Written by Nils R. | Jul 2, 2020 7:00:00 AM
What is
a
Monthly Profit & Loss Forecast Report
? Profit & Loss Forecasts are considered one of the most popular type of planning models and are used by CFOs and planning managers to help plan any activity that will be driven by revenues, expenses and profitability. One key functionality in this type of forecast template can provide a month by month view of revenues and expenses at a GL account level. In the columns it automatically pulls actual figures year-to-date and then displays forecast for the remaining months. This P&L forecast is typically linked to the Balance Sheet and together these two templates feed the Cash Flow Forecast. You will find an example of this type of forecast template below.
Purpose of
Profit & Loss Forecast Models Companies and organizations use Profit & Loss Forecast Models to provide executives and managers with a dynamic planning tool that speeds up and improves decisions related to revenues, expenses and profitability. When used as part of good business practices in a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and Accounting Department, a company can improve its strategic and operating decisions as well as mitigate the risk that lack of profitability and related overspending occur.
Profit & Loss Forecast Model
Example Here is an example of a Monthly Profit & Loss Forecast Report with actual data year-to-date and forecast for the rest of the year. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1802"]
Monthly Profit & Loss 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
Profit & Loss Forecast Models Progressive Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and Accounting Departments sometimes use several different Profit & Loss Forecast Models, along with balance sheet 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
