FIN 375 Week 3 LivePlan: Financial Plan Individual Assignment

In this assignment, you will complete a financial Forecast your business plan for the small business you created in the week one LivePlan assignment.    Remember to include enough depth, analysis, and research in this specific section to support the overall business plan.

In week one you should have done the first year of your income statement and balance sheet.  Now you will do a multi year financial forecast starting with year two on your Live Plan. Your forecast should have three years.  The first year was completed on week one.  you canmake changes to the first year forecast as needed.  you should then create two more years forecast for a total of three years in your assignment.

Please read the online lectures on Financial Statements.  They will describe the income statement and balance sheet.

When doing the revenue and expense forecasts please make sure you are being as realisitic as possible.  For example, it is not realistic that most small businesses will have multimillion dollar sales in the first few years. Also very few small businesses have profit margins that are greater than 10 to 15 percent.    Second, it is very important that your cost of goods forecast relates to sales.  Direct costs is another name for cost of goods.  You should not have a forecast that includes overhead expenses but does not have any cost of goods.

When doing the personel expenses you need to make assumptions about the staffing levels and the amount of money needed to pay wages and benefits for each position.

It is also important to list your assumptions behind your sales forecast, your staffing levels and any other key assumptions that are behind your forecast.

One way to do your forecast of the income statement is to make a sales forecast first.  Next assume a profit margin (net income / sales) and multiply this by your sales forecast.  This will give you the net income from your business.  Next, assume a gross profit margin (gross profit / sales) and multiply this by the sales forecast.  This will give you the gross profit. The difference between gross profits and sales is your direct costs or cost of goods.

When doing tax calculations you can assume 40 percent as your marginal tax rate.  Or you can create your own assumed tax rate.

Login to your LivePlan account.

Select the Forecast tab within LivePlan, and then select the “Revenue” section at the top of the page.

Complete all 7 sections on the Forecast tab: Revenue, Direct Costs, Personnel, Expenses, Assets, Assumptions, and Financing.

Select the Plan tab within LivePlan, and then select the “Appendix” chapter on the left-hand side menu.

Review the Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement sections. The financial information listed here should match the financial information that you just entered on the Forecast Tab. Make edits as needed by updating sections on the Forecast tab.

Click the “Download & Print” option at the top of the page.

Select the “Download as Doc” option and save a copy of your business plan.

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.