2 Excel templates:

1) Financial Summary for Board Reportingโ€‹โ€‹

Too much data or unnecessary details can overwhelm board members, making it hard to focus on key insights.

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€:

Lack of clarity

Delayed or inconsistent information

KPIs distract from strategic discussions.

Hard to compare performance across time periods or industry benchmarks

Time-consuming discussions, delaying action

Lack of visual representation

I am always thinking on how to present the financial results to the board effectively, provide clear insights, and support the best decision-making process.

If it is requested to have only one page for this, this visual is my choice.

โ€‹Click here to get your Excel templateโ€‹

The model can be adjusted very easily to any company. This template is resulted by a full reporting package, forecasting files and schedules. I do not share such templates this time, I focus just on the importance of presentation.

2) Simple 3 Statement Model for Practicing

Want to build a 3 statements model in Excel?

๐— ๐˜† ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น.

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€

1. Create basic model assumptions table in a separate sheet

2. Create a layout of your financials

3. Input key positions and fill historical data

๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜

โ†’ Start with revenue forecast

โ†’ Create a gross profit and COGS forecast

โ†’ Estimate number of headcount per period

โ†’ Input expected average salary

โ†’ Create a forecast of variable overhead costs

โ†’ Create a forecast of fixed overhead costs

โ†’ EBITDA is automatically calculated

โ†’ Create a forecast of depreciation

โ†’ Create a forecast of corporate taxes

๐—•๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜

โ†’ Create projection of current assets

โ†’ Estimate purchase value of planned new investments

โ†’ Forecast current liabilities

โ†’ Forecast of non-current liabilities and equity.

๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜

โ†’ Project operating cash flow

โ†’ By linking relevant positions from income statements and balance sheet

โ†’ Create projection of investing cash flows

โ†’ Create a projection of financing cash flow

โ†’ Check does your projected cash exceeds the minimum requiredโ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹

โ€‹Click here to get your Excel templateโ€‹

This model, with small adjustments can be used for many industries.

Here are 2 Infographics for Today:

1) 23 Variance Analysis Red Flags + Action Plans

โ€‹Get this infographic on a high-resolution PDFโ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹

2) 7 Finance Model Types

โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹Get this infographic on a high-resolution PDFโ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹

Hereโ€™s todayโ€™s โ€œHow toโ€ guide:โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹

How to do headcount planning

When embarking on headcount planning, it’s crucial to delve deep into all the pertinent data available.

This means thoroughly reviewing historical hiring patterns, understanding the current workforce composition in terms of roles, skills, and departments, and anticipating future business needs.

One must also consider any strategic shifts or expansions that the company is planning, which could influence hiring requirements.

Employee turnover rates, internal promotions, and the average time it takes to fill a vacancy can also offer insightful data.

Here’s what to focus on:

  • Business Growth: Project how much the company is expected to grow in terms of revenue, market share, or product output, as this will naturally affect your staffing needs.
  • Strategic Initiatives: Take into account any new projects, markets, or product launches that may require additional manpower.
  • Seasonality: If your business experiences seasonal peaks and troughs, this will greatly impact your staffing needs throughout the year.
  • Turnover Rate: Estimate the number of employees likely to leave the organization, whether through retirement, resignation, or termination.
  • Recruitment Time: Consider how long it typically takes to recruit for different roles within your organization.
  • Skills and Competencies: Identify the specific skills, competencies, and qualifications needed for various roles, especially if youโ€™re entering new markets or launching new projects.
  • Training Time: If new skills are needed, estimate how long it will take to train existing staff or onboard new employees.
  • Regulatory Changes: Be aware of any new labor laws or regulations that could affect your staffing levels or hiring practices.
  • Budget Constraints: Obviously, your ability to hire is significantly affected by the financial resources available to you.
  • External Economic Conditions: Unemployment rates, economic forecasts, and industry trends can all affect your ability to hire and should be considered in your planning.
  • Advancements in Technology: New technology could reduce or increase your staffing needs depending on whether tasks can be automated.
  • Organizational Changes: Mergers, acquisitions, or restructurings can all impact staffing levels and must be accounted for in your planning
  • Contractual Obligations: Any existing contracts with staff or labor unions that stipulate staffing levels or conditions for layoffs must be honored.
  • Career Progression: Plans for internal promotions and transitions within the company can affect headcount at various levels.
  • Remote Work Capability: The ability to support remote work can affect whether or not additional office space is needed for new hires, affecting overhead costs.
  • Job Role Interdependencies: Some roles may depend on the hiring of other roles; for example, support staff can’t be hired until after sales staff are in place.

By carefully considering these factors and assumptions, you’ll be better equipped to develop a headcount plan that aligns closely with your organizationโ€™s objectives and constraints.

What are the further steps in headcount planning?

Define a type of model.

The most detailed and accurate approach is to make a list of all employees that company currently employs and add new positions based on the operating plan and given assumptions.

The second approach is to make a list of departments and key positions and enter the number of employees in the current period for each cluster.

This is an approach if you have to plan a significant number of employees so it would be easier to group them into similar positions. But you need to have in view that the previous approach is more accurate as you make plans on an individual basis.

In the first step you need to group all employees to similar positions. All positions should be divided into two groups โ€“ direct work and fixed positions.

In the second step you need to estimate the headcount number per defined group.

Finally, you can do the consistency check.

In this case, the compounded annual growth rate is 7%.

Find the relation of headcount number and the volume of operation and check if this 7% is reasonable.

For example, let’s consider the volume of units produced in relation to the number of employees. The planned increase in direct employees is 10%, while the planned increase in production volume is 20%. There is a mismatch in the growth rates, which should be considered before finalizing the plan or budget.