Freelancer and Consultant 5 Year Financial Model: Dashboard, 3 Statements, Utilisation, Hiring Plan

A fully linked five year financial model for an independent consultant, a freelancer or a small studio. It answers the questions that decide whether to go independent: what the year actually pays after tax and overheads, when the first hire becomes affordable, where the cash low point sits, and what a bad year does to the bank balance. Revenue is built from four streams an independent actually sells: billable days at a day rate, monthly retainers, fixed price projects, and products or courses. Each stream carries its own starting volume, monthly growth, direct cost percentage and a capacity ceiling, so billable days stop at the hours that exist in a week instead of compounding forever. That ceiling is what makes the utilisation question honest.

Fifteen linked worksheets: Start Here, Dashboard, Inputs, Revenue, COGS, Payroll, Opex, CapEx, P&L, Cash Flow, Balance Sheet, Break even, Scenarios, Funding and Checks. Monthly across 60 months with annual summaries. One input tab, blue on yellow cells, everything else calculates. A hiring roster with start and end months, employer burden and wage inflation. Software, insurance, accounting, marketing and equipment as real expense lines. Base, Best and Worst scenarios on a single switch. A funding view with capital required, an optional loan schedule and use of funds. Industry benchmarks beside your own numbers. A Checks tab proves the balance sheet balances in every one of the 60 months.

Who it is for: anyone going independent, an established freelancer planning a first hire, or a studio owner who needs to show a lender or a partner what the next five years look like. Excel 2016 or later and Google Sheets, no macros. Includes a one page quick start guide with a Google Sheets copy link.