Overview - Projections - Profit & Loss
Before preparing the Profit and Loss Projection, you need to setup the
Chart of Accounts.
If you have multiple divisions, you also need to have created your
Divisions so that you can enter the projections against the relevant Division.
A screen shot of the Projections is below and the various functions include;
- Auto-Cast; Automatically project for the next 12 months by applying a % inc/(dec) to the prior 12 month values.
- Use Actuals; If "Use Actuals" is ticked, it will show the actual results that have been imported, instead of the budgets. This allows you to project the profit for the year based on actual results to date and budgets for the remainder of the year. Note that this does not clear the budgets. If you want to view the budgets simply remove the "Use Actuals" tick. You can also view the Actual v Budget results in the Analysis section.
- Import Actuals; You can import actual results from Xero or via Excel/CSV.
- Lock Periods; The padlock next to the month allows you to lock and unlock periods.
- Expand/Collapse; Expand or collapse the account headings as required.
- Asterix; If an asterix appears next to an account, it means the value has been derived and you will not be able to manually adjust the value. You can hover over the account to reveal more information.
- Entering Values; There are various options including a/ use the Copy Across feature by double clicking on the value to copy it into the future, b/ simply enter the values manually or c/ double click on the account to calculate as a % of another account. You can also manually update the actual results. If you would like to calculate a value as a multiple of various accounts you can use "Calculations" under Chart of Accounts.
- Inserting Comments; When you hover over a value a pencil icon will appear. If you click on this icon, you can insert a comment against the value (either actual or budget). This will highlight part of the cell in yellow on both the Profit and Loss Projection and also the Actual v Budget Report. Further, when you export to excel, any cells that have a comment will show as note.
- Rolling Forecast; You can change the start month at any time to view the next 12 months. When you copy across the values, they copy across to all future months until you make a further change .You will be prompted if a manual entry has been made in a future period.
- Labour Cost breakdown; double click on a derived labour cost account (eg Wages) to see the breakdown per employee.