Your business plan is an important tool to help you guide the direction of your business. Not only does it offer you a good barometer for the health of your finances, it also helps you determine if you’re on the right path when it comes to long- and short-term small business accountant decisions.

If you don’t have a business plan (or if yours is not quite organized or polished), you can use QuickBooks’ tools to create or fine-tune one. Dashboard Accounting is QuickBooks Certified and can show you how to use this (and other tools) to get the job done quickly and easily.

To get started using quick book accounting software for your business plan: select Company > Planning & Budgeting > Use Business Plan Tool.

It’s easy. QuickBooks’ business plan tool allows you to use its lengthy “wizard” tool to walk you through each step of the process. This tool supplies information and asks questions about what’s needed on each screen. You fill in the answers (or select from options). The Business Plan Wizard works in the background to put your data in the correct place.

One of the first things the wizard will ask you is information about your company. If your business is brand new or has yet to establish a track record, you’ll have to give it your best estimate when it comes to sales (its best to be conservative).

Next step is income. Hopefully, you’ll already have data in Quick book accounting. If that’s the case, use the “Income Projection Wizard.” Otherwise, you’ll have to fill in the spread sheet manually.

Income is obviously among the most important aspects of your business data. Expect these numbers to be carefully scrutinized at some point (by your accountant, your bank, the IRS auditor, etc.), so be sure you have the facts and proof to back them up.   

After income comes “expenses.” Here, you can use the wizard or input data by hand. You’ll need to gather some specific details for this section, such as: beginning account balances; assets you own or need to purchase; cash available to invest, and amortization and depreciation… plus numbers on inventory, vendor financing, lines of credit, total credit limits, etc.

Once all of this information is loaded into your Business Plan program (within QuickBooks Pro), it’s time to write up the plan for your business. Using the three sections you’ve already completed, you now have a solid foundation to work with. You’ll also have examples of text-based sections to inspire you. These come in handy when it’s time to put your business approach and details into words.

By assembling your Business Plan step by step, you’ll get a stronger picture of where you are and where you’re going in the year ahead. Even if you never look at your business plan again… even if you don’t share it with another soul… the process of assembling the details and examining your numbers is highly valuable to most business owners.

For a vivid snapshot of your day-to-day financial data, to making sure your plans are on track, be sure to work with a professional outsourced book keeping service, such as Dashboard Accounting. They offer the accounting help you need to ensure your business goals stay on track, so your vision becomes your reality.