Business Proposal Financial Plan

The statements are usually prepared quarterly, and will show at a glance whether the company is making money or operating at a loss.

Balance sheets list the type and value of all of your business’s assets and liabilities, along with ownership interest (who owns what in the company, and how much).

It’s where you support the numbers you put together in your sales and marketing plan, and demonstrate why you’re a good investment.

In this section, you’ll take all of the marketing, sales, and product information you’ve amassed, and show how they translate into dollars. There are two parts to the financial component of a business plan: historical data and prospective data.

Others are fairly common across the board, like professional fees for lawyers or accountants, licensing and incorporation fees, security deposits and rent, and computers.

As a rule, the financial part of your plan should follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as set by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, especially if you’re putting it together primarily to get a loan or a line of credit.

The International Finance Corporation has a primer as part of its Small Business Toolkit that offers great tips on putting all of these statements together.

Funders may also want to see an analysis of how your results would change if some of the variables changed, so consider including a section on that, as well.

If you’re just at the beginning stages of business, make sure to also include any startup costs you’ll have.

Some may be specific to your industry, such as particular types of equipment, tools or store fixtures.