Ready to take control of your business's financial future? This webinar, led by LivePlan product engagement expert Lauren McColm and customer success specialist Julia Clark, dives deep into building, understanding, and utilizing your financial forecast in LivePlan. Whether you're a startup or an established business, an advisor, or an entrepreneur, discover how to transform your financial data into a powerful roadmap for growth and informed decision-making. Watch this session to learn how to confidently navigate your financial journey with LivePlan.
What You'll Learn
This webinar is packed with practical tips and answers to the most common questions from our partner community. Here’s a look at what we cover:
Laying the Foundation for Your Forecast
Strategic Business Overview: Understand the fundamental categories of your business—revenue, expenses, financing—and how they inform your forecast. Data Gathering Best Practices: Learn how to identify reliable sources for your financial information, whether you're a new startup or an existing business. Addressing Startup Costs: Discover best practices for incorporating initial expenses and asset purchases into your forecast, crucial for securing funding and transparent financial planning.
Building Your Forecast in LivePlan
Setting Up Starting Balances: Learn how to establish an accurate financial baseline for existing businesses by importing data or manually entering balance sheet information. Navigating Financial Tables: Get a guided tour through LivePlan's intuitive financial tables, including revenue, direct costs, personnel, and expenses, and understand the optimal order for data entry. Creating Revenue Streams: Explore different revenue entry types (unit sales, recurring charges, revenue only) and learn how to adjust amounts over time to reflect growth, seasonality, or service changes. Optimizing Category Creation: Gain insights into grouping products and services strategically to maintain a high-level, manageable forecast without overwhelming detail, even with hundreds of SKUs. Understanding Cash Flow Assumptions: Learn how to accurately project cash flow by setting assumptions for accounts receivable, accounts payable, and inventory, ensuring your cash balance is realistic.
Using Your Forecast as a Roadmap
Accessing Financial Statements: Understand how to interpret the projected Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow statements to gain a comprehensive view of your business's future financial health. Leveraging Scenarios for Strategic Planning: Learn how to create and utilize up to ten different scenarios (e.g., baseline, best-case, worst-case) to test the financial impact of new revenue streams, hiring, or other strategic decisions. Dynamic Live Forecast Integration: Discover how to connect LivePlan with QuickBooks Online or Xero (or manually enter data) to blend actual financial results with your forecast, providing real-time insights into your performance. Interpreting Performance Metrics: Understand how to use the dashboard and various trend metrics to compare actual performance against your forecast, enabling timely and informed business adjustments. Enhancing Clarity with Forecast Notes: Explore the new Forecast Notes feature to document assumptions, explain financial fluctuations, and foster collaboration within your team directly within your forecast.
Ongoing Learning and Support
Accessing LivePlan Resources: Learn about the continuous support available through LivePlan's in-app chat, help center articles, webinars, and robust blog content. Volume Pricing for Advisors: For those advising multiple clients, discover how to connect with LivePlan sales representatives to explore volume pricing options.
