How to make the forecast balance of the enterprise?

Along with the balance sheet, as well as a report on the results of circulation of capital, a large number of other sources of data on the state of affairs regarding the economic development of the firm may be formed in the financial statements of the enterprise. These include the forecast balance of the organization. In what its specificity and how it is made, we will consider further in the article.

The essence of the forecast balance sheet

What is the forecast balance of a commercial firm? This document is intended to reflect the prospective financial position of the organization on a certain date, in terms of its assets, liabilities and capital.

The composition of the forecast balance is usually determined by the need to formulate a strategy for investing in business, determining the firm's need for funds in the form of investments by founders, loans and investments. In addition, this document can be prepared at the request of owners, managers or partners of the company in order to determine the prospects for business development.

The corresponding balance in many cases is part of the business plan of the enterprise. In this case, it can perform the function of summarizing and documenting in the framework of financial calculations on the revenue and profitability of the firm. The composition of the forecast balance is usually preceded by the formation of a profit and loss plan for the firm. The corresponding document is usually formed on their basis or using data that is reflected in them.

The forecast balance sheet can reflect the financial position of the enterprise as a whole or of any of its subdivisions. In some cases, when it is formed, indicators are taken into account that can give the firm's management the opportunity to assess the degree of satisfaction of customers and counterparties with its activities as one of the factors of demand for the supplied products or services.

In some cases, the forecast balance sheet can be supplemented by a special report, which includes the expected figures on the company's profits and losses. The forecast balance sheet and the forecast report are in many cases compiled simultaneously, like accounting documents of the appropriate purpose.

It is noteworthy that the source in question can be represented in several varieties. Construction of the forecast balance can be carried out on different principles. Consider the most common types of document in question.

Types of forecast balances

Probably the most popular type of forecast balance is the accounting one. What is its specificity? By its structure, it can correspond to the classical balance sheet, which is compiled in accordance with the recommendations of financial supervisory authorities. The main task of the competent specialists of the enterprise when forming this document is to correctly reflect in it the expected indicators of assets and liabilities.

In this case, the calculation of the forecast balance will be made on the basis of actual results reflected in the accounting, if it exists at the time of the first document. If the enterprise has just opened and the accounting department has not formed the appropriate source, approaches can be applied according to which the assets and liabilities will be calculated on the basis of typical patterns for the industry or group of enterprises, and also taking into account the calculations of experts and consultants.

The next version of the forecast balance sheet is a document that reflects the expected receipts and expenses on the company's funds. Thus, a document may include indicators:

• On cash receipts due to payment of goods or services by customers and contractors;
• On revenue arising from the sale of fixed assets;
• On the proceeds of payment by the partners of the lease of the provided property;
• On interest from financial investments;
• On the exchange rate difference, which assumes the formation of additional revenues of the firm.

Also, the corresponding forecast balance allows you to compare those or other income items with costs. For example, if the estimated amount of proceeds from the sale of fixed assets is, roughly speaking, 1 million rubles, then it can correspond to subsequent investments in fixed assets, since the amount of these revenues allows solving many tasks related to the renewal of the company's productive resources.

The forecast balance methods used to form its structure in relation to the economic model of a particular enterprise may be different. So, the competent specialists of the firm can adapt it to reflect the estimates of revenues and expenses specifically for the sale of products, if the relevant source is the main one, from the point of view of the company's revenue generation. The balance drawn up in this structure may include indicators classified into those that are related to the accrual method or a cash basis, if this is necessary to improve the quality of forecasting economic indicators.

It is possible to compose the pro forma balance of the enterprise with an emphasis on differentiation of cash flows formed at the expense of proceeds and those that are created as a result of investing in business by owners, partners, and creditors. This document may also include data on expenses that are related to the volume of revenue or capitalization due to investing.

How can this or that forecast balance look like? An example of the structure of the relevant document we offer you in the article.

This source in terms of content is fairly close to the balance sheet. It presents assets, liabilities, as well as articles that correspond to them.

Note that the example of the forecast balance of the enterprise in the structure examined by us can be used both in industrial enterprises and in service firms.

Forecast balances at state-owned enterprises

The procedure for the formation of an appropriate balance sheet can be determined by law, if the firm is a state or municipal enterprise. In some cases, the competent state authority is responsible for drafting it. So, for example, on economic entities that are related to the Unified Energy System of Russia, the forecast balance is in the cases provided by the law by the Federal Tariff Service. The main tasks of the FCS during the formation of this document can be:

• Provision of supply of electricity consumers with the necessary volume of this resource;
• Reduction of costs associated with the production and supply of energy;
• Ensuring the stability of electricity supplies to the market.

The forecast balances generated by the FCS can be used in the future for:

• Signing by organizations of wholesale contracts for electricity supply;
• Determination of internal energy balances in various subjects of the Russian Federation;
• Signing contracts for the supply of electricity in the retail market.

Having studied the specifics of the forecast balances in the field of electricity supply, we will return to consideration of the procedure for drawing up the corresponding document in private companies. It will be useful to study some of the general nuances of this procedure.

Formation of the forecast balance: nuances

The forecast balance of the enterprise is of two basic types - starting and current. The first is compiled in the event that the enterprise has just opened. The second - if it has been operating for some time, and its economic indicators are reflected in the balance sheet.

In the first case, the document is likely to reflect the prospects of business development less accurately, but its preparation may be desirable, due to the need to clarify the firm's needs for financing or to determine the potential of the company's capitalization.

To make a forecast balance, you must have access to such documents as:

• sales forecast;
• Plan for the sale of products or services;
• Plan of profits or losses;
• Financial flow plan .

How to make a forecast balance that best reflects the financial position of the enterprise?

The main criterion for the successful solution of this task is the timely accumulation of as much and as much information as possible about the economic activities of the firm. It can be contained in primary documents, registers and other sources of accounting.

It is highly desirable that they be standardized, and the information reflected in them regularly. This will allow you to trace how changes in one or another economic indicator in the dynamics. And the latter, in fact, determines how the forecasted balance of the enterprise will be in terms of reflecting the expected value of profitability, revenue, as well as the possible correlation between the assets and liabilities of the firm.

The procedure for preparing the forecast balance sheet

Let's study that, according to which algorithm the document under consideration can be formed. The composition of the forecast balance, if we follow a common scheme, suggests:

1. Conducting analysis of current financial indicators within the framework of the company's economic activities.
2. The study of financial results on the basis of those or other reporting periods, as well as the identification of factors that may affect them.
3. Determination of changes in assets, liabilities of the enterprise, its incomes and expenses, in accordance with different reporting periods.
4. Formation of forecast indicators and their subsequent documenting.

Components of the forecast balance sheet

Let us now consider what components can be included in the corresponding balance. One of the key is the company's own capital. In some cases, it is supplemented by the statutory one, but its value, reflected in the constituent documents, often does not change (if it corresponds to the minimum that is fixed in the legislation). The main factor in the change in the size of the organization's equity is the increase or decrease in the intensity of the company's revenue, as well as the dynamics that characterize the state of affairs in business in terms of expenses.

The forecast balance is formed at the end of the reporting year and reflects the company's own capital in the correlation:

• With assets and liabilities;
• Investments that are invested by the owner or other interested parties in production;
• With undistributed profit.

Like accounting, for example, the balance sheet, the forecast also in most cases includes assets, the amount of which should be equal to the liabilities. Of course, the relevant indicators should be justified. The best option is to use the information reflected in the balance sheet as initial data if possible.

Documentation of the forecast balance sheet

An important task is not only to determine the indicators for the forecast balance, but also to fix them in a separate document. Legislation does not provide for its universal form, unless the formation of an appropriate source by a competent state agency is considered. Therefore, firms compose their own forms of appropriate balance. How can they look like?

Above we have considered several common varieties of the forecast balance. We will study in what structure the most universal - probably accounting - can be represented.

Formation of the forecast balance in the accounting version

It is recommended to compose the forecast balance of the enterprise in its accounting version so that the assets and liabilities reflected in the document are located in descending order of the degree of liquidity of the first and the urgency of the second. This is the difference between the document in question and the balance sheet, which is formed on the basis of the opposite principle.

Which items of assets and liabilities can be fixed in the forecast balance sheet? The first can be presented:

• Funds on the settlement account of the enterprise;
• Receivables;
• Stocks of the enterprise;
• The total amount of current assets of the firm or its current assets;
• Total amount of fixed assets;
• The amount of intangible assets;
• Total amount of the firm's assets.

In turn, the organization's liabilities can be represented by:

• Invoiced bills from counterparties;
• Accounts payable - for example, on wages, tax payments;
• The amount of debts on short-term loans;
• The total number of current liabilities;
• The value of long-term loans;
• The amount of share capital;
• The amount of undistributed profit;
• Own capital;
• Total liabilities.

Let us study in more detail how the indicators that include the forecasted balance sheet can be applied in practice.

Application of the forecast balance in practice: nuances

Formation of the document in question allows you to formulate and optimize the organization's budget, the plan for investing capital in these or other assets. Corresponding balance allows to determine the degree of the company's own resources, as well as its need for external financing.

In this case, the efficiency of the company's capital use can be important, and the forecast balance is one of those tools that can be used to assess it. It can be drawn up in the structure that is most optimal for considering the quality of management of the firm's financial assets in the framework of specific areas of economic activity.

The described balance can be used for the purposes of a large number of financial indicators. So, for example, if the firm needs to calculate the estimated cost of goods in a particular reporting period, then the forecast balance can be used exactly. An example of calculating the corresponding indicator can be as follows.

If, at the end of 2015, the cost of actual accounting data was, for example, 30% of revenue, while maintaining the main costs in 2016, it will remain the same. But if the cost of 50% of the cost of production grows by 90% in 2016, and this will be known on the basis of the balance sheet, the forecast figure in question will increase by 45%, correspondingly, thus , 43.5% of revenue. It will be predictive, and it can be taken into consideration when determining, for example, the selling price of the goods.

Use of balance as a tool for managing capital

It happens that the firm has a large amount of short-term obligations, which can be problematic if the revenue dynamics are insufficient and investment is limited.

But this situation allows management to prevent the correct balance of the forecasted balance sheet, which will reflect the expected ratio of revenues received in the short term, investments, as well as related obligations. This approach is very convenient when building a strategy for calculating the enterprise for taxes. The fact is that the obligation to pay them arises at the time of recognition of a revenue, which may not coincide with the actual receipt of revenue. In order not to create a situation in which an enterprise needs to simultaneously fulfill its obligations for both paying taxes and repaying other obligations in the absence of sufficient capital, it is necessary to draw up a forecast balance, taking into account the frequency of occurrence of the corresponding obligations.

Managers at many modern enterprises solve a complex problem - how to make a pro forma balance that would allow to prevent, above all, a capital deficit. A similar situation is possible even in profitable enterprises. Formation of the relevant document with the necessary degree of elaboration of the articles of income, expenditure, as well as periods of their occurrence is the main criterion for the solution of this task. Of course, its compliance requires the high qualification of the financiers responsible for drawing up internal reporting in the firm.