Why Do Most Financial Projections Fail?
Why Do Most Financial Projections Fail?

Do you know the number one reason most financial projections fail? It is because sales are over estimated!

Why Do Most Financial Projections Fail?

This time of year we are busy working with clients preparing projections for the next year. What we find is it is very difficult for clients to do an accurate financial statement projection if they can’t project sales. Working with companies to project the top line of the financial projections is the hardest part. Once you have the top line the rest of the projections fall into place based on historical numbers.

How To Project Sales

So how do you project sales? We generally start off with last year’s sales numbers. We ask ourselves do we think they are going to increase or decrease? If so, then by how much? We determine by product line how much sales we need to be profitable. We look at recent sales trends and review them with the sales team. Finally, we prepare a backlog schedule with identified sales on a monthly basis. The greater the backlog identified, the greater the accuracy!
When projecting sales it is important to be reasonable. You should strive to “under promise and over deliver”. Often the management teams strives to set the bar high for goal setting purposes. You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot with your banker if you miss you projections by a wide margin! It is better to come in a little above your projections rather than quite a ways below your number.
What has been your experience in projecting sales?
If you need help creating an accurate forecast, then download our free Goldilocks Sales Method whitepaper to project accurately.
most financial projections fail

[box]Strategic CFO Lab Member Extra
Access your Flash Report Execution Plan in SCFO Lab. The step-by-step plan will help you manage your company before you prepare your financial statements.
Click here to access your Execution Plan. Not a Lab Member?
Click here to learn more about SCFO Labs[/box]
most financial projections fail
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

The Accounting Gap Between Large and Small Companies

The Accounting Gap: It’s unfortunate, but true. A large gap exists between the accounting departments of large or publicly traded companies and smaller or private companies. In our past 25 years of consulting we’ve noticed that more often than not, these smaller/private companies will fill the gap with Bookkeepers, rather than the degreed Accountants/CPAs they

Read More »

The Struggles of Private Company Accounting

Building your Accounting Department… When I meet a business owner operating at a successful $10+ mil in revenue I often hear them say “My CPA…” and I immediately know they are referring to a tax CPA. One thing ALL entrepreneurs have in common is that they have to file a tax return. So from day

Read More »

Financial Ratios

See also:Quick Ratio AnalysisPrice to Book Value AnalysisPrice Earnings Growth Ratio AnalysisTime Interest Earned Ratio Analysis Use of Financial Ratios Financial Ratios are used to measure financial performance against standards. Analysts compare financial ratios to industry averages (benchmarking), industry standards or rules of thumbs and against internal trends (trends analysis). The most useful comparison when

Read More »

JOIN OUR NEXT SERIES

Financial Leadership Workshop

MARCH 28TH-31ST 2022

THE ART OF THE CFO®

Financial Leadership Workshop

Days
Hours
Min

June 12-15th, 2023

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
WIKI CFO® - Browse hundreds of articles