SME Three-Statement Financial Model

Lenders, investors and partners ask three questions: will it make money, will it balance and how much cash does it need. A revenue line copied forward answers none of them. This model links profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow, balances them by construction and shows how much borrowing each scenario needs.

What is inside

• Assumptions: revenue start and growth for two streams, seasonality, cost ratios, staff, rent, depreciation, receivable, inventory and payable days, a term loan, dividends and tax settings. All in AED excluding VAT.
• Opening: your last closing balance sheet, with retained earnings as the balancing figure.
• Scenarios: growth, cost and working-capital changes for Base, Upside and Downside, which you can rename and change.
• Model_A, Model_B and Model_C: three full 36-month models, one per scenario, so you compare cash, profit and borrowing side by side.
• A revolving facility that draws automatically when cash would fall below your minimum and repays when cash allows, with a facility limit and a funding-gap line when the limit is not enough. Interest is charged on the previous month's balance, so there is no circular reference to switch on.
• Annual: three years for one model. Dashboard: all three scenarios compared with charts. Checks: the balance check for every month and every scenario.

How it is deeper than the cheaper Business Plan Workbook, 3-Year Forecast: that workbook is annual or driver-light. This is a monthly integrated model with a working capital engine, a debt and revolver schedule, a tax payment lag and three scenarios running at once.

Facts and settings: the corporate tax rate and the profit band are settings you enter. Verify the current rule with the FTA or your adviser before showing a lender a tax line. VAT cash timing, deferred tax, leases, multiple loans, foreign currency and payroll detail are not modelled.

What it is NOT: it is a calculation tool, not accounting, tax or legal advice. It is not connected to your bank or accounting system, it is not an FTA-approved system and it is not an e-invoicing tool (e-invoicing is on the Zeyto roadmap only). Where a rule matters it is a setting you enter, with a note to confirm it with the FTA, your accountant or your auditor.

Two workbooks: an EXAMPLE copy filled with invented data so you can see every sheet working, and a BLANK copy with the same formulas ready for your own data. Formulas only: no macros, no volatile functions, no add-ins. Input cells are coloured, formula sheets are protected without a password, and a Checks sheet turns green only when every list ties out.

How it was checked: recalculated with an independent Python formula engine and 3,531 outputs (every monthly statement line for the three scenarios, the revolver, tax, annual and dashboard figures) were compared with a separate Python model, with no difference, and the balance sheet balanced in every month. There is no Excel or LibreOffice on the build machine, so it was not opened in them and the charts were not viewed on screen.

Limits: it is a planning model, not an audit-ready forecast, and it does not replace a lender's own format. It suits a trading or services company, not a manufacturer with bills of materials or a group.