Startup Pro-forma Profit and Loss statement (P&L) Template

Made to help you construct a high level operation plan for your startup.

by Charlie Tillett
Consulting CFO to early-stage, VC-backed, technology companiesFollow 170

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Description
With the use of the following template, you will be able to make up your own pro-forma Profit and Loss statement.

To give you some guidance on the components of this template, read the explanations below:

• P&L by year: The company’s vision on how it will generate revenue, and where it will have to make expenditures to bring in that revenue. This view is key; you need to show this to investors.

• P&L by quarter: This worksheet breaks down financials by quarter- Which may be of particular importance for highly seasonal businesses.

• Sales plan: the most important worksheet- it captures your business model, the tool that will capture value from your customers, but that will also guide you through how to acquire customers and drive your sales up overtime.

• COGS – Cost of Goods Sold. This goes along with the sales projections in the sales plan. COGS is key for hardware businesses and software businesses that license technology from another entity.

• Staffing plan: outlines the key driver for operating expenses- compensation for employees.

• Expenses: other expenses outside headcount; may be important for hardware business with a lot of non-recurring engineering (NRE) expenses.

• Balance sheet: summarizes assets and liabilities. Not exactly relevant for day to day management, however the cashflow statement is a much more important financial statement.

• Capex and Cash Flow: Looks at cash fluctuation at year over quarter and quarter over quarter. This is important for day to day management- remember, cash is the only way you can operate.

If the template sounds confusing, keep in mind that all you need to understand is how to construct the P&L, and to have all the necessary data to back up ideas on how you will expand revenue. The rest can be done by a finance professional- after you close on a significant round of financing.

Good luck!

- Charlie Tillet

This Best Practice includes
1 excel sheet