Written by Nils R. | Jul 2, 2020 7:00:00 AM
What is
a
Monthly Balance Sheet Forecast Report
? Balance Sheet Forecasts are considered key planning tools and are used by CFOs and planning managers to estimate liability and asset components as well as to drive the cash flow forecast. A key functionality in this type of forecast template can pull Net Income and Accumulated Depreciation data from the Profit & Loss forecast and feed it into the Cash Flow forecast. It displays monthly historical data up to the current period, and forecast data for the remaining months of the year. Part of the logic provide an estimate of the timing for Receivables and Payables. The monthly detail provides managers with insights such as important upward and downward trends. You will find an example of this type of forecast template below.
Purpose of
Balance Sheet Forecast Models Companies and organizations use Balance Sheet Forecast Models to drive the Cash Flow forecast and to help managers make timely decisions based on the resulting insights. When used as part of good business practices in a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and Accounting Department, a company can improve its decisions related to assets, liabilities and cash flow, as well as reduce the risk that it cannot meet its financial obligations.
Balance Sheet Forecast Model
Example Here is an example of a Monthly Balance Sheet Forecast Report with actual data year-to-date and forecast for the rest of the year. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1783"]
Monthly Balance Sheet Forecast Report Example[/caption] You can find hundreds of additional examples
here.
Who Uses This Type of
Forecast Template
? The typical users of this type of forecast template are: CFOS, Controllers and Planning Managers.
Other
Forecast Template
s Often Used in Conjunction with
Balance Sheet Forecast Models Progressive Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and Accounting Departments sometimes use several different Balance Sheet Forecast Models, along with profit & loss and cash flow forecasts and other management and control tools.
Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From? The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Netsuite and others. In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the planning data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional corporate performance management (CPM/EPM) solutions.
What Tools are Typically used for Reporting, Planning and Dashboards? Examples of business software used with the data and ERPs mentioned above are:
- Native ERP report writers and query tools
- Spreadsheets (for example Microsoft Excel)
- Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tools (for example Solver)
- Dashboards (for example Microsoft Power BI and Tableau)
Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Cloud Solutions and More Examples
