sample financial plan for business plan pdf

Free Financial Planning Templates

By Andy Marker | September 21, 2017

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Whether you’re starting a business or looking for ways to grow an existing company, creating and following a financial plan can help ensure success. An effective plan can inform business decisions, provide documentation for investors and other stakeholders, and serve as a guide to help you reach objectives. Some businesses may choose to work with financial consultants or use software to manage financials, but for some teams, templates offer an easy method to begin strategic planning. Below, you’ll find multiple free financial planning templates for both business and personal use.

These free templates are designed for users with a wide range of experience levels, and offer professional quality along with simplicity. You’ll find templates for goal planning, financial projections, budget planning, retirement calculations, and more.

Business Financial Planning Templates

Business budget template - excel.

Download Business Budget Template

Excel | Smartsheet

This business budget template provides a mix of detailed spreadsheets and graphical data reports. You can estimate expenses, track actual expenditures, and view variances, all of which are summarized by month and visually represented in charts. This information allows you to create a comprehensive business financial plan template.

Project Budget Template - Excel

Download Project Budget Template

Designed for projects, this template allows you to list costs for each task. Depending on the type of project, you may include hourly services that contract employees provide, equipment costs, or other expenses. Create an estimated budget and then compare actual expenses to help with financial planning on future projects.

12-Month Sales Forecast Template - Excel

Download 12-Month Sales Forecast Template

Use this sales forecast template to create financial projections for individual products on a monthly and annual basis. You can also track sales performance over time and compare figures from previous years. Color-coded cells make it easy to view data for each month, and the template calculates monthly and annual totals.

Event Budget Template - Excel

Download Event Budget Template

Whether you’re planning a conference, company party, fundraiser, or wedding, any tool that helps organize your event planning process can reduce stress and aid in creating a successful event. This budget template lists the many expenses involved in an event, from venue rentals to programming and advertising. It also compiles the data you enter into visual charts so that you can quickly get an idea of your event budget allocation.

Financial Management Plan - Word

Download Financial Management Plan

Word | Smartsheet

Create a financial strategic action plan with this Word template. You’ll find a basic outline to follow, including sections for an overview of your business or project, assumptions, risks, financial management methods, and more. Once you have created a comprehensive financial plan, use it as a living document, just like you would a business plan. You should review and update financial templates regularly in order to assess progress, provide accountability and accuracy, and ensure that it continues to meet your needs.

Financial Dashboard Template - Excel

‌ Download Financial Dashboard Template - Excel

This template provides a summary report of financial data with a dashboard view, which makes it easy to compile and quickly review information. You’ll get a combination of bar charts, a pie chart, and a graph to compare statistics over time. Use the template to measure product performance, view sales data, and chart annual revenues or other financial information.

Startup Expenses Template - Excel

‌ Download Startup Expenses Template - Excel

If you’re starting a business, this template can help you identify potential funding sources as well as necessary expenses to get your venture up and running. Similar to a budget template, you can track both estimated and actual costs, and make adjustments as needed. Identifying startup expenses can support your business planning process and help ensure that you have adequate financial resources to reach your goals.

Break-Even Analysis Template - Excel

Download Break-Even Analysis Template

A break-even analysis shows when a business will meet all of its expenses and begin to reach financial profitability. To do this analysis, enter your fixed and variable expenses into the template and the pre-set formulas will calculate how much revenue a business needs to break even.

Financial Report Template - Excel

Download Financial Report Template

Create an annual financial report for your business that shows key metrics in an easy-to-read format. Getting a financial overview allows you to track performance over a given time period, and a summary report simplifies communication with stakeholders. You can easily print and share this Excel template as a PDF document.

Marketing Budget Template - Excel

‌ Download Marketing Budget Template - Excel

Create a comprehensive marketing budget plan with monthly, quarterly, and annual views on one template. In the first column, you’ll find a list of marketing expenses that include public relations, social media, advertising, online content, and more. There is also a section for listing specific marketing campaigns so that you can estimate and compare costs for each.

Personal Financial Planning Templates

One-page financial plan template.

Download One-Page Financial Plan Template

Excel  |  PDF

Individuals can also benefit from strategic financial plans. This one-page template allows you to create a personal financial plan that is concise yet comprehensive. Determine your current financial situation, create an action plan for reaching goals, and use the plan to track implementation and progress. If needed, you can include numbers for life insurance or estate planning.

Family Budget Planner Template - Excel

‌ Download Family Budget Planner Template - Excel

Families can use this planner to track household expenses and create a monthly balanced budget. You’ll find a list of common expenses including housing, transportation, healthcare, and entertainment, but you can also edit these categories to align with your specific monthly costs. The template also includes a section for savings to help you plan for retirement, create an emergency fund, and track investments.

Financial Goals Worksheet

Download Financial Goals Worksheet

Excel  | Word |  PDF

Goals are only dreams unless you take steps to achieve them. Use this worksheet to clarify your top goals, identify potential roadblocks, and list actions you can take to overcome obstacles and reach your desired outcome. Goal planning can help prioritize objectives, create a realistic timeline, and provide accountability.

Personal Monthly Budget - Excel

‌ Download Personal Monthly Budget - Excel

This monthly financial planner template provides a detailed budget along with a visual summary of your data. It includes sections for listing all sources of income, different savings accounts, and all of the expenses required to meet basic needs and support your lifestyle. You can use this template to plan for each month as well as to track earnings and expenditures over time.

Investment Planning Template

Download Investment Planning Template

Word  |  PDF

Use this template to analyze your financial situation, assess your investment strategies, and determine investment goals. This worksheet can help clarify where to make changes in your current strategies and identify your comfort level with different approaches to investing. Even if you don’t have any investments, this template can provide a starting point for thinking about and planning your goals.

Retirement Planning Worksheet - Excel

‌ Download Retirement Planning Worksheet - Excel

This template serves as a retirement calculator and budget worksheet that you can use to plan for retirement while accounting for inflation. If you are already retired, use the template to create a weekly, monthly, or annual budget based on your current income and expenses. You may want to consult with a financial planner to ensure that you are maximizing your income and saving sufficiently for retirement, but this template provides a basic financial planning and management tool that can help kickstart the conversation.

Personal Financial Statement - Excel

‌ Download Personal Financial Statement - Excel

Determine your personal net worth with this simple yet detailed template. Enter your assets and liabilities - from cash and retirement savings to credit card debt and mortgages - and the template will automatically calculate your net worth. These details provide a quick look at your current financial standing. If you’re starting a business and seeking funding from lenders or investors, you may need to provide the information you collect in this template.

Simple Financial Template - Excel

‌ Download Simple Financial Template - Excel

If you want to create a streamlined budget, use this simple financial template to see the difference between your income and expenses. Sections are provided for an itemized list of each, and a pie chart displays the balance between the two. This template may be helpful for individuals who are building a budget for the first time, or for those without complicated finances who just want to see how much they spend each month.

College Student Budget Template - Excel

‌ Download College Student Budget Template - Excel

This template includes a list of potential expenses for college students. Use the details it reveals  to determine how to pay for each item or where to cut costs. It also allows you to create a budget for each semester, weighing income against expenses to ensure that you have adequate funds. By creating a balanced budget, college students can focus on school responsibilities rather than worrying about finances, and also ensure that spending money is available for entertainment and wellness needs.

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Financial Services Business Plan

Ready to start your own financial services business? Set yourself up for success by creating a solid business plan. Download this business plan template, with pre-filled examples, to inspire your own plan.

Download a free financial services business plan template in PDF or Word doc format

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What you'll get with this template:

• A complete business plan Unlike other blank templates, our business plan examples are complete business plans with all of the text and financial forecasts already filled out. Edit the text to make the plan your own and save hundreds of hours.
• A professional business plan template All 550 of our business plans are in the SBA-approved format that’s proven to raise money from lenders and investors.
• Instructions and help at every step Get help with clear, simple instructions for each section of the business plan. No business experience necessary.
• A Word doc you can edit We don't just have PDF documents that make editing a challenge. Each plan is available in Word format so you can start editing your business plan example right away.

Key sections in this financial services business plan:

All of our sample business plans are complete and include all of the sections that bankers and investors expect to see. Every plan includes the following sections:

• Executive Summary : A quick overview of your plan and entices investors to read more of your plan.
• Company : Describes the ownership and history of your business.
• Products and Services : Reviews what you sell and what you’re offering your customers.
• Market Analysis : Describes your customers and the size of your target market.
• Strategy and Implementation : Provides the details of how you plan on building the business.
• Management Team : An overview of the people behind the business and why they’re the right team to make the business a success.
• Financial Plan : A complete set of forecasts including a Profit and Loss Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet.

If you're interested in learning how to write a business plan, read our free in-depth guide to writing a business plan , download our free Business Plan Template , and check out LivePlan —our award-winning business planning software.

Looking for a sample business plan PDF? You can download a few PDF examples below:

• Accounting and Bookkeeping Sample Business Plan PDF
• Agriculture Farm Sample Business Plan PDF
• Cleaning Service Sample Business Plan PDF

Need a faster way to write your business plan? LivePlan is the #1 planning tool for over 1 million businesses.

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11+ Financial Plan Examples & Samples in PDF | Word | Pages

Financial Plan Template

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Business Financial Plan

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Financial Services Action Plan

One Page Financial Plan

What Is a Financial Plan?

• It is a document that describes the current financial state of an entity which is necessary to plot future activities where funding is needed.
• A financial plan can be considered as one of the  budget plan examples  as it is a tool used by a business to identify variables that can help them layout cash flows and other asset values that they need for future operations.

How Is Financial Planning Important?

• A financial plan allows the assessment of  free business plan examples  especially whether the operational plans of the business are aligned with the money that it can shell out for particular activities.
• Unlike  non-profit plan examples , financial plans are centered on assuring that the business can achieve sales quotas and financial stability.
• A financial plan helps businesses to make sure that they are well aware of financial trends and other external factors present in the industry. This can minimize the impacts of risks and threats in the finance department of a company.

Strategic Financial Plan Example

Comprehensive Financial Plan Sample

Financial Budget Plan

Project Financial Plan

What Is the Difference between a Budget Plan and a Financial Plan?

• A financial plan focuses on identifying finance efforts which are essential for the growth of the small business and its readiness on future operations, especially concerning budget and finances.  On the other hand, a budget plan is created to estimate the company’s revenues and expenses within a particular time period.
• A financial plan is created to have a list of the activities and programs that can be helpful for the development of the way a business gathers and uses its monetary resources. Meanwhile, a budget plan represents the financial position of the business and how a financial plan can be applied in actual money allocations.

Tips and Guidelines in Creating a Financial Plan

• You may check out existing financial plan templates so that it will act as a guide in making the format of your company’s own financial plan.
• You also need to assure that you will be aware of  audit plan examples and accounting plan documents so you can align the content of your financial plan with the mentioned documents.
• Be precise and specific with the amount that you will place in a financial plan up to the last centavo.

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FREE 10+ Financial Plan Samples & Templates in PDF | Google Docs

A financial plan is a detailed examination of the financial state of a person or a business entity. It is needed to evaluate how they are doing money-wise. This is especially important in business as their every transaction revolves around money. Retailers, for instance, would need to make a retail business plan .

Financial Plan Templates

Sample financial plan - 9+ documents in word, pdf, excel, sample financial plan - 5+ documents in word, excel, sample financial plan - 9+ documents in pdf, word, excel, financial plan template.

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Size: A4, US

Restaurant Financial Plan Template

Business Financial Plan

Size: 145 KB

Making a financial statement is quite hard. It involves strategic planning implementation work and a lot of other business tasks that not everybody is experienced in doing. Good thing we have financial plan templates that are perfect for your business.

Financial Advisor Business Plan

Size: 102 KB

Financial Management Plan

Size: 811 KB

The Importance of Financial Plans in Business

Financial plans could not be more relevant than in business. With the amount of money that is coming in and coming out of them on a daily basis, it is important that they know how they stand financially. When making a financial plan, they see where the bulk of their money is going. They also see which part of their business attracts clients. This way, they get to make the important business decisions for improvement. Financial plans are also a good way of looking ahead, enabling them to make forecasts. These  financial plan samples  would be a useful guide for your business.

The Purpose of a Financial Plan

You may be a business or just an individual looking to improve your financial management. For businesses,  financial business plan  and  financial reports  provide reliable basis for making the most important financial decisions. A financial plan has a lot of useful purposes.

• Improve income/profit management
• Make better investments
• Make important business decisions
• Come up with better capital structure
• Draft better financial policies
• Establish trends and make reliable forecasts

Financial Strategic Plan

Size: 111 KB

Financial Service Action Plan

Size: 158 KB

Financial Recovery Plan

Size: 234 KB

Project Financial Plan

Size: 309 KB

Annual Financial Plan

Size: 30 KB

Tips in Writing the Best Strategic Financial Plan

Making a financial plan also often entails making financial statements, from income statements to balance sheets. These financial statements are a great basis for coming up with a good financial plan. You may have a goal of managing your finances better. Here are some useful tips for you to come up with the best strategic financial plan.

• Have a goal in mind. Come up with a goal that is realistic and reasonable. This will make you come up with a plan that is centered around your financial desires.
• Take everything into consideration. This is not a loan evaluation where you might need to cover up your huge debt to get the loan. Take into account all your finances, from assets and owner’s equity to liabilities.
• Include variable expenses. You may only think of fixed expenses, but in order to come up with an accurate analysis, include those little everyday expenses that you do.
• Enumerate ways to better manage your finances. Making a financial plan involves coming up with a plan for financial management improvement. Write down this plan and make the necessary adjustments right away.

A financial plan is important not only in businesses but also for individuals looking to improve their financial management. We provide you with financial plan templates that perform an in-depth analysis of your financial state. Other related documents you may be interested in are these  financial release forms  and  financial plan templates .

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Essential requirements in crafting a one-page financial advisor business plan.

August 17, 2015 07:01 am 21 Comments CATEGORY: Practice Management

Executive Summary

In a world where most advisory firms are relatively small businesses, having a formal business plan is a remarkably rare occurrence. For most advisors, they can “keep track” of the business in their head, making the process of creating a formal business plan on paper to seem unnecessary.

Yet the reality is that crafting a business plan is about more than just setting some business goals to pursue. Like financial planning, the process of thinking through the plan is still valuable, regardless of whether the final document at the end gets put to use. In fact, for many advisory firms, a simple “one-page” financial advisor business plan may be the best output of the business planning process – a single-page document with concrete goals to which the advisor can hold himself/herself accountable.

So what should the (one-page) financial advisor business plan actually cover? As the included sample template shows, there are six key areas to define for the business: who will it serve, what will you do for them, how will you reach them, how will you know if it’s working, where will you focus your time, and what must you do to strengthen (or build) the foundation to make it possible? Ideally, this should be accompanied by a second page to the business plan, which includes a budget or financial projection of the key revenue and expense areas of the business, to affirm that it is a financially viable plan (and what the financial goals really are!).

And in fact, because one of the virtues of a financial advisor business plan is the accountability it can create, advisors should not only craft the plan, but share it – with coaches and colleagues, and even with prospective or current clients. Doing so becomes an opportunity to not only to get feedback and constructive criticism about the goals, but in the process of articulating a clear plan for the business, the vetting process can also be a means to talk about the business and who it will serve, creating referral opportunities in the process!

Author: Michael Kitces

Michael Kitces is Head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham Strategic Wealth , which provides an evidence-based approach to private wealth management for near- and current retirees, and Buckingham Strategic Partners , a turnkey wealth management services provider supporting thousands of independent financial advisors through the scaling phase of growth.

In addition, he is a co-founder of the XY Planning Network , AdvicePay , fpPathfinder , and New Planner Recruiting , the former Practitioner Editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, the host of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, and the publisher of the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View through his website Kitces.com , dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning. In 2010, Michael was recognized with one of the FPA’s “Heart of Financial Planning” awards for his dedication and work in advancing the profession.

Why A Business Plan Matters For Financial Advisors

There’s no end to the number of articles and even entire books that have been written about how to craft a business plan , yet in practice I find that remarkably few financial advisors have ever created any kind of formal (written or unwritten) business plan. Given that the overwhelming majority of financial advisors essentially operate as solo practitioners or small partnerships, this perhaps isn’t entirely surprising – when you can keep track of the entire business in your head in the first place, is there really much value to going through a formal process of crafting a financial advisor business plan?

Having been a part of the creation and growth of numerous businesses , I have to admit that my answer to “does a[n individual] financial advisor really need a business plan?” is a resounding yes . But not because you’re just trying to figure out what the basics of your business will be, which you may well have “figured out” in your head (or as the business grows, perhaps figured out in conversations with your partner). The reason a business plan matters is all about focus , and the ability to keep focus in proceeding towards your core objectives, and accountable to achieving them, even in a dynamic real-world environment full of distractions.

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As the famous military saying goes, “ no battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy ”, because the outcomes of battle contact itself change the context, and it’s almost impossible to predict what exactly will come next. Nonetheless, crafting a battle plan in advance is a standard for military leadership. Because even if the plan will change as it’s being executed, having a clearly articulated objective allows everyone, even (and especially) in the heat of battle, to keep progressing towards a common agreed-upon goal. In other words, the objective stated in the battle plan provides a common point of focus for everyone to move towards, even as the (battle) landscape shifts around them. And the business plan serves the exact same role within a business.

Essential Elements Required In A Financial Advisor Business Plan

Because the reality is that in business – as in battle? – the real world will not likely conform perfectly to an extensively crafted business (or battle) plan written in advance, I am not a fan of crafting an extensively detailed business plan, especially for new advisors just getting started, or even a ‘typical’ solo advisory firm. While it’s valuable to think through all the elements in depth – the process of thinking through a business plan is part of what helps to crystallize the key goals to work towards – as with financial planning itself, the process of planning can actually be more valuable than “the plan” that is written out at the end .

Accordingly, for most financial advisors trying to figure out how to write a business plan, I’m an advocate of crafting a form of “one-page business plan” that captures the essential elements of the business, and provides direction about where to focus, especially focus the time of the advisor-owner in particular. In other words, the purpose for a financial advisor business plan is simply to give clear marching orders towards a clear objective, with clear metrics about what is trying to be achieved along the way, so you know where to focus your own time and energy!

Of course, the reality is that what constitutes the most important goals for an advisory firm – as well as the challenges it must surmount – will vary a lot, depending not just on the nature of the firm, but simply on its size, scope, and business stage. Financial advisors just getting started launching a new RIA face very different business and growth issues than a solo advisor who has been operating for several years but now hit a “wall” in the business , and the challenges of a solo advisor are different than those of a larger firm with multiple partners who need to find alignment in their common business goals. Nonetheless, the core essential elements that any business plan is required to cover are remarkably similar.

Requirements For An Effective Financial Advisor Business Plan

While there are many areas that can potentially be covered, the six core elements that must be considered as the template for a financial advisor business plan are:

6 Required Elements Of A (One Page) Business Plan For Financial Advisors 1) Who will you serve? This is the most basic question of all, but more complex than it may seem at first. The easy answer is “anyone who will pay me”, but in practice I find that one of the most common reasons a new advisor fails is that their initial outreach is so unfocused, there’s absolutely no possibility to gain any momentum over time. In the past, when you could cold-call your way to success by just trying to pump your products on every person who answered the phone until you found a buyer, this might have been feasible. But if you want to get paid for your advice itself, you need to be able to demonstrate your expertise. And since you can’t possibly be an expert at everything for everyone, you have to pick someone for whom you will become a bona fide specialist (which also provides crucial differentiation from other advisors the potential client might choose to work with instead ). In other words, you need to choose what type of niche clientele you’re going to target to differentiate yourself. And notably, this problem isn’t unique to new advisors; many established advisors ultimately hit a wall in their business, in part because it’s so time-consuming trying to be everything to everyone, that they reach their personal capacity in serving clients earlier than they ‘should’. Focusing on a particular clientele – to the point that you can anticipate all of their problems and issues in advance – allows the business to be radically more efficient. So who, really , do you want to serve? 2) What will you do for them? Once you’ve chosen who you will serve, the next task is to figure out what you will actually do for them – in other words, what services will you deliver. The reason it’s necessary to first figure out who you will serve, is that the nature of your target niche clientele may well dictate what kind of services you’re going to provide them; in fact, part of the process of identifying and refining your niche in the first place should be to interview a number of people in your niche , and really find out what they want and need that’s important to them (not just the standard ‘comprehensive financial plan’ that too many advisors deliver in the same undifferentiated manner ). For instance, if you’re really serious about targeting retirees, you might not only provide comprehensive financial planning, but investment management services (for their retirement portfolios), a specific retirement income distribution strategy, assistance with long-term care insurance, and guidance on enrolling in Medicare and making decisions about the timing of when to start Social Security benefits . On the other hand, if you hope to work with entrepreneurs, you might need to form relationships with attorneys and accountants who can help facilitate creating new business entities, and your business model should probably be on a retainer basis, as charging for assets under management may be difficult (as entrepreneurs tend to plow their dollars back into their businesses!). If your goal is to work with new doctors, on the other hand, your advice will probably focus more on career guidance, working down a potential mountain of student debt, and cash flow/budgeting strategies. Ultimately, these adjustments will help to formulate the ongoing client service calendar you might craft to articulate what you’ll do with clients (especially if you plan to work with them on an ongoing basis), and the exact business model of how you’ll get paid (Insurance commissions? Investment commissions? AUM fees? Annual retainers? Monthly retainers ? Hourly fees?). 3) How will you reach them? Once you’ve decided who you want to reach, and what you will do for them, it’s time to figure out how you will reach them – in other words, what will be your process for finding prospective clients you might be able to work with? If you’re targeting a particular niche, who are the centers of influence you want to build relationships with? What publications do they read, where you could write? What conferences do they attend, where you might speak? What organizations are they involved with, where you might also volunteer and get involved? If you’re going to utilize an inbound marketing digital strategy as an advisor , what are the topics you can write about that would draw interest and organic search traffic, and what giveaway will you provide in order to get them to sign up for your mailing list so you can continue to drip market to them? In today’s competitive world, it’s not enough to just launch a firm, hang your (virtual) shingle, and wait for people to walk in off the street or call your office. You need to have a plan about how you will get out there to get started! 4) How will you know if it’s working? Once you’ve set a goal for who you want to serve, what you want to do for them, and how you will reach them, it’s time to figure out how to measure whether it’s working. The caveat for most financial advisory businesses, though, is that measuring outcomes is tough because of the small sample size – in a world where you might have to reach out to dozens of strangers just to find a dozen prospects, and then meet with all those prospects just to get a client or two, it’s hard to tell whether a strategy that nets one extra client in a quarter was really a “better strategy” or just random good luck that won’t repeat. As a result, in practice it’s often better to measure activity than results , especially as a newer advisory firm. In other words, if you think you’ll have to meet 10 Centers Of Influence (COIs) to get introductions to 30 prospects to get 3 clients, then measure whether you’re meeting your activity goals of 10 COIs and 30 prospect meetings, and not necessarily whether you got 2, 3, or 4 clients out of the last stint of efforts. Not that you shouldn’t ultimately have results-oriented goals of clients and revenue as well, but activity is often the easier and more salient item to measure, whether it’s phone calls made, articles written, subscribers added to your drip marketing list, prospect meetings, COI introductions, or something else. So when you’re defining the goals of your business plan, be certain you’re setting both goals for the results you want to achieve, and the key performance indicator (KPI) measures you want to evaluate to regarding your activities along the way? 5) Where will you focus your time in the business? When an advisory firm is getting started, the role of the advisor-as-business-owner is to do “everything” – as the saying goes, you’re both the chief cook and the bottle washer . However, the reality is that the quickest way to failure in an advisory firm is to get so caught up on doing “everything” that you fail to focus on the essential activities necessary to really move the business forward (that’s the whole reason for having a plan to define what those activities are, and a measure to determine whether you’re succeeding at them!). Though in truth, the challenge of needing to focus where you spend your time in the business never ends – as a business grows and evolves, so too does the role of the advisor-owner as the leader, which often means that wherever you spent your time and effort to get your business to this point is not where you need to focus it to keep moving forward from here. From gathering clients as an advisor to learning to transition clients to another advisor, from being responsible for the firm’s business development to hiring a marketing manager, from making investment decisions and executing trades to hiring an investment analyst and trader. By making a proactive decision about where you will spend your time, and also deliberately deciding what you will stop doing, it also becomes feasible to determine what other resources you may need to support you, in order to ensure you’re always spending your time focused on whatever is your highest and best use. In addition, the process can also reveal gaps where you may need to invest into and improve yourself, to take on the responsibilities you haven’t in the past but need to excel at to move forward from here. 6) How must you strengthen the foundation? The point of this section is not about what you must do to achieve the goals you’ve set, but what else needs to be done in the business in order to maximize your ability to make those business goals a reality. In other words, if you’re going to focus your time on its highest and best use in the business, what foundation to you need to support you to make that happen? If you’re a startup advisory firm, what business entity do you need to create, what are the tools/technology you’ll need to launch your firm , and what licensing/registrations must you complete? Will you operate with a ‘traditional’ office or from a home office , or run an entirely virtual “location-independent” advisory firm ? What are the expenses you’re budgeting to operate the business? If you’re an advisor who’s hit a growth wall , what are the essential hire(s) you’ll make in the near future where/how else will you reinvest to get over the wall and keep moving forward? At the most basic level, the key point here is that if you’re going to execute on this business plan to move the business forward from here, you need a sound foundation to build upon – so what do you need to do to shore up your foundation, so you can keep building? But remember, the goal here is to do what is necessary to move forward, not everything ; as with so much in the business, waiting until perfection may mean nothing gets done at all.

Creating A Budget And Financial Projections For Your Advisory Business

In addition to crafting a (one-page) financial planner business plan, the second step to your business planning process should be crafting a budget or financial projection for your business for the upcoming year (or possibly out 2-3 years).

Key areas to cover in budget projections for a financial advisory firm are:

Revenue - What are the revenue source(s) of your business, and realistically what revenue can you grow in the coming year(s)? - If you have several types of revenue, what are you goals and targets for each? How many hourly clients? How much in retainers? How much in AUM fees? What commission-based products do you plan to sell, and in what amounts? Expenses - What are the core expenses to operate the business on an ongoing basis? (E.g., ongoing salary or office space overhead, core technology you need to operate the business, etc.) - What are the one-time expenses you may need to contend with this year? (Whether start-up expenses to launch your advisory firm , new hires to add, significant one-time projects to complete, etc.)

An ongoing advisory firm may project out for the next 1-3 years, while a newer advisors firm may even prefer a more granular month-by-month budget projection to have regular targets to assess.

Ultimately, the purpose of the budgeting process here is two-fold. The first reason for doing so is simply to have an understanding of the prospective expenses to operate the business, so you can understand if you do hit your goals, what the potential income and profits of the business will be (and/or whether you need to make any changes, if the business projections aren’t viable!). The second reason is that by setting a budget, for both expenses and revenue, you not only set targets for what you will spend in the business to track on track, but you have revenue goals to be held accountable to in trying to assess whether the business is succeeding as planned.

Vetting Your Business Plan By Soliciting Constructive Criticism And Feedback

The last essential step of crafting an effective financial planner business plan is to vet it – by soliciting feedback and constructive criticism about the gaps and holes. Are there aspects of the financial projections that seem unrealistic? Is the target of who the business will serve narrow and specific enough to be differentiated, such that the person you’re talking to would clearly know who is appropriate to refer to you? Are the services that will be offered truly unique and relevant to that target clientele, and priced in a manner that’s realistically affordable and valuable to them?

In terms of who should help to vet your financial advisor business plan, most seem to get their plan vetted by talking to a business coach or consultant to assess the plan. While that’s certainly a reasonable path, another option is actually to take the business plan to fellow advisors to vet, particularly if you’re part of an advisor study (or “mastermind”) group ; the reason is that not only do fellow advisors have an intimate understanding of the business and potential challenges, but if their target clientele is different than yours, it becomes an opportunity to explain what you do and create the potential for future referrals! In other words, “asking for advice on your business plan” also becomes a great opportunity to “tell you about who I work with in my business that you could refer to me” as well! (In fact, one of the great virtues of a clearly defined niche practice as an advisor is that you can generate referrals from other advisors who have a different niche than yours !)

Similarly, the reality is that another great potential source for feedback about your business plan are Centers of Influence already in your niche in the first place. While you might not share with your potential clients the details of your business financial projections (which is why I advocate that those be separate from the one-page business plan), the essential aspects of the business plan – who you will serve, what you will provide them, how you will charge, and how you will try to reach them – is an area that the target clientele themselves may be best positioned to provide constructive feedback. And in the process, once again you’ll effectively be explaining exactly what your niche business does to target clientele who could either do business with you directly, or refer business to you , even as you’re asking for their advice about how to make the business better (to serve people just like them!). So whether it’s people you’re not yet doing business with but want to, or an existing client advisory board with whom you want to go deeper, vetting your plan with prospective and current clients is an excellent opportunity to talk about and promote your business, even as you’re going through the process of refining it and making it better!

And notably, the other benefit of vetting your business plan with others – whether it’s a coach, colleague, prospects, or clients – is that the process of talking through the business plan and goals with them also implicitly commits to them that you plan to act on the plan and really do what’s there. In turn, what this means is that once you’ve publicly and openly committed to the business plan with them, it’s now fair game for them to ask you how it’s going, and whether you’re achieving the goals you set forth for yourself in the plan – an essential point of accountability to help you ensure that you’re following through on and executing the business plan you’ve created!

So what do you think? Have you ever created a formal business plan for yourself? If you have, what worked for you – a longer plan, or a shorter one? If you haven’t created a business plan for yourself, why not? Do you think the kind of one-page financial advisor business plan template articulated here would help? Have you checked out our financial advisor business plan sample template  for yourself? Do you have a financial advisor business plan example you're willing to share in the comments below?

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Financial Advisor Business Plan

If you are a financial advisor, chances are you’d want to have your own business at some point in your career.

After all, having a business lets you pick the clients you want to work with, it lets you pick the kind of work you want to do, and it gives you autonomy on a lot of other aspects too. Also, having a business makes you feel more responsible.

If you are planning to start a new financial advisor business, the first thing you will need is a business plan. Use our sample financial advisor business plan  to start writing your business plan in no time.

Before you start writing your business plan for your new financial advisor business, spend as much time as you can reading through some examples of finance and investment-related business plans .

Industry Overview

The financial planning and advice industry stood at a market value of 56.9 billion dollars in the US in 2021 and has experienced and has experienced a whopping growth rate of 7.7 percent.

The major reason for the growth and potential expansion of the financial planning sector is the growing average age of the population.

As many people are reaching retirement age in the US, estate and financial planning services have grown in demand. The median age is expected to grow and so is the size of the sector.

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Things to Consider Before Writing a Financial Advisor Business Plan

You need to have a motivation bigger than money.

The truly passionate people know that financial planning isn’t just about money. Money is a major factor in getting into any business, but it shouldn’t be the only factor that drives you.

Against popular belief, any finance-related field isn’t all about money. It is about a passion for analysis, critical thinking, decision-making, and a little risk.

Have the plan to keep adding to your skillset

Everything is becoming more advanced and rapid today. And as the pace of this world increases, the need to keep adding and improving your skills increases too.

Have a customer retention plan

As a financial advisor, retaining your customers is probably even more important than getting new ones. The increase in your credibility is proportionate to the number of clients you can retain.

Also, it gives you experience with how planning changes as the finances grow.

Know the risks and prepare for them as well as you can

All of us know that financial planning comes with its set of risks, and though we can make accurate predictions, they need not be necessarily true.

Chalking Out Your Business Plan

The biggest problem is, many of us do not know where to start. Well, you don’t need to worry about that anymore. A financial advisor business plan can help you with that.

From setting your business goals to building a thriving and profitable business, a business plan is your ultimate guide to all of that and more!

Reading sample business plans will give you a good idea of what you’re aiming for. It will also show you the different sections that different entrepreneurs include and the language they use to write about themselves and their business plans.

We have created this sample financial advisor business plan for you to get a good idea about how perfect a financial advisor business plan should look and what details you will need to include in your stunning business plan.

Financial Advisor Business Plan Outline

This is the standard financial advisor business plan outline which will cover all important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Customer Focus
• Success Factors
• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• 3 Year profit forecast
• Business Structure
• Startup cost
• Products and Services
• Industry Analysis
• Market Trends
• Target Market
• SWOT Analysis
• Targeted Cold Calls
• Publications
• Direct Mail
• Pricing Strategy
• Important Assumptions
• Brake-even Analysis
• Profit Yearly
• Gross Margin Yearly
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios

After getting started with Upmetrics , you can copy this sample financial advisor business plan into your business plan and modify the required information and download your financial advisor business plan pdf or doc file.

It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Download a sample financial advisor business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go;  download our free financial advisor business plan pdf  to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your financial advisor business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

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About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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