Financial Modelling for Startups: Excel & Google Sheets

*** Now you can create the same model with Google Sheets instead of Microsoft Excel ***

Forecasting business performance for the next 12 months or more is absolutely important for any startup, SaaS business, or even an existing small to medium enterprise. Whether you are building your first startup financial projections for an investor pitch, preparing a business plan, or simply trying to understand where your money is going, you need a tool that works in the real world.

It is important to use strong tools to generate reliable financial projections for your business well ahead of time; this will surely prepare you for any uncertainties that may arise and give you the confidence to make smarter decisions with your money.

The best and most practical way to prepare a complete business performance forecast is to build a Financial Model in a tool you already know: Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

While preparing financial models, people usually focus on KPIs like Sales, Sales Growth, Cost of Sales, Fixed Overheads and Net Profit in creating their forecasting models, but the most important lifeblood for any startup, SaaS business or small enterprise is CASHFLOW.

There is no one better than you to understand the true value of your business idea or venture, so I believe you should be the one to predict the business's future by preparing your own Financial Projections. My goal here is to help non-finance entrepreneurs, startup founders and business owners with the tools and techniques to get full control of their business performance and outcomes! So I have designed this course with an easy-to-follow approach where non-finance entrepreneurs and business owners can follow along and build a complete financial model for their dream business. (And don't worry if you get stuck; you can always reach out to me via the Q&A forum on this platform.)

Welcome to the course: Build A Financial Forecasting Model for your next Startup

Financial modelling for any business is a crucial task and is often considered a job only for an Excel or Finance expert.

While I do not disagree with the above statement, even if you do not have any finance or accounting background or expert Excel skills, you can easily learn everything you need within a few hours, and still build a strong, investor-ready financial model for your own business from a completely blank spreadsheet!

In this course, you will learn how to build a UNIQUE financial forecasting model from scratch. This course is specially designed for NON-FINANCE people: startup founders, entrepreneurs, SaaS business owners, small business owners and anyone preparing a business plan or startup financial projections for the first time.

This Financial Model covers the two components of business performance that matter most to investors, bankers and founders alike:

1. Income Statement Forecast

2. Cash Flow Forecast and Funding required to keep the business running

Income Statement Forecasting is the foundation of any business plan or investor pitch deck. With this Financial Model, you will be able to forecast and model:

• Sales and Revenue with linear or selective growth types, perfect for any seasonal business model as well

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and subscription-based Revenue for SaaS and online businesses

• Cost of Goods Sold and Gross Profit for each of your products (linear or selective)

• Inventory balances (for trading businesses which carry physical stock)

• Direct other costs (e.g. customs duties, import duties, freight, etc.)

• Gross Profit (% GP)

• Indirect overheads or semi-fixed overheads (e.g. property rentals, salaries, vehicle rentals, utilities, etc.)

• Net Profit (% NP)

The model is ideal for businesses with seasonal fluctuations in sales and sales growth; you can model each month's Revenue individually, including periods of lower sales or vice versa.

Cash Flow Forecasting is remove just as important as Income Statement Forecasting, if not more. The business world is full of uncertainties, and even if your idea is a breakthrough, you might face temporary cash issues due to many reasons beyond your control. So, using the right Cash Flow forecasting method is essential. Cash is king in any business, and it is THE most important resource for any business to survive and grow long-term.

This model lets you forecast and control every key factor that affects your cash position:

• The right mix of Cash Sales versus Credit Sales for your business, so you can find exactly at what level your sales growth is highest

• Cash collections from your customers, and how much credit you can afford to extend per product, to ensure you never run out of cash

• Seasonal cash collection patterns so you always know your liquidity position month by month, whether sales are at their peak or lowest.

• Cash payments to your suppliers and how to negotiate credit days that keep your overall cash position positive at all times

• A revolving line of credit or bank overdraft schedule so you can forecast exactly how much temporary funding your business will need, and when, if performance dips below the base level

• Interest expenditure on borrowed funds and how optimising customer and supplier credit days directly reduces that interest burden month on month

Having the right balance of cash sales, credit sales, and payment terms is often what separates a startup that survives from one that does not. This model helps you find that balance for your specific business, easily and effectively.

This course covers:

• The basics of Accounting and Finance (the accounting equation, Debits and Credits, what is a Balance Sheet, etc.)

• Excel and Google Sheets formulas and functions were used to build the complete financial model.

• Advanced Financial Model building process (step-by-step, beginner-friendly)

• Advanced Charting Techniques and Dynamic Dashboard building to visualise your Financial Model's KPIs in a clear, presentation-ready format

This model is investor-ready. You can use it to present your startup financial projections and business plan in front of prospective investors, venture capitalists and bankers to obtain the necessary funding to expand and grow your dream business.

This model is the ideal financial planning tool for:

• Startups and early-stage businesses preparing a pitch deck or fundraising round

• SaaS and subscription businesses modelling Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and growth

• FMCG and trading businesses with inventory and import costs

• Restaurant, consulting and e-commerce businesses

• Any seasonal business where monthly Revenue fluctuates significantly throughout the year

• Any existing small to medium-sized business that needs a proper financial forecast

You are not limited to worst, good and best scenarios only.

You can add more products and forecast each product's performance using linear growth (a fixed monthly increase in sales) or selective growth, where you set your own custom projection for each month. For seasonal businesses, this means full accuracy in both high and low months.

The same flexibility applies to gross profit and cost of goods sold: linear or selective, product-by-product, month-on-month.

So what are you waiting for? Start your journey of building a financial model and startup financial projections that reflect how your business works. ENROL NOW.