Financial plan for your business plan: five budgets that must add up
Startup costs, financing, sales, profit and cash: one worked example that runs through every budget.
In this topic: Start a business 7
A plan that adds up on paper and at the bank
Six guides to the financial part of your business plan, all built on one worked example that runs through every budget.
Most lenders read a business plan back to front. They open the numbers first, check whether they hang together, and only then read what you wrote about the market. The financial plan for your business plan is that set of numbers: what you need to buy, how you pay for it, what you expect to sell, whether that leaves a profit, and whether there is cash in the bank every month.
The guides below follow one fictitious business. Leo opens Chainline Bike Workshop, a repair workshop that also sells bikes, with startup costs of €80,000. The figures on each page match the next, so you can follow a change in the sales forecast through to profit and cash. The examples are in euros; the method works in any currency.
The guides on business plan financials
Business plan example and template
A worked plan of the bike workshop, chapter by chapter, and an outline to copy as a checklist.
Startup costs
What you spend before the first customer pays, what you depreciate and what you get back.
Financing plan
Own money, loans and supplier credit side by side, and what repayments do to your cash.
Profit and loss forecast
Three years of revenue, margin and costs, and why profit can dip in year two.
Cash flow forecast
Twelve months of receipts and payments with VAT, and how to find your tightest month.
Sales forecast and break-even
Revenue from volumes and prices, and how much you must sell to cover costs and your income.
The five budgets of a financial plan in one overview
| Budget | The question it answers | Period | Key output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startup costs | What must I pay before the business pays its own way? | One-off, around opening | Total need: assets, stock, deposits, start-up expenses, cash buffer |
| Financing plan | Who pays for it, on what terms? | One-off, loans over several years | Own money and borrowing that add up to the same total |
| Sales forecast | How much will I sell, at what price? | Monthly in year one, then yearly | Revenue per product, break-even revenue, margin of safety |
| Profit and loss forecast | Do I make a profit, and is it enough to live on? | Three years, yearly | Gross margin and profit before tax |
| Cash flow forecast | Can I pay every bill on time? | Twelve months, monthly | Closing balance per month, tightest month |
Beneath these five sits the personal budget: what the business must pay you each month. It sets the minimum profit your plan has to deliver, so start there. The guide on paying yourself shows how.
| Running example | Chainline Bike Workshop |
|---|---|
| Startup costs | €80,000, of which €45,000 in fixed assets |
| Financing | €20,000 own savings, €35,000 bank loan, €20,000 microloan, €5,000 supplier credit |
| Revenue year one | €180,000 from 150 bikes and 2,000 repair jobs |
| Profit before tax | €37,200, €33,100 and €44,400 in years one to three |
| Tightest month | March, the opening month, with €2,930 in the bank |
Fictitious Firmfocus example. Amounts exclude VAT, except in the cash flow forecast.
What lenders want to see in your financial plan
- Your own money in the business: Canada's state-owned development bank BDC writes that bankers want founders to share the risk by putting their own money in (source: BDC, June 2023), or else to provide collateral (source: BDC, August 2026).
- Projections that match the request: the US Small Business Administration advises a five-year outlook with quarterly or monthly figures for the first year (source: US Small Business Administration, September 2026).
- A monthly cash flow forecast and a personal budget: the UK Start Up Loans programme asks for a business plan, a cash flow forecast for 12 months and a personal survival budget (source: British Business Bank, October 2026).
- Evidence behind revenue: quotes, letters of intent, pre-orders or a track record with similar customers.
- A downside scenario: what happens if sales are a quarter lower or a large customer pays late, and what you would do.
- Experience, credit record and a guarantee: for a start-up, BDC says the personal credit score is often the only major factor a bank can assess, and that banks typically require a personal guarantee (source: BDC, July 2025).
Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than otherwise similar entrepreneurs who do not, according to research by Francis Greene and Christian Hopp (source: Harvard Business Review, July 2017).
If the bank says no
Ask which part worried the lender: own money, revenue evidence, repayment capacity or security. Fix that part before you apply elsewhere. Smaller amounts often come from microlenders: SBA microloans in the US go up to $50,000, with an average of about $13,000 (source: US Small Business Administration, August 2026). The guide on funding and grants compares more options, and startup capital covers investors.
For the chapters on market, offer and organisation, see writing your business plan; for trade-specific figures, see starting by industry. All guides for new founders are under Start a business.
What is the difference between a business plan and a financial plan?
How much of my own money do I need to put in?
How far ahead should my forecasts go?
How long should my business plan be?
Sources
- US Small Business Administration: Write your business plan (September 2026)
- US Small Business Administration: Microloans (August 2026)
- British Business Bank: A brief guide to Start Up Loans (October 2026)
- BDC: How research can help you get a start-up business loan (June 2023)
- BDC: Factors to consider in start-up financing (July 2025)
- BDC: Sources of start-up financing (August 2026)
- Harvard Business Review: Research on writing a business plan (July 2017)
Maak gebruik van onze ondernemerstools en de laatste branche-informatie
Verkrijg direct toegang tot alle stappen, downloads en tools voor ondernemers.
- Toegang tot de meest actuele bedrijfstakcijfers
- Ondernemingsplan online tool — schrijf en download naar MS Word
- Download tools en templates voor ondernemers
- Vergelijk en bewaar uw eigen cijfers met het branchegemiddelde