Whether you are seeking funding from investors or you are compiling a business plan to serve as a blueprint for managing and monitoring your business, it is imperative that you make financial projections. Such financial projections will attract investors and serve as a guide to future business decisions.

Your financial plan will be highly scrutinized by your business plan reader. All the ideas, concepts and strategies discussed throughout your entire business plan form the basis for, and should flow into, your financial statements and projections in some manner. When it gets down to it, your reader wants to know if and when you will make money and become profitable.

Financial statements and projections should follow Generally Accepted Accounting Standards and must (at a minimum) include properly prepared balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements. Bankers and investors are familiar with the correct content, organization and presentation of financial statements, and expect to see them in your business plan