A Roadmap to Creating Financial Projections For New Businesses

Any new business venture is a risk. But with careful planning and research, you can give your startup the best chance for success. Part of that planning should include creating financial projections. Not only do these projections give you a clear idea of your potential revenue and expenses, but they can also help you secure funding from investors. 

Financial projections typically include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. To create accurate financial projections, you'll need to gather data on your historical financial performance, as well as information on the current and expected economic conditions in your industry. Armed with these projected growth business plans, you can then begin to make assumptions about things like sales growth, expenses, and investment levels.

However, creating financial projections can be a daunting task, especially for those who are starting their business from scratch. Fortunately, there is a process that you can follow to make the task easier. In this blog, we will discuss each of these steps in detail. So, let’s walk into it!

What Are Financial Projections?

A financial projection is an estimate of future financial performance. Financial projections can be used to estimate a company's future sales, profitability, and cash flow. There are a variety of different methods that can be used to create financial projections, including trend analysis, regression analysis, and market analysis. The estimate may be for a specific time period or for the life of the business. Generally, financial projections are typically made using historical data and current trends, but they can also be based on assumptions about future events.

Additionally, financial projections help businesses to make projected growth business plans to expand their operations, take on new debt, or issue new equity. They can also be used to help assess the risks and rewards of potential investments. 

Nowadays, businesses get the opportunity to automate the process of financial projections. There are a number of different software like Fincent that can help you create financial projections easily. Fincent simplifies the calculation of projected revenues, expenses, and profits. This way, businesses can plan for the future and expand rapidly. 

Why Financial Projections Are Critical For Your Business?

1. Financial projections are important for your business because they help you understand and plan for your future cash flow. This information can help you make decisions about whether to expand your business, hire new employees, purchase new equipment, and more.

2. Financial projections can also help you identify potential problems with your business model and help you find solutions.

3. Good financial projections will give you an idea of how much money your business will make in the future and when those profits are likely to come in.

4. Financial projections can also help you secure funding from investors or lenders.

5. Intelligently drafted financial projections can help you identify potential problems and solutions. Though, the accuracy of your financial projections will depend on the accuracy of your assumptions and the quality of your data.

6. It's important to regularly update your financial projections as your business changes and grows.

7. Financial projections are a key component of due diligence when scaling a business.

Key Financial Statements For Projections

There are 3 primary financial statements that are important for creating projections - the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

1. Income Statement

The income statement is a key financial statement that shows your business's revenue, expenses, and profits over a period of time. This information is important for creating projections because it can help you understand your historical performance and identify trends.

Also,  the income statement can be used to assess your business's profitability and compare it to other businesses in your industry. Businesses with similar profitability ratios can be used to benchmark their own business.

2. Balance Sheet

A balance sheet will show you a snapshot of your business's assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time. You can use this information to understand your business's financial health and make projections about future growth.

The balance sheet is also important for assessing your business's liquidity, which is the ability to pay its debts as they come due. A business with a strong balance sheet will be able to withstand tough economic times and continue growing.

3. Cash Flow Statement

The Cash flow statement is used to assess your business's ability to generate cash. This statement shows your business's operating, investing, and financing activities over a period of time.

The cash flow statement is important for creating  projected growth business plans because it can help you understand your historical cash flow and identify trends. Additionally, the cash flow statement can be used to assess your business's liquidity and solvency.

Generally, businesses use a combination of all three financial statements to create projections. However, the income statement is typically given the most weight because it provides the clearest picture of your business's profitability.

The 4 Types Of Financial Projections

There are four main types of financial projections - sales projection, expense projection, top-down projection, and bottom-up projection.

1. Sales Projection

A sales projection is an estimate of your business's future sales revenue. This type of projection is important for understanding how much revenue your business is likely to generate and when those revenues are likely to come in.

Sales projections can be created using historical sales data, market analysis, and other data sources. Additionally, businesses can create multiple sales scenarios to account for different levels of growth.

2. Expense Projection

An expense projection is an estimate of your business's future expenses. The purpose of an expense projection is to understand how much your business is likely to spend and on what.

Majorly, expense projections include things like the cost of goods sold, employee expenses, marketing expenses, and other operating expenses. Generally, businesses use a combination of historical data and industry averages to create expense projections.

3. Top-Down Projection

A top-down projection is an estimate of your business's future revenue and expenses that starts with the total revenue generated. This type of projection is often used by businesses that are starting up or have limited historical data.

To create a top-down projection, businesses start by estimating the total revenue they expect to generate. Then, they break down that revenue into different expense categories. Finally, they estimate the total amount spent in each category.

4. Bottom-Up Projection

A bottom-up projection is an estimate of your business's future revenue and expenses that starts with the cost of goods sold. This type of projection is often used by businesses that have a good understanding of their costs.

By starting with the cost of goods sold, businesses can estimate their (link: https://fincent.com/glossary/gross-profit-margin text: gross margin) and then use that information to estimate total revenue. Additionally, businesses can use bottom-up projections to assess their pricing strategies and determine whether they are generating enough revenue to cover their costs.

6-Step Plan To Making Financial Projections For A New Business

Creating financial projections can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Here's a 6-step plan for making projected growth business plans for your new business:

1. Sales Projection

Usually, the sales projection is given the most weight out of all the financial projections because it provides the clearest picture of your business's profitability. To create a sales projection, start by estimating your total revenue and then breaking that down into different revenue streams.

If you're starting a new business, you can use market analysis and other data sources to estimate your total revenue. However, if you have a few years of historical data, you can use that to inform your sales projection. Additionally, businesses can create multiple sales scenarios to account for different levels of growth.

Plus,  don't forget to account for seasonal fluctuations in your sales projection. You  can do this by creating a rolling 12-month sales projection or by estimating your sales for each month of the year.

2. Expense Projection

After you've created a sales projection, you can use that information to estimate your business's expenses. To do this, start by estimating the cost of goods sold and then add in other operating expenses, such as employee salaries, marketing costs, and rent.

The goal is to create an estimate of your business's future expenses so that you can understand how much your business is likely to spend and on what. Additionally, businesses can use expense projections to assess their pricing strategies and determine whether they are generating enough revenue to cover their costs.

Moreover, it's important to remember that expense projections are just estimates. As your business grows and changes, your expenses will likely change as well. Therefore, it's important to revisit your expense projection on a regular basis and update it as needed.

3. Anticipating Fixed Costs

One of the challenges of creating financial projections is estimating fixed costs, such as rent and employee salaries. This is because these costs don't fluctuate with changes in sales or production levels.

To estimate fixed costs, businesses can use historical data or industry averages. Additionally, businesses can create multiple scenarios to account for different levels of growth. For example, a business might create a low-growth scenario in which they only grow 10 percent per year and a high-growth scenario in which they grow 20 percent per year.

4. Finding The Break-Even Point

The break-even point is the point at which your business's revenue equals its expenses. At this point, your business is neither making a profit nor a loss. To find your business's break-even point, you need to know two things: your fixed costs and your variable costs.

The formula to calculate the break-even point is:

Break-Even Point = Fixed Costs / (Price - Variable Costs)

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For example, let's say your business's fixed costs are $10,000 and your variable costs are $5 per unit. If you're selling your product for $20 per unit, your business's break-even point would be 2,000 units.

5. Conduct a Ratio Analysis

A ratio analysis is a financial analysis tool that businesses can use to assess their financial health. To conduct a ratio analysis, businesses need to calculate a variety of financial ratios, such as the debt-to-assets ratio and the return on equity ratio.

To conduct a ratio analysis, businesses need financial statements for a given period of time. This could be monthly, quarterly, or annual financial statements. Once businesses have their financial statements, they can calculate different ratios and compare those ratios to industry averages.

There are many different financial ratios that businesses can calculate, but some of the most common include: 

- The liquidity ratio, which measures a business's ability to pay its short-term debts

- The debt-to-assets ratio, which measures a business's financial leverage

- The return on assets ratio, which measures a business's profitability

- The return on equity ratio, which measures a business's shareholder equity

6. Planning For The Unexpected

No matter how well you plan, there will always be some degree of uncertainty when it comes to financial projections. This is because businesses are constantly changing and evolving, and it's impossible to predict the future with 100 percent accuracy.

To account for this uncertainty, businesses can create multiple scenarios in their  projected growth business plans. For example, a business might create a low-growth scenario in which they only grow 10 percent per year and a high-growth scenario in which they grow 20 percent per year. By creating multiple scenarios, businesses can be prepared for a variety of different outcomes.

Creating financial projections is an essential part of the business planning process. By creating accurate and realistic financial projections, businesses can make better informed decisions about their future. Additionally, financial projections can help businesses secure funding from investors and lenders.

Why Businesses Should Create Multi-Year Financial Projections?

Multi-Year  financial projections help businesses in a variety of ways. First, they give businesses a roadmap to follow as they strive to achieve their long-term goals. Additionally, multi-year financial projections can help businesses secure funding from investors and lenders.

Multi-year financial projections also force businesses to think about the future and anticipate changes that might occur. This process can help businesses identify risks and opportunities that they might otherwise overlook. Additionally, by creating multiple scenarios, businesses can be prepared for a variety of different outcomes.

Moreover, financial projections can help businesses track their progress over time. By comparing actual results to projected results, businesses can identify areas where they are performing well and areas where they need to improve.

Overall, multi-year financial projections are a valuable tool that all businesses should create. By taking the time to create accurate and realistic financial projections, businesses can set themselves up for success in the years to come.

How can Fincent Help You in Creating Financial Projections?

Fincent is a financial software application that can help businesses in a variety of ways, including creating financial projections.

To use Fincent, businesses first need to input their historical financial data. This data can be imported from Excel spreadsheets or other financial software applications. Once the data is imported, businesses can then begin creating their financial projections.

Fincent offers a variety of features that can make the projection process easier, such as the ability to create multiple scenarios and the ability to compare actual results to projected results. Additionally, Fincent offers a wide range of reports that can be generated from the projected data. These reports can be used to track progress over time or to identify areas where improvements need to be made.

Let's have a look at some of Fincent's financial projection features:

1. Create Multiple Scenarios

Fincent allows businesses to create multiple scenarios in their financial projections. This is a valuable feature as it allows businesses to be prepared for a variety of different outcomes.

2. Compare Actual Results to Projected Results

With Fincent, businesses can compare their actual results to their projected results. This comparison can be used to track progress over time or to identify areas where improvements need to be.

3. Generate Reports

Fincent offers a wide range of reports that can be generated from the projected data. These reports can be used to track progress over time or to identify areas where improvements need to be made

4. Input historical financial data

Businesses can input their historical financial data into Fincent. This data can then be used to generate projections for the future.

5. Easy to Use Interface

Fincent has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for businesses to create their financial projections.

6. Projection Wizard

The projection wizard in Fincent is a valuable tool that businesses can use to create their financial projections. The wizard guides businesses through the process of creating projections step-by-step.

The Final Verdict

Financing a new business can be tricky, but making financial projections can help you get a better understanding of what you need to sustain your business and when you might break even. That's where Fincent comes in.

Fincent is an easy-to-use software that makes it simple to create detailed financial projections. The software takes into account all the important factors that can impact a company's finances, such as revenue, expenses, and cash flow. Fincent also offers helpful templates and tutorials that make it easy to get started.

If you're starting a new business, be sure to check out Fincent – the perfect tool for creating accurate financial projections.