects. You can use this document to set a budget to use for measuring your expenditures. You must produce the deliverables of the project without exceeding the amounts you’ve set in case you want to stay within the budget of your project.
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What is a financial template?
A financial template determines the ‘Product Finance’ that you require to meet your objectives. You explain all of the expenses in the document that require for your projects such as materials, labor, administration costs, and others. Also, you contain an estimation of each of these expenses.
Furthermore, this document also includes a summary of the total expenses that you will spend across the whole project. In the end, for your project, this value becomes the total budget. Making a financial plan template is an essential aspect of financial planning. Therefore, you must learn how to make and use the template.
You need money for expenses as you are in the middle of the project. Before you can get the amount you are asking for, you must present your template. Project managers need this document as one of the most important parts of their projects. That’s why, when making your financial plan, you must put in a lot of thought and effort. You may also like financial statement templates.
What is a personal financial plan?
A personal financial plan is basically a documented analysis of your personal finances. This plan contains your earnings, liabilities, assets, and investments. The main purpose of this plan is to help you in evaluating the feasibility of your personal goals. With this, you can also understand the steps that you will require to take money-wise to complete them.
Moreover, on the basis of the estimated completion time of your goals, your personal financial plan can stretch over weeks, months or years. To highlight new or changing priorities, you can adjust it at any time.
Components of a financial plan template:
In case, you want to make a financial plan template for your business, you should include the following important parts;
Take stock of expenses
These fall into two broad cost categories namely start-up and operating expenses while you’re thinking of business or project expenses. All of the costs that you require to get your business are part of your start-up expenses. These expenses may include the following;
- Registration fees
- Permits and licenses
- Starting inventory
- Deposits for rent
- Down payments on any equipment or property
- Setup fees for utilities
There are some of the basic startup expenses that you may require. You can add more items to your list as you make your own financial plan. Operating expenses indicate the costs that you require to keep your project or business running. Below are the examples of operating expenses;
- Salaries
- Mortgage or rent payments
- Expenses for telecommunications
- Raw materials
- Utilities
- Storage
- Promotion
- Distribution
- Payments for loans
- Maintenance
- Office Supplies
You just have to ensure that you have to involve all of your operating and startup expenses as part of your financial plan. You should also check financial projections templates.
Include the income statement
In your financial plan template, you have to include this financial statement. This statement contains your expenses, profits, and revenues for a certain period. It indicates that you a snapshot of your business or project’s finances. Whether it is profitable or not.
Some categories of the income statement couldn’t apply to your own business by using templates. Remove items as required in such a case or include some items if you see them lacking.
Work on the class flow projection
This section of the financial plan template shows how much money you expect to flow in and out of your business. This aspect is very essential. This is particularly in terms of cash flow management as it acts as an indication of when your expenditures are too high.
You may require to take a short-term investment in such a case to have a surplus of cash flow. Your cash flow projection indicates the amount of capital investment your business needs as part of your financial plan. This section is also very essential to investors.
Make your balance sheet
At a given point in time, this part of the financial plan template acts as a report of the net worth of your business. It includes a summary of all the financial data relevant to your business in different categories.
Some tips for making your financial plan template:
Here are some tips that will guide you in creating your own financial plan;
Calculate your set-up expenses
At first, start researching and create a list of all the things that you require to set up your business. This provides you a good idea of the upfront costs that you require. Also, you know whether or not there’s a need to loan funds.
Forecast both loss and profit
On a yearly, quarterly, and monthly basis, make an estimation of your business expenses and sales. This assists you in identifying whether you might experience a loss or get a profit during these periods. You come up with sales targets by forecasting such as margins for profits, and pricing. Your estimations should be based on the performance of the competition and other businesses in a similar industry as yours.
Work out the cash flow projections
Successful businesses that make good profits still run out of resources. For example, the business may make excellent sales for a month, but until the next month, it doesn’t receive the payment for these sales. When you work out cash flow projections, it assists you in identifying whether you have enough money or you need more. Here are some things that you should bear in mind;
- At least one year ahead, make a cash flow projection so that you also capture seasonality.
- You have to become as realistic as possible. Bear in mind that some customers couldn’t pay on time.
- To deal with your cash flow, take the required actions if you project a shortage.
Forecast your balance sheet
After one whole year, create a list of all the expected assets, liabilities, and equity of your business. This provides you with a financial picture of your business. By doing this, you can evaluate the financial health of the business idea you’re proposing.
Find the break-even point
This is the most essential step as it helps you in indicating the actual number of sales your business requires to cover all of the expenses. Any amount exceeding this estimation, you can count it as your profit. For the analysis of costs, pricing, and sales values, the break-even point is very useful.
Other things for you to think about
Think of realistic values while making sales estimations. You may have to do a lot of research in order to do this. By making modifications in the values of your costs, sales, and prices, test different scenarios. Your numbers become more credible by documenting the reasons behind the values. Usually, when you apply for loans, lenders would request this information.
Reasons for creating a financial planning template:
Creating a financial planning template provides you with the following benefits;
- A lot of research and technical know-how on chunks of data are required by financial management and planning. Hence, you can reply on them blindfolded. This analysis is highly useful and makes the user able to understand the statistics in depth.
- These detailed analyses and studies might be expensive. However, the money you put for it makes sure effective productivity in the future and better usage of time.
- Since there a number of variables are involved so financial planning is a dynamic concept and it provides you updated data always.
- The financial forecasts are almost accurate that made through the examination of the data. The reason behind it is that it depends on a number of formulas and experience-led assumptions.
- It provides you the tool for monitoring your finances.
- Furthermore, it makes you able to gauge your progress and quickly head off trouble. You may also see personal financial statement templates.
How the financial plan template will help you?
This template will allow you to list past performances and make future projections on the following indicators;
- Sales
- Costs of sales
- Expenses
- Income statement
- Statement of financial position
- Cash flow
- Financial requirements
- Performance indicators
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a financial plan template should be both clear and comprehensive. This document assists you in making enough profit from your project or business ideal to pay the bills, earn more money, and get the financial goals that you have set.
