Do I need a Business Plan?

What's in a business plan?

What makes a successful business plan?
BUSINESS PLAN BASICS
What's in a business plan?
What makes a successful business plan?
How do you write a business plan?
GATHERING INFORMATION FOR YOUR PLAN
BUSINESS PLAN MAINTENANCE
Reviewing Your Plan
Maintaining Your Plan
Competitor intelligence
Forecasts
Quantitative forecasting
Qualitative forecasting
Benchmarking
Resources
Budget
Scheduling
Breakeven analysis
Budgeting: Why and How 1
Why Make a Budget? Who Reads Budgets? 2
Eight Steps to Creating a Budget 5
Success Review 18
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 1 18
2. The Parts of a Budget 20
Time Periods of Your Budget 20
Budget and Vision 23
Forecasting Income 29
Expense Categories vs. Account Codes 32
Key Accounting Concepts 34
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 2 39
3. Gathering Production Figures 41
Gathering Past Figures 42
Working with Multiple Periods 45
Working with Account Categories and
Line Item Names 50
Evaluating the Quality of Your Information 50
Working with Multiple Periods and Trends 52
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 3 53
4. Creating a Production Budget 55
Estimation Methods 56
Planning the Future in Detail 58
A Sample Manufacturing Budget 61
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 4 71
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5. Planning and Budgeting a Project 72
Define the Project 73
Create the Work Plan 84
Calculate the Cost 89
Tracking a Project 89
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 5 90
6. Checking It Twice 92
Using a Partner for Proofreading 92
Errors Created by Spreadsheet Programs 93
Automatic Cross-Checking in Spreadsheets 96
Document Version Control 97
Verifying Budgetary Assumptions 100
The Final Proofreading Steps 101
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 6 101
7. Preparing for Presentation 103
Combining Parts of Your Budget 104
Revising Budgetary Assumptions 107
Creating Templates and Formatting a Budget 109
Adding Account Codes 110
Preparing a Budget Presentation 111
Presentation Formats 117
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 7 121
8. Budgetary Spending 123
Getting the Budget Authorized 123
Adjusting to the Authorized Amount 126
Setting up Your Budget with Accounting 128
Spending at the Beginning and the End of the Year 133
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 8 134
9. Tracking Your Budget 136
Authorizing and Tracking Expenses 137
Closing a Budget Period 142
Comparing Estimated Versus Actual Budgets 144
Overspending and Underspending 144
Adjusting the Budget 147
Reviewing Financial Statements 147
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 9 151
10. Budgeting and Human Resources 153
HR Management and HR Services 154
Use of Consulting Services and Outsourcing 155
vi Contents
Departmental Control 156
Putting It All Together 165
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 10 166
11. Small Business Money Management 168
Estimating Business Income 170
Small Business Payroll 173
General Financial Management 174
Seasonal Fluctuation and Available Cash 175
Setting Prices 178
Budgets for Customer Proposals 178
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 11 182
12. Mastering the Budget Process 184
Negotiating for Your Budget 184
Improving Your Estimation Skills 186
Timing Your Budget Preparation 188
The 15-Month Budget 189
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 12 190
Index 193