Screen Shots

This is a gallery of various on-screen views of the software. Click on the small pictures and they will expand to a bigger view (65% of actual size).

Words
Enter text, view helpful content and control the structure of your business plan.

All your data is saved for you and will be there when you return to continue working on your business plan.

When you first open Business Plan Writer the table of contents on the left shows the default structure of your business plan.  You can amend, add to, or delete this structure to make one that is exactly right for you.  Use the buttons on the table of contents' bottom and left to delete, edit, undelete, add, move up, move down, promote or demote business plan sections.

As you move through the business plan via the table of contents, the contents of the central box (where you enter text) moves too.  This allows you to navigate rapidly around your plan, and also (very importantly) encourages you to keep sections focused and to the point.

You will also notice as you move through the business plan that the contents of the boxes on the right of the screen change as well.  The top-right box gives explanatory notes on each section of the default business plan structure.  The bottom-right box shows what three sample social enterprise business plans wrote on each section of the default business plan structure (you can copy and paste from these samples into the main text box and edit to suit your needs).

Products
Enter details on up to 20 products - we are using the word 'product' to encompass goods and services.  So try to break down your services in offerings (or products) which a customer might buy.

For each product you want to add you need an name, a description (optional), and its unit-based costs.  These are materials costs and labour costs which together make up the 'cost of sales'.

For each product you also need to decide what percentage mark-up to charge in order to cover overhead costs and also (perhaps) an allowance for net profit.

Once you have these you can then enter the month-by-month sales volume in the singly row of cells - and in the summary grid below - you can view just for that one product, the gross profit, the cashflow, and if registered for VAT, a VAT report.  Once you have moved to a new cell in the row the summary grid below will be updated.

Move between products by selecting different ones in the 'Products List' box on the left of the screen.

Create new products by selecting a blank row in the 'Products List' box on the left of the screen.

For each overhead you want to add you need an name, a description (optional), and in the single month-labelled row of cells, enter the costs for that overhead.  Once you have moved to a new cell in the row the summary grid below will be updated.

Move between premises-related overheads by selecting different ones in the 'Premises List' box on the left of the screen.

Create new premises-related overheads by selecting a blank row in the 'Premises List' box on the left of the screen.

This screen is controlled in the same way that the 'Premises' screen is used (see above)

Marketing
Enter up to 14 transport-related overheads.  You can use the four pre-named rows as they are, change them, or create new ones.

This screen is controlled in the same way that the 'Premises' screen is used (see above)

Personnel
Enter up to 25 personnel records (by name, role, or type).  For each person/role/type you must enter a name, salary, which month they start in, in which month they leave, whether employer National Insurance Contributions are to be made and whether they get a pension (you can control the percentages of both NIC and pension payments). 

Once you have moved to a new personnel record the summary grid below will be updated.

Move between personnel records by selecting different ones in the 'Personnel List' box on the left of the screen.

Create new personnel record by selecting a blank row in the 'Personnel List' box on the left of the screen.

Miscellaneous
Enter up to 14 miscellaneous overheads.  You can use the four pre-named rows as they are, change them, or create new ones.

This screen is controlled in the same way that the 'Premises' screen is used (see above)

And of course go back and change whatever needs amending ...
 

You can also enter donations or investments made during the year.

Assets & Depreciation
This is where you enter estimated capital expenditure and make allowance for depreciation - depreciation charges and balance sheet values are then calculated for you.

It will calculate interest charges etc and gives you flexibility to draw down the loan at any time.

Sales Forecast

Combining all the products information (cost of sales, percentage mark-up, price, sales volume by month), this is an overall sales forecast for a full year of your business which also shows cost of sales and gross profit.

Cash Flow
Pulling together all cash movements influenced by products, overheads, funding profile, assets and loans, this is an overall cash flow forecast showing how much (if any) money you will have during a full year of your business.

Profit & Loss
Taking into account all trading activities, overheads and special charges such as depreciation and loan interest, this is an forecast profit and loss account showing the net profit (or loss) covering a full year of your business's operations.

Balance Sheet
A forecast balance sheet showing the estimated net worth of your business after one year's trading.

VAT Report
If you indicated the business was registered for VAT (in the User Settings dialog box), you can view a report showing VAT on inputs and outputs as well as calculating quarterly and annual balances.

It can be printed directly, exported as a PDF file for distribution, exported as a RTF file for further editing in Microsoft Word, or even saved as an HTML document for publishing on the Internet.

After viewing your business plan you can go back to any of the other sections and change stuff and then return to the 'View Business Plan' section - to see the changes reflected in your plan click the 'Refresh' button.

Items such as your business plan's title, author(s) and publication date are entered in the User Settings dialog box (see below).

Mini Plan
A good way to get started - just 10 questions - the resulting report can usually be printed on a single piece of paper ...

This dialog box is where you give your business plan a title and sub-title, set its publication date and indicate who the author(s) are.

You can also decide whether your enterprise will be registered for VAT (which will populate the VAT report).

Finally, there is a 'Backup Database' button which if clicked will create a backup of all your data.  Your data has been saved properly and should be in do dangers - however as with everything to do with computers, it is always a good idea to backup one's data.

The three (fictitious) sample social enterprises are:

• Toddle Community Nursery
• Shop & Clean Community Interest Company
• Griddleworth Community Centre

The Help System
There is help in not only how to use the software, but in business planning concepts and techniques.
 

The Tool Factory LLP, 2a Oakhill Road, London SW15 2QU / Email: info@thetoolfactory.com
The Tool Factory is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) registered in England and Wales No: OC325785