As a business owner or manager, you’re likely asking a lot of questions like these right now…

• If my sales are down 20%, how does that impact profits and cash flow?
• What if I have to reduce my expenses to match lower revenues?
• What if I cut my prices to gain back new business?

And many other questions that start with “what if” or similar.

TOOLS TO HELP WITH YOUR FINANCIAL “WHAT IF” QUESTIONS

Here is a list of tools and services that can help you dig into these questions beyond your basic Excel spreadsheet…

QuickBooks Budgets and Forecasts – found under the Company > Planning and Budgeting menu options in QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise. While very basic tools, they are free and my be all your business needs right now. QuickBooks Online (QBO) also has the ability to do some basic budgeting and budget vs. actual reporting.

QuickBooks Cash Flow Projector – also found under the Company > Planning and Budgeting menu options in QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise. This free tool can help you visualize your business cash flow for the next six weeks. See it in action here. This tool is not currently available in QBO.

Dryrun – a toolkit to help you manage cash flow, revenue and other “what if” scenarios. They are currently offering this tool completely free for a 3 month period to support businesses during this period of economic disruption. Planning can be done manually or via direct link with QBO. Does not automatically connect to QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise.

Cashflowtool.com – a toolkit to help you manage your cash flow and factors that impact future cash flows. They are also offering some special limited time incentives to small businesses working through this economic climate. Use it to create manual scenarios or it connects to all versions of QuickBooks.

PlanGuru – a toolkit that allows you to prepare budgeting and financial analytics, rolling forecasts and other projections for your business. Set up manual plans or automate via connection with QBO. They do offer some ways for connection to QuickBooks desktop products.

Float – a toolkit that allows for cash flow forecasting and scenario planning. Works with QBO, but not QuickBooks desktop products. They also offer an extended free trial of their software right now.

OTHER RELATED RESOURCES

• SBA DISASTER LOAN ASSISTANCE – more details on the loan program being offered by the SBA to help businesses get back on their feet

• QUICKBOOKS SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF INITIATIVE – Read the press release from Intuit on this and then see the program in action. You can also get more background on the matching grants and related information via the GoFundMe site.

HAVE OTHER TOOLS TO SHARE?

Are you using a tool or software that you really like for planning and forecasting? Feel free to share it and I will add it to the list!

NEED HELP SORTING IT ALL OUT?

I’ve been helping small businesses with their finances for over 35 years and welcome the opportunity to help you. Please check out my part-time CFO services for more insights.