Frequently Asked Questions!

• You can update actual information month-by-month without altering projection formulas! You can enter actual data into the input page, and it will over-ride the projection formulas for every month that is updated! This way you're not delete valuable formulas every time you update the budget for actual activity!
• It's designed to be dynamic and flexible! The projection changes instantly whenever a yellow input cell is updated. The dynamic nature of this tool makes it great for cash modeling, flexible budgeting, and creating sophisticated projections that will impress anyone!
• The income statement is very comprehensive. It's not designed for a specific industry, so there may be categories that won't apply to your company. If this is the case, you can enter zero in the assumption.
• Please note! The template already has assumptions entered in most categories. You will need to update these assumptions with reasonable data based on your research plus experience with your comapny and industry.
  Please contact us if you would like assistante preparing your first draft, or if you would like help creating your business plan. This tool is definately user-friendly enough to do-it-yourself, but we would also be happy to help you. To date, about 5% of our customers hire us to help them with thier business plans.

"What information will I need to apply for a business loan with the bank?"

"Are your projections designed for a specific industry or business type?"

There are two easy ways to get rid of blank sections on your Income Statement or Balance Sheet:
• Hide the rows that don't apply to you. IE: If you are a Professional firm with no Cost of Goods Sold and No Product Inventory, simply hide these rows. Hide sections, don't delete them! Deleting sections could cause a problem.
• We'll alter the financial projection Template for you. Several companies have hired us to run their first draft, and we're happy to do it! All we need is your historical financial statement for 3 years, headcount information, and Payroll information.

"I noticed a negative number on the income statements - 'Capitalized Assets'. Why is that there?"

"How does the Depreciation Schedule Work?"

• You can enter historic depreciation totals from your previous year's depreciation schedule
• You can also adjust the useful life of assets capitalized each month.

"How and When was this Projection Software Created?"

• Input cells are shaded in yellow.
  Over-ride cells are orange.
  You can enter up to 3 years of historical financial data.
  Assumptions are entered on pages labeled with (p).
  The more data you enter, the more sophisticated it becomes. You can even enter your depreciation schedule totals to make the projected balance sheet even more accurate! Historical financial data is not required. If your company is just starting out, and you have no financial history, this projection will still work very well.
  
  
• Projected financials are based on a number of variables including headcount, hourly rates, expected sales, etc. Sales can be expressed as a multiple of production staff (and the expected business cycle) if appropriate.
  
  
• It very interactive! If you add employees, you automatically buy a desk, a chair, hardware, and software; office expenses become incrementally more expensive; The depreciation schedule is updated; the cost of the Christmas party and the summer picnic goes up; you get the idea. This might be the most interactive projection tool available anywhere!

E.B.I.T.D.A.
"Depreciation and Interest Expense are listed separately, below General and Administrative Expenses and above Income Taxes. Why?"

"How do I update the projections with actual financial activity without ruining the formulas?"

"Some pages are password protected! What's the password?"

"How are Payroll Expenses calculated?"

• Headcount and labor costs are entered on the 'headcount' page. You can also build in pay increases (or decreases) on a monthly basis.
• Direct Labor expense is expressed as a percentage of Net Sales on the assumptions page. The Production staff is assumed to be 90% efficient, meaning part of their pay will always be part of General and Administrative expenses; even if the company's production is estimated to be over capacity.
• When sales are below expected capacity, your Production Staff is assumed to be doing non-billable work. IE: A bigger portion of their cost ends up in General and Administrative expenses! We feel this is a conservative position that should be taken on all budgets, business plans and projections.
• (New hires in production) don't improve capacity (aka generate revenue) for 3 months. This accounts for ramp-up time, training, etc.
• Payroll taxes are expressed as a percentage of total labor. The rate can be different for the last 3 months of the year to account for employees who may have exceeded the FICA limit!

How are sales calculated?

Is the program user-friendly?

Which projection template will work best for my project?

Why is the projection software so cheap?

Why is the projection software so expensive?

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