Projections, cash flow and ratios

The forward-looking half of a CMA report. These figures are yours — nothing can furnish them.

Filling the projected columns

Work across the Projections tab, year by year. Revenue, costs, working capital, the movements that follow.

The projections are your client's plan and your judgement about whether it holds together. A bank reads them as your view, so they carry the weight of one.

Suggestions appear as placeholders

Where OptiVida can suggest a figure — a trend continued, a ratio held — it shows it as a placeholder in the cell.

That is deliberate. A projection that appeared by itself and was never considered is exactly the figure that should not be in a document you sign.

Derived rows recalculate as you type

Subtotals, margins and anything computed follow immediately. You will see the effect of a change on the ratios before you leave the cell.

Derived cells cannot be typed into — the arithmetic is not something to override. If a subtotal is wrong, a component is wrong.

The Cash Flow tab

Some rows are computed from the operating statement and balance sheet; others are inputs. The badges tell you which is which.

Where cash flow does not tie to the balance sheet movement, that is a signal — usually a projection that has not been carried through consistently.

The Ratios tab

Computed from everything else, so there is nothing to enter here. It is a reading surface.

The year-on-year strip

Shows a line's movement across the years side by side. Useful for spotting a projection that steps oddly between one year and the next.

Comparing last year's projection with this year's actual

Where a report exists for the prior year, the historical column and last year's projection sit next to each other.

Banks look at this. A projection that proved reasonable last year lends weight to this year's; one that did not is worth being ready to explain.