Financial planning

Financial planning looks forward. Unlike financial analysis, which explains the past, a plan answers the question of what comes next and what to prepare for. Most people come to it after a cash gap has already happened once.

A plan is not a spreadsheet for its own sake. It is the thing that shows you, a month ahead, the day there will not be enough in the account for payroll or for tax – and gives you time to do something about it: move a purchase, negotiate terms, chase receivables.

What we build

• a budget of income and costs for the year, broken down by month;
• a cash-flow forecast – the thing that actually reveals the gaps;
• a payment calendar: who is paid when, with tax deadlines built in;
• scenarios: base case, downside, and the one where a major client leaves;
• a plan for a specific decision – buying equipment, opening a line, entering a market;
• checkpoints that make the gap between plan and outcome visible each month.

When a plan earns its keep

When the business is seasonal and winter has to reach spring. When growth is eating working capital faster than it produces profit. Before a large purchase or a loan. When quarterly tax payments keep arriving as a surprise. And when partners or a bank ask to see what your plans are built on.

How we work

We start from actual figures for past periods – without them a plan is fiction. Then we agree the assumptions: how you see sales, which costs are planned, what changes in headcount. Those assumptions are written down separately, so that later it is clear which one did not hold.

The finished plan is handed over in a form you can work with yourself. If you would rather not, we compare plan against outcome each month and explain the variances.

What the fee depends on

Scope follows the planning horizon, the number of lines and legal entities, whether there is usable historical data, and whether you want a one-off plan or monthly support with plan-versus-actual reporting.

Common questions

How does a budget differ from a cash-flow forecast?

A budget shows income and costs on an accruals basis – when the obligation arises. A cash-flow forecast shows when money actually lands in and leaves the account. A profitable company can hit a cash gap precisely because those two timelines do not coincide.

We are small. Do we really need this?

Size matters less than predictability here. If receipts are uneven, there is seasonality, or there are large one-off payments, a plan pays for itself the first time it warns you about a gap.

Who maintains the plan afterwards – us or you?

Whichever suits. We can hand over the model and show you how to work with it, or keep it ourselves and present the picture each month.

Are taxes built into the plan?

Yes, and it is one of the reasons to build a plan alongside the accounting: tax deadlines are known in advance, and they are usually what creates the peaks.