Profit and Loss Template

Download a Profit and Loss Statement Template and Projection for Microsoft® Excel®

A Profit and Loss Statement is another name for the Income Statement. If you want to
create a profit and loss statement, you can use our income statement template and
change the title. The Profit and Loss Template below is used for creating a 3-year
projection, or an estimate of how you expect your business to perform from year to
year. The profit and loss projection template is based on our Business Budget Template
and uses the same income and business expense categories.

Advertisement

If you'd like to perform a cash flow analysis, and are looking for a 12-month profit and
loss template, try the 12-Month Business Budget Template. All you would need to do is
change the title to "12-Month Profit and Loss Projection." You can also use the profit
and loss template below for a monthly cash flow analysis by changing the column labels
from years to months.

Description

The Profit and Loss Projection Template helps you create a 3-year projection of income
and expenses for your business. It uses the same list of categories as the business
budget, but also includes columns for calculating the Percentage of Total Sales, which
helps you to analyze cost of goods sold and operating expenses.

Screenshot (Goods)

This workbook contains two profit and loss templates designed for companies providing
services or selling goods. The main difference is that the Goods worksheet includes a
Cost of Goods Sold section for recording inventory and purchases and calculating
Gross Profit.
Description

The Profit and Loss Projection Template helps you create a 3-year projection of income
and expenses for your business. It uses the same list of categories as the business
budget, but also includes columns for calculating the Percentage of Total Sales, which
helps you to analyze cost of goods sold and operating expenses.

Screenshot (Goods)

This workbook contains two profit and loss templates designed for companies providing
services or selling goods. The main difference is that the Goods worksheet includes a
Cost of Goods Sold section for recording inventory and purchases and calculating
Gross Profit.

Using the Profit and Loss Template

The difference between a business budget and a profit and loss projection is subtle,
but important. After creating a profit and loss projection, you could simply change the
title of your spreadsheet to "Budget". However, if you are like me, your budget will be
much more conservative than your projection. A projection should be as realistic as
possible.

The profit and loss template includes the same set of categories as the business
budget, and information about income categories and expense categories can be found
on the Income Statement and Business Budget pages.

Sales Forecast Template

Download a free 3-year sales forecasting spreadsheet for Excel®

A sales forecast is an essential part of a business plan. It is also essential if you are
looking to get a bank loan or investors. Our free Sales Forecast Template lets you
analyze and forecast the unit sales, growth rate, profit margin and gross profit for your
products and services. It provides a quick starting point for setting up your sales
forecast and includes some sample charts.

Description

This Excel spreadsheet lets you compare and analyze multiple products and services
by enter monthly units sold, unit price and cost of goods sold (COGS). The template
then calculates the total revenue, growth rate, margin per unit, and gross profit.

Note: If your service is based on an hourly rate, you can enter the number of hours
under Units Sold and the hourly rate under Unit Price.

The final two columns compare the yearly totals for Year 2 vs Year 1 and Year 3 vs
Year 2.

In a business plan or presentation, you should probably use a chart to help

communicate your forecast. We've included a few sample charts, both for the first year's
data as well as all 3 years. Remember to use charts that effectively and accurately
communicate your sales to lenders and investors.

Printing Monthly or Yearly Forecasts

The spreadsheet was designed to let you print a couple different types of reports using
the same worksheet. If you make significant changes to the template, you will probably
need to make adjustments with the Page Break Preview, page scaling, or other Page
Layout options.

If you print the worksheet as-is, you will have each 12-month year on one page with the
final page showing the yearly comparisons.

For a Year-to-Year summary on 1 page, you can hide the columns containing the
monthly data prior to printing.

Personal Financial Statement Template

For Microsoft Excel®

Creating and maintaining your own Personal Financial Statement is useful for 4 main
purposes: (1) Gaining a good financial education, (2) Creating and evaluating your
budget, (3) Applying for business loans, and (4) Applying for personal loans.
 If you already know why you need one, and why you want to use Excel to create one,
then go ahead and download the template below. If you'd like to learn more about it,
continue reading this page.

Description

This spreadsheet allows you to create and update an all-in-one personal financial
statement that includes:

 Personal Balance Sheet - for listing assets and liabilities and calculating net worth.
 Cash Flow Statement - for listing all your inflows and outflows and calculating your net
cash flow.
 Details Worksheet - for listing individual account balances and the details for your
properties and loans.
 Info Sheet - for listing contact info that is typically required in loan applications (e.g.
names and addresses of the applicant and co-applicant).

It also includes calculations for some common financial ratios:

 Basic Liquidity (BLR) Ratio = Total Liquid Assets / Total Living Expenses :: How
many months can you live on your liquid assets without any income? This ratio uses
info from both the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. It's one of the really cool
things that your PFS can tell you.
 Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio = Annual Debt Payments / Annual Income :: A ratio
commonly used by lenders to determine how risky of an investment you will be. It
should be below about 35% to be considered to have an acceptable level of debt. This
comes from the cash flow statement.
 Debts-to-Assets Ratio = Total Liabilities / Total Assets :: Indicates the degree of
leverage that is used by a person or company to finance their assets. The higher this
ratio the less financial flexibility you have. This comes from the balance sheet.

Why is a PFS useful for creating and evaluating a budget?

If you have already created and follow a budget, your PFS is basically half done. A
personal cash flow statement is almost exactly the same thing as a budget, except that
a budget is a plan or projection, and your cash flow statement lists your actual earnings
and expenses.
A cash flow statement helps you create your budget. Your budget helps you plan how
you are going to allocate your net cash flow (hoping of course that your net cash flow is
positive).

Why does a PFS help you increase your financial education?

Did you already know the relationship between a cash flow statement and a budget? It's
not that the PFS is going to teach you directly. The point is that to accurately complete
your personal financial statement you are going to need to ask a lot of questions, and
probably do a lot of Google searching, to figure out why such-and-such is a liability, or
what exactly is an asset, etc.

Using the template will give you a big head start, but don't assume that everything I've
included in the spreadsheet is 100% correct or that it is organized optimally for your
needs. Use it as a template - it is just a framework to help you get started. Verify all
formulas and make sure you understand exactly how things are calculated.

Why is a PFS used in applying for loans?

A lender needs to evaluate the risk of lending money to you. One of the ways they do
that is by analyzing your income and how much debt you currently have. They can get
that information from your personal financial statement.

If you are applying for loans, banks will likely have their own personal financial
statement (PFS) forms for you to fill out (I've linked to a couple in the references at the
bottom of this page). But, if you are already maintaining your own PFS in Excel, then
that will make the process MUCH easier.

The Personal Balance Sheet

Step 1: List all your Assets

An asset is something that you own that has exchange value. You may really love your
pet rock, but it's probably not an asset. Your financial assets are your cash, savings,
checking account balances, real estate, pensions, etc.
Watch out for the cells that are highlighted gray. These are values that come from the
Details worksheet. If you overwrite the formula, you'll need to fix it.

Click on the links labeled "Schedule 1" or "Schedule 2" to go directly to the spot on the
Details worksheet for entering those assets.

Step 2: List all your Liabilities

Liabilities are your debts and other unpaid financial obligations. Future expenses such
as fuel for your car are not liabilities, but unpaid bills are.

Step 3: Calculate Net Worth = Assets - Liabilities

The full market value of your home is an Asset. The amount you still owe on the
mortgage is a Liability. The difference is what you call call Home Equity. In a typical
business balance sheet, the terms Owner's Equity or Shareholders Equity are the same
as Net Worth: Owner's Equity = Assets - Liabilities.

The Personal Cash Flow Statement

Step 1: List all your Inflows

Inflows include all sources of income (wages, dividends, etc.) and whatever else puts
money in your pocket.

The Inflows are grouped into "Income" and "Other Inflows", because some financial
ratios are based on "Income" and not all inflows are necessarily considered income
(such as tax returns, reimbursements, or gifts). You'll need to decide what should be
considered income, perhaps by consulting with your accountant.

If your home or stocks increase in value, there is no cash inflow until you sell them. So,
realized capital gains (the profits from the sale of property) are inflows, but unrealized
capital gains (the gain in value of unsold property) are not.
Step 2: List all your Outflows

Categorizing your outflows is important if you want to calculate certain financial ratios.
For example, the "Payroll Deductions" category consists of things deducted from your
paycheck. The net income used by the Debt Service Ratio is your gross income minus
these deductions.

Why aren't insurance premiums listed under payroll deductions? You can list them there
if you want to. But, if you didn't have any income, you would still want to have health
insurance, so I find that including health insurance under living expenses is more
convenient for calculating the "Total Living Expenses" used by the BLR ratio.

The "Financing Activities" category of outflows is used to determine your total debt
payments. That total is used by the debt-to-income ratios. For these ratios, the
mortgage payment includes the escrow payment (property tax and insurance) in
addition to interest and principal.

Step 3: Calculate Net Cash Flow = Outflows - Inflows

One of the first things you need to learn about personal finance is how to calculate your
net cash flow. That is simply the sum of all your inflows (wages, investment income,
gifts, and whatever else puts money in your pocket) minus the sum of your outflows
(everything that takes money out of your pocket).

Small Business Start Up Costs

Download a Spreadsheet to Help you Estimate Your Business Startup Costs

No matter what kind of business you intend on owning, it is a good idea to estimate
your business startup expenses prior to jumping in. Whether you plan on starting a
small business or a larger franchise, you may be surprised at the total start up cost.
Nearly all new business owners underestimate the cost of starting their business,
leaving it exposed to the risks of being underfunded. To help you avoid this common
mistake, use our Free Business Start Up Costs Template to help you determine how
much money you need to get your start up business up and running safely. See below
for additional information, tips and resources.

Calculating business start up costs should be a part of starting any business. An

entrepreneur is usually required to put these costs together as part of a business plan,
loan or grant application. They are also helpful when putting together proforma
financial statements.
Description

This Excel workbook will help you put together an estimate of costs and funding
required to start your business. It is pre-populated with expense categories common to
many small businesses and home-based businesses, so it can be very useful in helping
you identify all of your start up costs, including many you may not have considered.

As you add your own costs or expense categories, the template will help you
understand whether you have adequate funding. Once you have your funding secured
and you pull the trigger, use the worksheet to track your actual expenditures to help you
keep your costs under control.

As you get your business going, you may want to consider using a more detailed
business budget and other financial statements.

Starting a restaurant? This free template also includes a customized start up cost
sheet with many cost categories specific to owning and operating a restaurant. Perfect
for helping you capture all of those Restaurant Start up Costs.

Starting a franchise, web business or home business? Continue reading below for
some help with costs specific to these types of businesses as well as links to other
helpful resources.

Start Up Costs for Different Businesses

Restaurant Business Start Up Costs

Starting a restaurant can be expensive because of the specialized equipment and

facilities that are required. Luckily, there are usually leasing options available for the
expensive items and many landlords will work with you on leasehold improvements.
Use the Restaurant specific worksheet in the Business Start up Cost Template to help
you consider other expenses such as cleaning costs, uniforms, menu development and
supplier sourcing costs.
Home Business Startup Costs

The nice thing about a home based business is that you can forgo many of the typical
expenses of a startup. Things like internet, office space, furniture and utilities are
already taken care of. Better yet, if you qualify for the home office deduction, now you
can write some of these items off as business expenses. Simply put $0 in the template
or delete the rows for those expenses already covered. If you are starting a home-
based internet business, continue on to the next section.

Internet Business Startup Costs

A web based business may be one of the least expensive businesses to start,
especially if you can do the web development work yourself. Use the basic template and
decide which expenses apply to

you – simply delete the rest. You may also want to consider some items not listed, such
as custom web page design and development work, custom database development and
scripting, search engine optimization (SEO) and advanced hosting services to name a
few. Also, if your business is retail, don't forget to include all of the referral and usage
fees for selling through storefronts like Amazon and Ebay.

Franchise Business Start Up Costs

Our Business Start up Cost Template will also help you if you are looking for a start up
franchise opportunity or looking for franchises for sale. Along with all of the regular costs
of starting a business, the template also includes categories for fixed franchise fees as
well as monthly franchise dues and marketing co-op fees. You may also want to check
with the franchise corporate offices. Many of them provide tools to help you estimate
your start up and operating costs.

How to Use the Business Startup Cost Template

The key to putting together accurate numbers is to get into the details. This requires
doing detailed research by calling suppliers and providers, searching the internet and
listing any and all costs that may be applicable. To help you, the business cost template
comes pre-populated with many of the most common expense categories. It also
contains additional suggestions and tips for each category to help you make sure you
considered everything. Feel free to add additional line items that are unique to your
business.

Funding Sources

Start by listing the sources of funding that you believe will be available to you in the
Estimated column. This would include money supplied by owners and investors, funds
available from bank loans or other lines of credit. In some cases you may be pursuing
other sources of funds such as grants, endowments or sale of assets.

Fixed Costs

After all your funding sources have been outlined, start putting in the estimated fixed
costs. These costs are one-time costs associated with getting your business up and
running. This includes things like leasing space, purchasing assets, stocking up on
inventory and getting your legal and marketing issues in order.

Two key parts to the fixed costs are the Working Capital and a Reserve for
Contingencies – these can be significant. Any startup is advised to have a Contingency
Fund as there are always last minute surprise costs and fees. Consider the risks of your
business and set aside sufficient funds accordingly.

Be sure to include enough Working Capital to fund your normal business operations as
you grow. Remember that there can be a significant amount of time between when a
sale is made and when you actually receive payment. Sufficient working capital is
needed to allow you to continue to purchase inventory and pay bills while waiting for
payment. More than one growing business has failed because it lacked sufficient
working capital.

Monthly Costs - Until Profitable

Many entrepreneurs fail to understand that businesses are seldom profitable the first
day. In order to have a clear picture of actual cash required, it is important to estimate
your monthly operating costs as well as how many months it will take you to move from
the red to the black. The template is setup to assist you in determining these important
costs. Simply identify how many months you believe it will take to get up and running
and fill in the estimated monthly costs.
Ready, Set, Go

As a time window is provided and all the sources and costs are identified, the
spreadsheet will calculate whether you have a surplus or deficit in funding. If you have a
deficit, then you will need to figure out if there are ways to scale back your costs or look
for additional funding. If you have surplus and are confident in your numbers, you may
be good to go.

Keeping Things in Check

The excitement of starting the business can cause entrepreneurs to spend more than
they planned. Use the template to keep you grounded. As you collect funds and begin
to spend money, record the Actual amounts next to the Estimated numbers. The
spreadsheet will calculate whether you are running over or under you estimated
numbers so you can make adjustments as you go.

Additional Business Startup Expense Tips

 Securing lines of credit can take some time. Be sure to have them in place before
they are needed.
 Be aware of credit card processing fees. These can be 2% to 5% of the total.
 Little items may not seem like much, but they can add up quickly. Don’t overlook
them.
 Business Startup Costs are only part of the financials that any new business owner
should put together. Consider putting together a proforma cash flow statement and
balance sheet.
 If you are searching for funding, odds are you will need a business plan. Business
plans can be a great way to concentrate your thoughts and to really put together a
game winning strategy as well as get feedback from mentors and associates.
Profit and Loss Template
Download a Profit and Loss Statement Template and Projection for Microsoft® Excel®

A Profit and Loss Statement is another name for the Income Statement. If you want to
create a profit and loss statement, you can use our income statement template and
change the title. The Profit and Loss Template below is used for creating a 3-year
projection, or an estimate of how you expect your business to perform from year to
year. The profit and loss projection template is based on our Business Budget Template
and uses the same income and business expense categories.

Advertisement

If you'd like to perform a cash flow analysis, and are looking for a 12-month profit and
loss template, try the 12-Month Business Budget Template. All you would need to do is
change the title to "12-Month Profit and Loss Projection." You can also use the profit
and loss template below for a monthly cash flow analysis by changing the column labels
from years to months.

Description

The Profit and Loss Projection Template helps you create a 3-year projection of income
and expenses for your business. It uses the same list of categories as the business
budget, but also includes columns for calculating the Percentage of Total Sales, which
helps you to analyze cost of goods sold and operating expenses.

Screenshot (Goods)

This workbook contains two profit and loss templates designed for companies providing
services or selling goods. The main difference is that the Goods worksheet includes a
Cost of Goods Sold section for recording inventory and purchases and calculating
Gross Profit.

Using the Profit and Loss Template

The difference between a business budget and a profit and loss projection is subtle,
but important. After creating a profit and loss projection, you could simply change the
title of your spreadsheet to "Budget". However, if you are like me, your budget will be
much more conservative than your projection. A projection should be as realistic as
possible.

The profit and loss template includes the same set of categories as the business
budget, and information about income categories and expense categories can be found
on the Income Statement and Business Budget pages.

Monthly Cash Flow Worksheet

Download a free cash flow worksheet for Microsoft Excel®

This spreadsheet is for people who don't like the word budget but still want to get a grip
on their finances. Basic personal finance is mostly about managing cash flow which
means tracking and planning how money is entering and leaving your real and virtual
pockets. This worksheet can be used for tracking your spending as well as creating a
budget.

Description

This worksheet was created for use in a book about personal finance and getting free
from debt. It includes a fairly comprehensive set of expense categories and was
designed to be easy to understand and simple to customize. It's mainly for people who
don't already use Quicken (you can generate a report like this from Quicken very easily
via the Reports menu).

Although there are some really cool things that can be done with Excel to make this
worksheet more useful, I have intentionally kept this template simple. Quicken is my
personal tool of choice when it comes to personal money management. If you want to
use a free spreadsheet with the ability to enter transactions in account registers like you
do in Quicken, you can try the Money Management Template.

Keep in mind that spreadsheets allow you to make more mistakes than software like
Quicken, because spreadsheets use formulas and calculations that you may mess up
by accident.

Customizing Categories

You can edit the labels for the various categories in column B as needed. You may want
to add more specific categories or delete some you don't need. Do this by inserting or
deleting entire rows. When inserting rows, make sure to copy the formulas in the Total
and Average columns.

The formulas used for the column totals are set up to make it easy to add and delete
rows without messing up the template, as long as you insert new rows within the range
of rows referenced by the totals. You should still verify the formulas used for the Totals
if you insert rows.

Average Monthly Expenses

The Average column divides the Total by the number of columns to give a monthly
average. This can be particularly helpful if you have an annual, quarterly, or other
periodic expense and want to figure out what monthly amount to set aside for that
upcoming expense.

Creating a Monthly Budget that is the same each month requires that you use averages
for variable expenses (fuel, food, etc.) and periodic expenses (insurance, tuition,
subscriptions, etc.). A yearly cash flow analysis like this one can help you figure out
what those averages are.

TIP: One of the benefits of using a spreadsheet for a report like this is that you can add
comments to a cell to provide more information about a particular expense (Right-click >
Insert Comment). For example, you might add a note to explain why you spent $200 on
subscriptions in November. That may help you later if you are looking for ways to cut
back your expenses.

Biweekly and Weekly Instead of Monthly

A cash flow analysis or budget can be defined over any period that you want. The dates
at the top of this worksheet don't affect any of the other numbers in the worksheet, so
you could change these dates to whatever you want them to be.

HINT: If you unhide the columns to the right of the worksheet, you'll find a cell that lets
you change the date period to biweekly or weekly. If you change to biweekly periods,
the Average will represent a biweekly average.
Removing and Adding Columns

If you wanted a 6-month cash flow, simply delete the last 6 columns before the Total
column. Adding columns is also possible, but it will require more experience working
with Excel.

If you wanted to add columns for weekly or biweekly cash flow reports, you could copy
and insert copied columns, but you'd need to insert them BEFORE the current 12th
column so that the Total and Average formulas remain correct (If you insert them
immediately before the Total column, the Total and Average won't include your inserted
columns). You'd also need to fix the formulas in the summary rows at the top of the
worksheet (copy the formulas used for the 2nd column to the right).

Beginning/Ending Balance

The purpose of the beginning/ending cash balance section at the top of this
spreadsheet is to show how much cushion you have in your spending account.

For the Beginning Balance, enter the sum of the amounts in your spending accounts on
the chosen start date. A checking account, your wallet, and/or savings account might be
considered a "spending account" if money leaves your possession from that account
(like paying bills from a savings account or paying a cab driver with money from your
purse).

What is NOT a spending account? Your Retirement Fund, Emergency Fund, College
Fund, etc. Do NOT include the balance in any of the categories listed under
"Allocations" in the Outflows section. Why? Because we are treating transfers to these
types of savings as Outflows from cash accounts. If you included your Retirement Fund
in the cash balance, then it wouldn't make sense to include "Retirement Fund" as an
Outflow. Note again that this is meant to show how much cushion your spending
account has.

Is a credit card account a spending account? If you are paying the balance off each
month, then yes. You would monitor your credit card statement and allocate each
transaction to specific expense categories. The transfer of money from your checking
account to your credit card account would NOT show up in the cash flow statement in
this case.
On the other hand, minimum payments on credit card balance(s) are included as "Credit
Card Payments" in the Debt section of the outflows.

TIP: It is MUCH easier to keep savings separate from spending if you are using
separate bank accounts for each.

Balance Sheet Template

Download a sample Balance Sheet for Microsoft Excel® - by Jon Wittwer

The balance sheet is a very important financial statement that summarizes a

company's assets (what it owns) and liabilities (what it owes). A balance sheet is used
to gain insight into the financial strength of a company. You can also see how the
company resources are distributed and compare the information with similar companies.

Advertisement

No balance sheet statement is complete (in my opinion) without an income statement to

go along with it. As a small business owner, I find the income statement to be more
useful in the general operation of the business, but the balance sheet is still a critical
accounting tool that provides a key piece of information.

The balance sheet informs company owners about the net worth of the company at a
specific point in time. This is done by subtracting the total liabilities from the total
assets to calculate the owner's equity, also known as shareholder's equity (for
corporations) or simply the net worth.

Description

Download our free Balance Sheet template, designed for the small-business owner. It
includes common financial ratios and works well for a two-year comparison. See below
for more information on the different asset and liability categories.

Balance Sheet Essentials

The Accounting Equation: Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity

Current Assets

The term current in a balance sheet generally means "short-term" which is usually one
year or less. Common current assets includes cash (cash, coin, balances in checking
and savings accounts), accounts receivable (amounts owed to your business by your
customers usually within 10-60 days), inventory (goods for sale), and prepaid
expenses (e.g. insurance and rent).

Long-Term Assets

These assets include long-term investments, cost of property and equipment (e.g.
land, buildings, equipment, tools, furniture, computers, vehicles, etc.) offset by
accumulated depreciation, intangible assets (e.g. patents, contracts, trademarks,
copyrights, and goodwill), and other assets (like deferred income tax arising from the
loss of value of property that cannot be reported as a tax deduction until the property is
sold).

Current Liabilities

These include the obligations to be paid within one year, including accounts payable,
short-term loans, income taxes payable, wages, unearned revenue (e.g. service
contracts), and the current portion of long-term debt (e.g. mortgage payments payable
within 12 months).

Long-Term Liabilities

These include long-term debt (e.g. notes, mortgages), capital lease obligations (e.g.
leases structured as loans), and deferred income tax (e.g. the tax due on the increase
in value of an investment security that isn't paid until the security is sold).

Owner's Equity (or Stockholders' Equity for corporations)

This is basically the amount left over when you subtract Total Liabilities from Total
Assets. In includes the owner's investment(s) and retained earnings (the portion of
the profits reinvested in the business). For corporations, there are usually more
categories (see the references below).
Break Even Analysis
Download a Break-Even Point Calculator for Microsoft® Excel® - by Jon Wittwer

A startup business will utilize a Break Even Analysis to calculate whether or not it
would be financially viable to produce and sell a new product or pursue a new venture.
This analysis is a common tool used in a solid business plan. The formulas for the
break even point are relatively simple, but it can be difficult coming up with the
projected sales, selecting the right sale price, and calculating the fixed and variable
costs. While these tasks are still the responsibility of the business owner, our Break
Even Calculator can help you run and report the analysis.

In addition to the spreadsheet, this page explains the formulas used in a break-even
analysis. If you are more worried about your budget than your time, you can use the
formulas and explanation below the template to create your own spreadsheet from
scratch.

Description

The Break Even Point is usually either the number of units you have to sell or the
dollar amount of sales required to cover your costs. It may also be defined as (1) the
point at which an investment will start generating a positive return or (2) the point at
which total costs = total revenue. A break-even analysis can also be used to calculate
the Payback Period, or the amount of time required to break even.

Our Break-Even Analysis Calculator is a simple spreadsheet that contains 3 separate

worksheets to solve for either (1) Break-Even Units, (2) Break-Even Price, or (3)
Payback Period. All of these scenarios are just different ways of manipulating the basic
breakeven equation, explained in detail below.

In addition to the Break-Even Point, the worksheets also solve for the number of units or
the price to reach a target Net Income Before Taxes (NIBT).