Chapter 2
Creating a Business Plan Forecast
IN THIS CHAPTER
Enjoying a little refresher on financial statements and ratios
Working with the business plan workbook
Understanding the workbook’s formulas
Customizing the workbook
Pro forma financial statements — which are income statements, balance sheets, and cash-flow statements — constitute an integral part of business planning and the overall budgeting process. For that reason, I want to provide you a bit of information about how you create such pro forma (or as if) statements.
From the very start, however, I need to warn you that to create such statements, you need a tool in addition to QuickBooks. Specifically, you need a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. If you do not own a Microsoft Excel software license, Google Sheets and Excel for the Web provide a web-based Microsoft Excel program for free.
Assuming that you do have something like Excel, you can use it and the example workbook that this chapter describes to create a simple, yet sophisticated, financial forecast for your business. To download the workbook, type ...
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