Creating Profit and Cash Flow Forecasts
Easy to use and affordable; from your own proposed annual sales, gross profit margin, overheads, assets, financing and a few simple ratios Figurewizard produces forecasts for profits, cash, the bank, balance sheets and more. It is unique in this respect.
There is nothing to learn, anyone can work with Figurewizard: All that is needed to create forecasts and calculator / planners are those projected annual figures. Forms are in short format meaning that entering them to create the perfect business plan should take no more than a matter of a few minutes.
VAT, fixed asset net book values, capital allowances, taxable profit and corporation tax are all automatically calculated and applied to the forecasts by the system.
Entering Data into the Forms
For registered users everything is held in a password protected "my account" there is nothing to download. Entering your proposed figures is as follows:
- Title: Start Date; no. of Years to Forecast
- Capital: Bank: Loans
- Sales Info; Gross Profit Margin
- Purchases: Imports: Exports
- Overheads
- Monthly Sales Ratios: Simple Cash Ratios
- Value of Fixed Assets Bought & Sold
- B/Fwd. Balance Sheet Values (for going concerns)
All of your figures are entered excluding VAT, excpet for company cars. This is because unlike commercial vehicles, VAT on company cars is not recoverable as input tax. All VAT transactions are calculated and applied to the forecasts and calculators by our system.
The Forecasts
- Gross Profit: Cost of Goods Sold
- Profit and Loss
- Analysis: Assets: Liabilities: Overheads
- Monthly Cash Flows: Bank Balances: Undrawn and available Financing
- Operating Cash Flow: Net Cash Flow; Increase / Decrease in Borrowings
- Business Ratios: Performance: Liquidity
- Chart: Accrued Monthly Pre-Tax Profits
- Chart: Accrued Monthly Break even Sales to Profit
- Depreciation: Net Book Values of Fixed assets
- Taxable Profit: Capital Allowances: Corporation Tax Charge
VAT: Taxable Profit: Corporation Tax
With the exception of company cars (the tax is not recoverable) all of your figures are entered excluding VAT.
As with everything else VAT and corporation tax, are calculated and applied by to the forecasts our system from your original figures without any further input called for from you.
Saving and Editing Forecasts
Up to one hundred complete sets of forecasts can be saved to "my account". These can all be retrieved at any time for editing
In addition three important and unique calculators are also produced, which can be used in place of editing forecasts. The What-If Calculator / Planner is especially valuable in this respect.
Figurewizard Calculators and Planners
When working with the calculators your original input figures can be increased or decreased, which in turn instantly recalculates and displays updated profits, cash, the bank and solvency in real time. They are:
- What-If Calculator / Planner
- Dividend: the Bank; Cash Flow: Working Capital; Equity
- Factoring / Supply Chain Finance and Monthly Cash Flow
The What-If Calculator / Planner
This displays your key original figures such as gross margin, overheads, year-end stock, the bank, loans and what % of new fixed assets are financed. These are shown as "before." As you increase / decrease your figures, their revised values are calculated to appear alongside as "after."
At the same time profits, cash flow, the bank plus undrawn facilities, working capital and capital and reserves (equity) also update in real time. The values for these too are displayed "before" and "after".
Below that, charts illustrating accrued profits and cash flows also update (also before and after) and again in real time.
Forecast Dividend Calculator
All that is needed is the value of the forecast dividend and the month it is to be paid.
That then updates (before and after) month by month bank plus undrawn and available financing, increase / decrease in working capital, borrowings, retained profits and capital and reserves.
Factoring / Supply Chain Financing and Cash Flow Chart
Here, all that is needed is to select the percentage of invoicing to be factored, the percentage service charge (if any) and rate of interest payable.
The bank, undrawn facilities such as unused overdraft and cash still available to be drawn down in the factoring account will all update the chart, illustrating the monthly levels of cash. This can show quite dramatic results.
Saving Forecasts
Up to one hundred complete sets of forecasts can be stored to "my account". These can be retrieved for updating at any time and can be exported to excel for formatting and printing.
Visitors Interacting with Sample Forecasts
Figurewizard does not hide its light under a bushel: All sample forecasts on the site are live working examples. They are fully interactive for appraisal, either by choosing "edit" or better still using the What-If Calculator.
Registration costs £30 p.a. approximately €50 or US$35 – a lot less that the average cost of a parking ticket. There are no other charges.
I am very impressed with the Figurewizard profit and loss forecast but see that corporation tax is 14,4%, 18.7% and 18.9%, not 19%. Why is that?
Figurewizard calculates corporation tax from taxable profit, which differs from published P & L. For example, depreciation is replaced by capital allowances.
Other provisions such as for bad debts which are charged to profits are also disregarded as provisions are simply estimates for what might become a cost in the future which, by definition have not yet been incurred.
I can see how your monthly bank and cash flow forecast is so useful but why is the operating cash flow forecast so important when making a pitch to the bank?
@Janet
Figurewizard operating cash flow forecasts show cash generated solely through core trading. That represents cash needed to service debt. The alternative is adding more debt to the balance sheet in order to service debt that has gone before - A recipe for disaster.
If you want to work towards improving your forecast operating cash flow, go to the What-If Calculator and Planner. That makes one-touch changes and updates that are viewed in real time. It is also very simple to work with.
I have joined Figurewizard and managed to produce detailed profit and loss and cash flow forecasts in minutes as you say. I only came across your excellent site by googling through to page three and am very surprised that I haven't heard of you before. Figurewizard is exactly what I have been looking for over many months and I want you to know that I am very glad I found you.
Thanks for those kind words Anita and my best wishes for success in your business.
We now use Figurewizard for financial planning and are impressed with its flexibility and speed in creating profit, balance sheet and cash flow forecasts but would like to know more about how fixed asset purchases and disposals are budgeted. We have worked out the yearly totals and divided by twelve but that is not the same, so what are we missing?
Monthly cash flow forecasts include all sources of cash, including cash the business has borrowed from lenders such as the bank. Figurewizard operating cash flow forecasts on the other hand are only concerned with cash that the business has generated through core trading - nothing else.
That's the only possible source of cash for servicing debt. Forecasts that do not show positive operating cash flow will be sending a message that a). The business is going to run out of cash and b). It doesn't have the means to service further financial support.
Because Figurewizards forecasts are budgeted the acquision or sale of fixed assets are budgeted too. For example if you enter £2,400 cost or new main pool assets, these are treated as twelve different transactions.
Asset financing reflects this so that there will be twelve different contracts beginning in successive months during the year, each one running for the number of months selected as the term for repayments.
This is the correct method with which to plan and produce budgeted forecasts especially when it comes to planning cash flow.