Financial Management BizMove

Financial Management Plan Example

financial management planning sample Free Small Business Templates and Tools
Here's a collection of business tools featuring dozens of templates, books, worksheets, tools, software, checklists, videos, manuals, spreadsheets, and much more. All free to download, no strings attached.
► Free Small Business Templates, Books, Tools, Worksheets and MoreBizMove company financial management plan

Financial Management Planning - Long Term Planning and Short Term Planning

Studies overwhelmingly identify bad financial management planning as the leading cause of business failure. Bad management translates to poor planning by management.

All too often, the owner is so caught up in the day-to-day tasks of getting the product out the door and struggling to collect receivables to meet the payroll that he or she does not plan. There never seems to be time to prepare Pro Formas or Budgets. Often new managers understand their products but not the financial statements or the bookkeeping records, which they feel are for the benefit of the IRS or the bank.

Such overburdened owner/managers can scarcely identify what will affect their businesses next week, let alone over the coming months and years. But, you may ask, "What should I do? How can I, as a small business owner/manager, avoid getting bogged down? How can I ensure success?"

Success may be ensured only by focusing on all factors affecting a business's performance. Focusing on planning is essential to survival.

Short-term financial management planning is generally concerned with profit planning or budgeting. Long-term planning is generally strategic, setting goals for sales growth and profitability over a minimum of three to five years.

The tools for short- and long-term plans have been explained previously in this section: Pro Forma Income Statements, Cash Flow Statements or Budgets, Ratio Analysis, and pricing considerations. The business's short-term plan should be prepared on a monthly basis for a year into the future, employing the Pro Forma Income Statement and the Cash Flow Budget.

What is the goal of a financial manager

Financial Management Long-Term Planning (financial management plan example)

The long-term or strategic plan focuses on Pro Forma Statements of Income prepared for annual periods three to five years into the future. You may be asking yourself, "How can I possibly predict what will affect my business that far into the future?" Granted, it's hard to imagine all the variables that will affect your business in the next year, let alone the next three to five years. The key, however, is control - control of your business's future course of expansion through the use of the financial tools explained in this section.

First determine a rate of growth that is desirable and reasonably attainable. Then employ Pro Formas and Cash Flow Budgets to calculate the capital required to finance the inventory, plant, equipment, and personnel needs necessary to attain that growth in sales volume. The business owner/manager must anticipate capital needs in time to make satisfactory arrangements for outside funds if internally generated funds from retained earnings are insufficient.

Growth can be funded in only two ways: with profits or by borrowing. If expansion outstrips the capital available to support higher levels of accounts receivable, inventory, fixed assets, and operating expenses, a business's development will be slowed or stopped entirely by its failure to meet debts as they become payable. Such insolvency will result in the business's assets being liquidated to meet the demands of the creditors. The only way to avoid this "outstripping of capital" is by planning to control growth. Growth must be understood to be controlled. This understanding requires knowledge of past financial performance and of the future requirements of the business.

These needs must be forecast in writing - using the Pro Forma Income Statement in particular - for three to five years in the future. After projecting reasonable sales volumes and profitability, use the Cash Flow Budget to determine (on a quarterly basis for the next three to five years) how these projected sales volumes translate into the flow of cash in and out of the business during normal operations. Where additional inventory, equipment, or other physical assets are necessary to support the sales forecast, you must determine whether or not the business will generate enough profit to sustain the growth forecast (financial management plan example).

Goal of financial management plan

Often, businesses simply grow too rapidly for internally generated cash to sufficiently support the growth. If profits are inadequate to carry the growth forecast, the owner/manager must either make arrangements for working growth capital to borrowed, or slow growth to allow internal cash to "catch up" and keep pace with the expansion. Because arranging financing and obtaining additional equity capital takes time, this need must be anticipated well in advance to avoid business interruption.

To develop effective long-term plans, you should do the following steps:

1. Determine your personal objectives and how they affect your willingness and ability to pursue financial goals for your business. This consideration, often overlooked, will help you determine whether or not your business goals fit your personal plans. For example, suppose you hope to become a millionaire by age 45 through your business but your long-term strategic plan reveals that only modest sales growth and very slim profit margins on that volume are attainable in your industry. You must either adjust your personal goals or get into a different business. Long range planning enables you to be realistic about the future of your personal and business expectations.

2. Set goals and objectives for the company (growth rates, return on investment, and direction as the business expands and matures). Express these goals in specific numbers, for example, sales growth of 10 percent a year, increases in gross and net profit margins of 2 to 3 percent a year, a return on investment of not less than 9 to 10 percent a year. Use these long-range plans to develop forecasts of sales and profitability and compare actual results from operations to these forecasts. If after these goals are established actual performance continuously falls short of target, the wise business owner will reassess both the realism of expectations and the desirability of continuing to pursue the enterprise.

Short term financial plan example

3. Develop long-range plans that enable you to attain your goals and objectives. Focus on the strengths and weaknesses of your business and on internal and external factors that will affect the accomplishment of your goals. Develop strategies based upon careful analysis of all relevant factors (pricing strategies, market potential, competition, cost of borrowed and equity capital as compared to using only profits for expansions, etc.) to provide direction for the future of your business.

4. Focus on the financial, human, and physical requirements necessary to fulfill your plan by developing forecasts of sales, expenses, and retain earnings over the next three to five years.

5. Study methods of operation, product mix, new market opportunities, and other such factors to help identify ways to improve your company's productivity and profitability.

6. Revise, revise. Always use your most recent financial statements to adjust your short- and long-term plans. Compare your company's financial performance regularly with current industry data to determine how your results compare with others in your industry. Learn where your business may have performance weaknesses. Don't be afraid to modify your plans if your expectations have been either too aggressive or too conservative.

Sidebar: you are invited to visit our car insurance information section featuring a list of articles that may save you hundreds of dollars on your motor vehicles quotes. In full coverage auto insurance you'll discover helpful tips to getting cheap quotes. For information on how to get cheaper quotes on shorter terms see one month car insurance and also short term car insurance. For first time drivers information see cheap car insurance for new drivers. How about obtaining cheaper premium rates for mature women? no problem, look here, best insurance for new drivers over 25 year olds.

If you are interested in a half year duration see 6 month car insurance for helpful tips on the topic. How about getting more favorable premiums costs for younger drivers? see car insurance for 17 year olds and motor car insurance for under 21 and vehicle insurance for male and female under 25 years old. Here is another list of drivers insurance useful articles, As for helpful tips regarding no deposit premium payments see car insurance with no deposit and for a list of low cost brokers, agents and companies see car insurance with no deposit companies. Read the following informative article if you are looking for better rates for the young drivers in your family, cheaper vehicle insurance for young drivers. Now, for discovering new ways to get lower quotes go to general car insurance Read this article if your after high risk car insurance information.

How about getting a better deal on first time driver? just click the link. It may come a time that you'll be interested in canceling your policy, use this article for the instruction of how to do it. Our drivers insurance hub page features a list of guides that can surely help you get dirt cheap car insurance for teens drivers rates. For those of you who seek cheap quotes for a shorter term policy, read this article. and here are tips and advice for special interest groups such as young drivers and temporary insurance.

If you have first drivers in your family look here for useful advice regarding cheap drivers first car insurance on getting very very cheap car insurance quotes, other types of policies can include the following: no deposit car insurance, pay monthly, insuring classic cars for young drivers, getting better deal on cheap liability car insurance cost, locating good rates for new drivers. how about if you are interested in pay as you go auto insurance? yep there is a guide for you. And here is a list of car insurance companies cheapest. And the list concludes with a way to calculate car insurance estimate without personal information.

Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure that the content of this website is accurate, the website is provided “as is” and Bizmove.com makes no representations or warranties in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information found on it. While the content of this site is provided in good faith, we do not warrant that the information will be kept up to date, be true and not misleading, or that this site will always (or ever) be available for use. Nothing on this website should be taken to constitute professional advice or a formal recommendation and we exclude all representations and warranties relating to the content and use of this site.

Copyright © by Bizmove. All rights reserved.