Why hire a financial plan writer?
Creating a solid financial plan that is professional and appealing can be a challenge even for business degree holders. The financial plan presents the written part of the business plan in figures. Accuracy, knowledge of figures, and experience are essential to convince lenders and banks. Number crunchers like bankers and investors are already good at this by profession, and they notice mistakes immediately.
For this reason, financial plan templates and standard software are only of limited use because they are often too universal and not tailored to your business. Furthermore, templates are often incomplete and vital elements are not taken into account. We create financial plans with our specially developed concept, which guarantees the highest accuracy, ensures that your financial goals are clearly outlined in the long run and is appreciated by bankers and investors.
What does a financial plan contain?
The financial and investment plan is an essential part of the business plan and consists of at least the following points. These should clearly show how much capital is needed as an investment and how the company will generate profits in the long term:
1. Profit and loss account
A profit and loss account, which is also called a profitability forecast, shows what profit or loss is generated by the business operation. For example, the margin, turnover, and raw material consumption are decisive variables for a profit and loss account.
2. Liquidity plan
The liquidity plan is one of the most decisive factors for companies and should constantly be updated, even in the long term. For example, late payments from a major customer can get the company into trouble. An important controlling instrument determines the liquidity level, shows possible bottlenecks at an early stage, and helps the company take countermeasures to secure liquidity at an early stage.
3. Cash flow statement
The cash flow statement presents a company’s cash flow and shows the source and application of cash and cash equivalents. The cash flow statement can be used, for example, to check whether a company has enough money in its coffers to maintain current business activities despite high investments.
4. Overhead budget
In the overhead budget, all current costs of the enterprise are clearly presented and, at best, broken down into clear parameters such as personnel costs, space costs, and maintenance costs. These costs are general and cannot be directly assigned to a cost unit, e.g., a product.
Other components of a finance plan are:
- Product data sheet with direct costs
- Sales plan
- Bank loan (if applicable)
- Break-even analysis
Tips when choosing a financial plan expert
There are many financial plan providers on the market, and their prices often vary greatly. But especially in the digital age, choosing a reliable service provider is all the more difficult. Fake customer reviews and hidden costs are just the tip of the iceberg. Therefore, you should pay attention to the following points when choosing a service provider:
References: If you hire a financial plan expert, you should pay attention to the company’s previous results. Read reviews of the company and references on the website carefully. In addition, you can have previous successes explained to you in an initial meeting.
Advisory service: The financial plan expert should not only support you in creating the overall financial concept. He should also support you in choosing the right financing and a network for banks and investors through years of experience.
Guaranteed price: Read the service contract carefully before signing and make sure that the contract is understandable for you. For example, you should have a financial plan drawn up at a fixed price, and the exact results should be stated in the contract.
Initial meeting: A free initial meeting should be obligatory when preparing a financial plan. Here you can describe your expectations and determine whether the service provider is a good fit for you personally.
Certifications and listings for subsidies such as the BAFA consulting funding: This can reduce the costs for the preparation of the financial plan by up to 90% and you have the certainty that a state authority has authorised the company.
Furthermore, it is essential to compare several providers to get an overview of the market.
3 Success factors for a professional financial plan
Be realistic with the assumptions during your financial planning process. Investors and banks often know your industry very well and can immediately recognize exaggerated sales and under-calculated costs.
Like planning your expenses, you should also work out the liquidity plan in detail and take into account payment terms that are common in your industry. In sectors with extended payment terms, such as food retailing, options such as factoring can be included in the financial plan to determine monthly cash flow. This will show that you have thought about any liquidity challenges and have worked out solutions, using tools such as a budget calculator to help you break down where your money is going.
Include the future development of the business and adjust the long-term figures. Important factors are economies of scale with which you can negotiate lower costs for your product or service. Another critical point to consider is employees who demand a higher salary after a more extended service period. When developing the business, you also need to consider the cost of recruiting new staff. To run your business as efficiently as possible in the long term, new job positions such as department heads, who, for example, manage your sales team, are inevitable and must be taken into account in the financial plan. This is the only way to show banks and investors that you think like an entrepreneur and delegate areas of responsibility efficiently to employees.
Hire a financial plan writer – the optimal process
From our experience, the following process is the optimal and most efficient procedure if you want to have a good financial plan drawn up:
In the stocktaking and onboarding meeting, the business idea is evaluated, existing documents are analyzed, and a schedule is drawn up together with the service provider.
Within a set period, the service provider prepares the financial plan and follows up with you on any queries. The first draft should be discussed with you in detail, and your feedback should then be incorporated into the financial plan. A reasonable timeframe for preparing a financial plan is four weeks, depending on your current financial situation.
Once completed, the service provider should support you with their experience and network in applying for funding, loans, and contacts to investors and accompany the planning process until the financing is finalized.
How much does it cost to hire a financial plan writer?
An individual, professional financial plan starts at €1,000 and can quickly become much more expensive for large projects. The final price is determined by factors such as the target group of the financial plan, the business idea, the scope, and the level of detail of the financial plan.
In any case, the external preparation of a business plan should be combined with free funding. Please feel free to contact us for more information on the individual subsidies and prepare the financial plan.
