Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.
How to Write a Small Business Financial Plan
4 min. read
Updated April 22, 2024
Creating a financial plan is often the most intimidating part of writing a business plan.
It’s also one of the most vital. Businesses with well-structured and accurate financial statements are more prepared to pitch to investors, receive funding, and achieve long-term success.
Thankfully, you don’t need an accounting degree to successfully create your budget and forecasts.
Here is everything you need to include in your financial plan, along with optional performance metrics, funding specifics, mistakes to avoid, and free templates.
Key components of a financial plan
A sound financial plan is made up of six key components that help you easily track and forecast your business financials. They include your:
What to include if you plan to pursue funding
Do you plan to pursue any form of funding or financing? If the answer is yes, then there are a few additional pieces of information that you’ll need to include as part of your financial plan.
Financial ratios and metrics
With your financial statements and forecasts in place, you have all the numbers needed to calculate insightful financial ratios.
While including these metrics in your plan is entirely optional, having them easily accessible can be valuable for tracking your performance and overall financial situation.
How to improve your financial plan
Your financial statements are the core part of your business plan that you’ll revisit most often. Instead of worrying about getting it perfect the first time, check out the following resources to learn how to improve your projections over time.
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Financial plan templates and tools
Download and use these free financial templates and calculators to easily create your own financial plan.
Brought to you by
Create a professional business plan
Using AI and step-by-step instructions
Create Your PlanSecure funding
Validate ideas
Build a strategy