Preparing a forecast

Forecasting is a process where you estimate the amount of revenue and cost your business will generate in the coming years. As an entrepreneur, creating a forecast can be overwhelming. However, you need not worry about it. All you have to do is make reasonable estimates based on your expertise and research. To make your estimates more accurate, it's a good idea to find similar businesses and use their data as a benchmark. LivePlan Premium's Industry Data feature can assist in fine-tuning your estimates.

It's important to remember that forecasting is not about achieving perfect accuracy. Rather, the purpose of a forecast is to assist in predicting your business's future needs, allowing you to ensure that you have sufficient financial resources available. Anyone can forecast revenue, regardless of their experience or expertise—all that is required is a sense of practicality, the capacity to investigate relevant factors and the drive to make an informed estimate.

The first time that you visit each page in your forecast, such as Revenue, Direct Costs, or Financing, you will see a brief introduction with a video covering how to approach each page. If you wish to rewatch these videos later, you can find the link below the forecast table for each page.

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You can also view all of these videos on our Getting Started Videos page

Forecast options, such as the forecast length, start date, level of monthly detail, and more, can be adjusted in the Options menu located in the left sidebar. 
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The articles below will show you how to complete each section of the LivePlan forecast and understand the standard financial statements automatically created from your forecast. 

Forecast pages:
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The following articles cover the various pages available in the topbar of your LivePlan Forecast.

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