3-Statement Startup Financial Model in Excel
Follow your assumptions through profit, cash and financial position
A revenue forecast is only part of a business plan. This editable Excel workbook connects your sales assumptions, operating costs, asset purchases and funding decisions to an income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. See how a change affects the whole plan instead of reviewing three separate reports.
One free Excel workbook, populated with illustrative startup data. Explore 60 monthly forecast periods, five annual summaries and eight native Excel charts before replacing the inputs with your own business assumptions.
Build the forecast from the operating plan
Start with three product lines. Set their names, launch dates, annual sales volumes, selling prices and cost-of-goods-sold assumptions. The supporting schedules then connect operating expenses, salaries, fixed costs, equipment and funding to the financial statements.
Sales and costs
Change product volumes, prices, launch dates and cost percentages. Update variable expenses, payroll and fixed operating costs in their supporting schedule.
Cash timing
Set collection and payment proportions across the timing buckets. Follow the resulting customer receipts, supplier payments, inventory and working-capital balances.
Assets and funding
Plan capital expenditure and depreciation, debt drawdown and repayment, equity funding, buybacks and dividends. Keep financing cash flows separate from operating profit.
Read the three statements together
Income statement: understand the route to profit
Follow revenue through cost of goods sold, gross profit, operating expenses, EBITDA, depreciation, interest and tax to the bottom line. The monthly detail supports the annual summary, so you can investigate the periods behind a headline result. The charts show the relationship between revenue, earnings and margins.
Cash flow: see what reaches the bank
Review operating receipts and payments separately from investment and financing. A profitable period does not necessarily increase cash: collections may be delayed, equipment may be purchased, or debt and dividends may need to be paid. This workbook makes those cash flows visible in their own statement.
In the sample data, 2028 net profit is approximately $23,000, while cash falls by approximately $49,000. Operating cash generation is outweighed by financing payments. Use the example to follow the difference, then change the inputs to explore your own plan.
Balance sheet: check the position behind the plan
See cash, receivables, inventory and net fixed assets alongside payables, the current portion of debt, long-term debt, equity and retained earnings. The balance-sheet check compares assets with liabilities plus equity at each monthly reporting date. Use it with the supporting schedules when reviewing your changes.
Nine worksheets with clear roles
- Cover: company name, a short starting guide and the model’s key timing conventions.
- Dashboard: core business, funding, debt and working-capital assumptions, annual results and charts.
- OPEX: variable expenses, salaries and fixed operating expenses with their relevant dates.
- CAPEX: asset purchases, useful-life assumptions and depreciation calculations.
- Capital: inventory, borrowing, debt service, equity, buybacks and dividend schedules.
- Summary: annual income and cash-flow results with financial charts.
- IS, CF and BS: the linked monthly income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet.
Get started in four steps
- Open the example. Download the .xlsx file and review the populated results. Set your company name and the relevant forecast settings.
- Replace the yellow inputs. Enter your sales plan, expense assumptions, asset purchases, cash timing and financing terms.
- Follow the consequences. Review the dashboard and all three statements. Investigate the schedules behind changes in profit, cash and financial position.
- Review before using the forecast. Confirm the assumptions and timing, inspect the balance check and save your working version.
Who this workbook is for
Use it as a starting point for a founder’s startup forecast, an analyst’s integrated planning model, or an advisor’s discussion of how operating assumptions affect cash and funding. It is also useful for learning how the three statements connect, because the formulas and schedules remain visible and editable.
Understand the starting conventions
The example starts with zero opening operating balances. Tax is calculated monthly on positive profit without a loss-carryforward schedule. Loan payments start in the drawdown month, and depreciation begins in the purchase month. Review these conventions when adapting the workbook, particularly if you need to model an existing company’s opening balance sheet.
Your free download
You receive one editable Excel .xlsx workbook with sample inputs, formulas, supporting schedules and native charts. The workbook contains no VBA macros.
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