Cashflow forecast

[musti]

Hi dear members,

I have been writing a business plan and i am at the hardest point ; cash flow forecast.

I got it ready but i think i need some professional advice. did i missed anything on overheads?

this is an home based e-commerce business and overheads for the first year are;


Stationery £ 120,00
Advertising £ 760,00
Telephone/internet £ 600,00
B. Insurance £ 100,00
Public Liability Insurance £ 240,00
Amazon.co.uk Seller Fee £ 300,00
Ebay.co.uk Seller Fee £ 300,00
Accountancy £ 720,00

Thank you in advance

 

[Mr D]

Paypal fees.
Use of home as office
Postage

 

[mattk]

Are you figures thousands, hundreds or Pounds?

If it is thousands, then you'll need to employ people so will have all the associated costs of that, salaries, national insurance etc.?

If your figures are pounds, then do you really need things like
Public Liability Insurance and Accountancy?

 

[andoclaire]

Packaging and delivery costs.

Are you going to be taking a salary? Then you need to allow for that plus tax, NHI etc.

If you're home-based, then have checked with your mortgage provider or landlord that you can actually run a business from the house? There will also be implications on your household insurances.

 

[Victoria_V]

Hi There! You have got most overhead cash outflows covered, but there are some cash outflows that you may have to make provision for depending on your circumstances when doing your cash flow forecast. These are as follows.

1. Staff costs- If you are planning to employ staff, then you will have to pay them a salary, contribute towards their pension, and pay employer’s NI.
2. VAT- If you are VAT registered, you will also have to charge VAT to your customers and you will be able to reclaim VAT charged on your purchases by your suppliers. If you have charged more VAT to your customers then you have reclaimed from suppliers, you will have to pay VAT to the HMRC and you will reclaim VAT money from the HMRC if it’s the other way round.If your suppliers are based in the UK and will be charging you VAT on your purchases from them, it might be worth registering for VAT voluntarily so that you can reclaim the VAT that they have charged you and add this as a cash inflow on your forecast.
3. Postage and packaging costs- You will have to buy stationary for packaging your goods to sell to customers and you will also have to have postage charge
4. Insurance- You may need separate buildings insurance to insure your stock of goods in the event of theft or fire. Your home buildings and content may not insure you for any goods that you are buying to sell that you stock in your home. https://www.gov.uk/run-business-from-home .
5. Salary for yourself- Depending on which legal company structure you have set up, you will also have to pay yourself a salary. If you are setting up your business as a LTD company, your business will be a separate legal entity from yourself, so you will have to set yourself up as an employer and pay yourself a salary and a dividend. You will also have to pay employer’s NI on your salary. Depending on how much your National insurance bill is, you might be able to claim the employment allowance which will reduce the amount of employer’s NI that you pay.https://www.gov.uk/claim-employment-allowance.
6. Bank charges- If you have a separate bank account for your business(which you should do), you will also have to pay bank charges.
7. Software- If you are going to need software for your business, then you will also have to make provision for this.

 

[TheoNe]

I would see equipment maintenance as an additional hidden cost here. You might need to organise for the replacement or repair laptops and phones should they break-down and you will need to purchase more computers and equipment when you hire employees.

I hope this helps.

 

[Richard Leader]

One of the other key things I would look at is not an extra line item on your expenses but an understanding of your working capital cycle.
Essentially, this is the difference between when you have to pay for stuff and when you get paid. It can often be this gap that causes real cash flow problems for smaller businesses.
We've got an article on how to calculate your working capital cycle in the knowledge centre of our website at TouchFinancial.co.uk