Create a Robust Financial Plan: Financial Statements

The income statement, or P&L, is the financial report investors will scrutinize the most – and with good reason: it's where all your projections and calculations are summarized to tell the story, in numbers, of how your business will make money. This course will help you bring everything together to develop a P&L that's accurate and convincing.

Given that 8 in 10 business failures can be attributed to poor cash management, tracking how much cash is coming in and going out is crucial to startup success. The cash flow statement provides an ongoing record of income, investments, and expenses so you can adjust activities and stay on target. You can also predict how much you need to invest in the business before your business achieves positive cash flow – more money coming in than going out.

In addition to addressing these crucial calculations, this course delves into strategies for managing cash flow and establishing a realistic basis for cash flow projections. Using the accompanying spreadsheet in tandem with on-demand expertise, you’ll develop a sound cash flow strategy that sets your company on a path toward growth.

This course is part of a larger series on creating a robust financial plan. To learn more, you can watch the following courses in this series:

1. Create a Robust Financial Plan: The Fundamentals
2. Create a Robust Financial Plan: Revenue Model
3. Create a Robust Financial Plan: Staffing and Expense Models

Income Statement Explained

Your income statement (or P&L) tells the entire financial story of your business at a glance. The income statement is also an industry-standard statement, so it's readily understood by banks and investors. The story it tells? How realistic your business is based on your forecasts, how many expenses you have, your product, sales & marketing costs, and your staffing projections.

If you don’t know how to read an income statement and explain each number to your investors, then you must watch this lesson. We will walk you through our entire income statement and explain each line. Your income statement tells a story and you need to know how to interpret and articulate that story to your key stakeholders and investors.

Income Statement Walk-Through Explained

Let's review each of the five areas of an income statement so you understand exactly how each area impacts your business. This walk-through takes you right into the Financial Models Worksheet — spotlighting the Income Statement. This covers your P&L and cash flow statements. (While there's nothing for you to input here, it's critical to review it.) Ken explains how to analyze the fields in these two statements so that you can confidently assess business financials on your own. 

Cash Flow Statement

Understanding cash flow can mean the difference between being in business and going out of business. This video provides an overview of managing your cash flow on a monthly basis as well as understanding your max negative cash flow — all so you can avoid the pitfalls that could lead to unnecessary bankruptcy.

Let's walk through how to go about creating different scenarios for your financial plan. This will really help when it's time to talk with investors, and will also ultimately create a more accurate financial forecast.  

Financial Model: Worksheets

This courses included a full blown financial model you can use to create an income statement and cash flow statement for your business. In addition, we have included a collection of completed sample worksheets that are referenced in this course.

Please note: The password to unprotect the spreadsheets allowing you to change formulas and insert rows is: Success.

1. Anyone who is running a small business.
2. Anyone who wants to start a business.

1. I'm not graduate from economic bachelor and English is not my mother tongue. But this course and how Mr. Ken explained the content is really easy to understand for beginner like me. Thanks to Mr. Ken for answered all of my question with a fast and easy understandable answer! ~ Diantini S
2. Perfect timing and the insights till now are those that I was exactly looking for.... Excited to learn more ~ Yogen P
3. Such an amazing course. You'll be able to understand and create your own business plan and you'll get a lot of valuable advices ~ A Cerimagic
4. Lot’s of info in this course. Ken really takes you from A to Z . Just what I needed for my business to take off. Thanks ~ Hugo M
5. I'm new to the business world and have been looking for courses with practical guidance. This course definitely provides that and so much more ~ S Slawinski
6. So far so good! A lot of challenges I'm facing in my work place Ken has highlighted the root course, which I was not expecting. He is clear, very engaging and breaks down the jargon. He is straight talking, right down to business attitude. I've just completed the first chapter and he's restoring a little faith in me so quite excited to keep learning (I know, I sound like a nerd) ~ Harrie T
7. This course is the right match for me as I know some about business but believe in always improving. I also want to make sure I have a solid foundation for my business so I'm positioned right for the new year, and growth ~ E Jollymore

1. Why do investors care about the P&L?
2. What red flags are investors looking for when they scrutinize the numbers?
3. What adjustments should I include to arrive at a realistic net revenue?
4. Why is gross margin so important?
5. How can I identify an appropriate gross margin target for my business?
6. What should I include as operating expenses?
7. What is the difference between gross margin and operating margin?
8. Why is it important to track cash flow?
9. What are the elements of the cash flow statement?
10. What is a burn rate?
11. What does cash flow positive mean, and how can I predict when I’ll get there?
12. Why could a quick positive cash flow give investors pause?
13. What inputs can I adjust to impact the cash flow model?
14. How should I define aggressive and conservative cash flow estimates?

1. Basic knowledge of Excel or Google Sheets. We provide the complete financial model so all you need to do is input your data.
2. A basic understanding of business accounting.