“Manage Your Profit”
A Proforma Financial Analysis Tool
What is it?
In accounting terminology, the term “proforma” is included when methods of calculating financial projections have been used to develop the data. A Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) statement is similar, but is best suited for companies with an established operating history, as it incorporates historical financial results to support the predicted outcomes.
The Manage Your Profit tool is not an accounting or bookkeeping product. It is designed to be used actively, day-to-day, month-to-month by the owner/manager.
Small business owners sometimes feel they do not need a sophisticated financial analysis. However, using this tool is simple and will allow you to better manage and scale your business from month to month. Any founder or manager needs to anticipate the company's future financial condition to strategically plan marketing, hiring, inventory, and investing in the business.
If you’re in need of funding, having this financial information will enhance your presentation. It demonstrates that you are operating a business with the intention to succeed and that you understand how to manage and grow responsibly.
You may be able to create these financial statements using free templates found online or on YouTube videos. However, if you are not familiar and comfortable with financial data, you will likely become fatigued while reviewing the templates and samples and then be left to figure out how to use them on your own. The possibilities for confusion and error are significant. Additionally, these free tools are oversimplified and generic. You and any loan officer or investor need to have access to accurate, detailed, and up-to-date financial data that you control.
I have coached and assisted many founders and startups in this process, with or without an understanding of financial statements. Interacting with me to develop these financial documents will benefit you both in the short term and provide you with an ongoing management tool to grow your business.
Process
It is essential to recognize that this is a collaborative process—we will work together to develop this financial tool tailored to your business. This is NOT a DFY (do it for you) program—it is a DWY (do it with you) program. The learning element is built in. It will be your financial management tool. We will not create fictional numbers to “make things look good.” Creating nonsense will serve no purpose in creating a reusable tool to better manage your business.
We will begin with a Zoom Discovery Call. From that dialogue and a brief questionnaire, I will develop an estimate of the timeline to complete your financial tool. If you have not started this financial process, then starting from scratch will require some discussion to understand the details of your existing business or idea before launching a new one.
There will be 3 or 4 Zoom calls during the process to continually guide you and review the process. We will build your financial tool together using Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet program that is universally available and widely understood. If you are unfamiliar with Excel, please visit the resources section on my website for easy-to-use guides. Please note that other spreadsheet programs are available, such as Google Sheets, Zoho Sheet, Libre Office Calc, Apple Numbers, and others. These are compatible, and your data from Excel can be exported into your existing spreadsheet software.
Through our dialogue, I will gain a deeper understanding of your business. We will delve into your industry, business structure, operations plan, marketing, pricing, profitability, management, employees, taxes, and more. There is also the likelihood that new data will need to be acquired through research and vendor quotes before and during the development process. This approach ensures the data used is current and accessible.
Please also review the Processing Procedure
Timeline
Completion will depend on your existing knowledge of known and unknown expenses, the type of business (B2B or B2C), your product/service mix, pricing models, and your value proposition—in other words, anything that defines or has an impact on income and expenses.
On average, this process takes about 3 or 4 weeks, starting from scratch. This includes time for research and gathering estimates related to suppliers, logistics, licensing, employees, and a range of other elements specific to your business, not a generic model. I will guide you through this process.
I strongly advise that you have either a) a completed Business Plan, or b) these components of a plan: An Industry Analysis, a Business Model, and a Pricing Model. These will provide the basic data to complete the financial analysis. If you don’t yet have these elements, please tell me, and I can guide you.
Deliverable
Your Manage Your Profit financial tool will include a proforma Profit & Loss Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet. Typically, the statements will show startup or current expenses, as well as 3 years of future financial activity, broken down by month for year one and by quarter for years two and three.
You will have a financial management tool to edit and use every day, allowing you to understand and manage your Income, Expenses, and Profit in real-time.
Pricing And Billing
The cost of this product/service is $1,500. You pay once, and use forever. If you are also using my Business Plan Development or Business Plan Review service, I will provide a 20% discount on the combined program costs. The billing for the combined services will be included in the invoicing and your payment plan.
Payments are made as follows:
A deposit of $500 when our Agreement is signed (this payment will be considered part of the initial payment if Manage Your Profit is included in one of the Business Plan services)
Two equal payments of $500 each are then made in 30 and 60 days.
Your initial invoice will specify the future payment dates.
This payment plan will effectively stagger predictable, affordable payments over a manageable timeframe.
If you are in a) Ideation mode (no revenue yet), b) have been in business for less than 1 year, or c) have less than $50k in annual sales, the Manage Your Profit price is reduced to $1200 with $300 monthly payments.
Free And Discounted Update Service
For up to one year after the final invoice payment, I will provide an additional 60-minute call at no charge to answer follow-up questions or assist you with new situations that may have evolved since our initial engagement. Simply email me to request an appointment time.
If additional assistance is needed beyond the free call offer, I will provide any additional time at a 25% discount off my hourly rate.
Guaranty
If any service that I provide does not meet your satisfaction and expectations of the stated deliverable, I will work with you to rectify the situation to an amicable resolution.