Finding Financial Information

Preparing the Financial Statements

Cost Drivers
Pricing
Gross Profit Margin
Sales and Marketing
Operational Expenses

Whether you are preparing income and cash flow statements or the first time or have previous experience with accounting, preparing the VOSG II can pose a considerable challenge. Your VOSG II should answer the following questions about your business well:

• What are the cost structure and expected margins for your product or service? How will your expected margins and costs compare with your competitors?

• How much will you charge for your product or service? How will you determine your prices? In what form, by what means, and when will customers pay?

• How does your gross profit margin compare to your industry?

• How will you reach your customers? How will customers hear about you? How much will these sales and marketing functions cost?

• In addition to yours, what types of people might you need to help manage and operate your firm? How many? What will they cost?

• What annual revenue could your company expect in five years

Your VOSG II will mainly be composed of income and cash flow statements. For both income and cash flow, you should include:

• first-year statements projected by month

• second-year statements calculated projected by quarter

• five-year statements projected by year 

Along with these, your VOSG II should also include:

• a five-year annual revenue graph by year

• a five-year cash flow graph by year

• a breakeven analysis graph, also scaled over five years

•   In this graph, you graph your total costs (fixed costs + variable costs) and your revenue to show where they are equal to one another, or in other words, where they break even.

The following guide will help you consider what information you need to make a thorough VOSG II, and provide hints on where to find such information, and provide hints for preparing the VOSG II income and cash flow statements.

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