Forecast articles
Guides to building forecasts you can decide with: cash flow, sales, budgets, scenarios and plan vs actual.
Which forecast do you need for the decision in front of you?
A forecast earns its place when it helps you decide something. Start with the decision you are facing, then open the guide that answers it.
Can we afford this?
A hire, a new location or a large purchase looks different month by month than as one annual number. Model what it does to cash before you sign.
Will we run short of cash?
Find the month when planned payments could exceed expected receipts, while there is still time to adjust timing, costs or funding.
What sales level is realistic?
Build revenue from drivers you can defend, such as customers, price and conversion, instead of a growth percentage nobody can explain.
What if our assumptions change?
Compare a base, downside and upside case so one optimistic assumption does not make the decision for you.
Not sure which guide fits?
- Financial forecasting basicsNew to forecasting and want the fundamentals first.
- Your first forecast without historical dataPre-revenue or recently launched, with no track record to project from.
- 7 qualities of an accurate forecastYou have a forecast and want to check it is solid enough to decide on.
- Sales forecasting essentialsYou are setting revenue targets or planning sales capacity.
- Budget vs forecastYou are unsure whether to plan against a fixed budget or a rolling forecast.
- 12-month cash-flow forecastYou need a month-by-month view of cash for the year ahead.
- Cash-flow forecasting software vs ExcelYour spreadsheet is getting hard to maintain and you are weighing a tool.
Where BznsBuilder fits
Once you know which decision you are testing, BznsBuilder keeps the forecast connected: your assumptions flow through to the P&L, cash flow and balance sheet, and you can compare scenarios side by side instead of rebuilding a spreadsheet for each one. See how forecasts and scenarios work