06.06.2025
Financial planning is a decisive factor in whether a business idea will become a reality or not – and whether investors will have any confidence in it. That said, it’s often neglected in business plans. We show which mistakes you should avoid and which financial forecasts should be included in every business plan.
For startups and founders, financial planning is one of the biggest challenges when creating a business plan. It’s often put off until later, even though financial planning is very important for investors and can influence whether a project gets off the ground or not. In this guest article, Dr Pius Küng and Simon May from the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen show which mistakes often crop up, how to avoid them and which financial forecasts should be included in the financial plan.
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The following financial elements, or key aspects of them, should be included in a professional financial plan in your business plan:
Both cash and non-cash costs are incorporated into a budgeted income statement. The most important factors of an income statement are:
These elements usually cover 80 percent of a budgeted income statement.
Good to know: the term “income statement” is unique to Switzerland; the term “statement of profit or loss” is used in other countries.
An important success factor for startups is the long-term liquidity planning and calculation of cash requirements using the planned cash flow statement. This provides information about medium-term liquidity and cash requirements over the next few years and is required to show investors how much money will be required in the coming years. The calculation, which is carried out on a yearly basis, usually comes with a degree of uncertainty. If there are large deviations between the operating results and the investments, detailed annual liquidity planning is also essential.
Budgeted balance sheets for the coming years are based on the income statement and the cash flow statement. The left side of the balance sheet shows where the money is invested (assets: current and fixed assets), whereas the right side indicates how the assets will be financed (liabilities: equity and debt capital).
The valuation of a startup is essential to gain investors. There are numerous methods for valuing companies, such as the discounted cash flow method, the earnings value method, the asset value method, the mean value method or the EBIT multiple method. Existing SMEs can be valued on the basis of past performance. But what about startups, where only forecasts for the future exist, which are inherently subject to great uncertainties?
It makes sense to integrate the budgeted figures into the business plan only as a summary, with the details attached in the annex. The business plan focuses on the following key values:
It’s much easier for all stakeholders to assess the viability of a business idea on the basis of these key factors.
Our checklist shows at a glance which financial forecasts, figures and aspects are important.
IFJ has helped people realize their dream of founding their own company since 1989. With a wide range of services such as online courses and the business tool, IFJ has established itself as the leading point of contact in the Swiss startup area. Its services include an online founding service, a business plan tool as well as a variety of courses. PostFinance and IFJ have been in a partnership since 2009.
Pius Küng is the founder of the business and marketing consultancy company Dr Pius Küng & Partner and the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen, founded in 1989. He has decades of consultancy experience for startups in the areas of business planning, strategy, marketing and key account management.
Simon May is an economist and Co-Managing Director of the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen. Alongside managing the renowned IFJ, he is involved with the Board of Directors, Foundation Board and with executive boards to promote entrepreneurial, sporting and cultural projects.
