Free Excel Templates for Financial Planning
Marcus Smolarek
Gründer von finban
Zuletzt aktualisiert
Six professional templates you can use right away — from simple liquidity planning to a complete business plan. Each template is optimized for SMEs and startups and includes automatic calculations, conditional formatting, and charts.
Want to automate your financial planning? Finban connects to your bank accounts, categorizes transactions automatically, and creates your cash flow forecast in real time. Start for free →
1. Liquidity Plan (Monthly View)
The foundation of any financial plan: a 12-month liquidity plan with opening balance, categorized inflows and outflows, and automatic closing balance calculation.
Includes:
- Revenue by category (Product Sales, Services, Grants, Other)
- Expenses by category (Salaries, Rent, Marketing, Software, Taxes)
- Automatic calculation of net cash flow and cumulative balance
- Conditional formatting: cells turn red when balance drops below zero
How to use this template:
- Enter your current bank balance as the opening balance
- Fill in revenue categories with expected payment receipts (not invoice dates!)
- Enter all fixed costs (salaries, rent, insurance)
- Add variable costs based on the last 3–6 months
- Check the red highlighting: does the balance go negative anywhere?
Time required: ~1 hour for initial setup, then 15 min/week.
2. 13-Week Cash Flow Plan
The industry standard for short-term liquidity management. Week by week, you can see whether your cash is sufficient.
Use cases:
- Ensure short-term solvency
- Weekly actual vs. plan comparisons
- Early warning for cash flow gaps
Structure:
- 13 columns (one per calendar week)
- Rows: Operating revenue, Operating expenses, Investments, Financing
- Automatic calculation: Net cash flow per week + cumulative balance
- Each week: Column 1 is overwritten with actual data, a new week 14 is added
Tip: Use the 13-week plan alongside the monthly plan. The monthly plan shows strategic direction; the 13-week plan ensures operational solvency.
3. 3-Scenario Planner
Best case, base case, worst case — at a glance. Three parallel projections with a shared assumptions table.
Includes:
- Separate worksheets per scenario
- Central assumptions control (growth rate, payment terms, personnel costs)
- Comparison chart of all three scenarios
- Automatic sensitivity analysis
Assumptions table (example):
| Parameter | Worst Case | Base Case | Best Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | -10% | +5% | +20% |
| Payment terms (days) | 60 | 45 | 30 |
| Personnel cost increase | +5% | +3% | +3% |
| Customer churn | 15% | 8% | 3% |
When you need the scenario planner:
- Before investment decisions
- In crisis situations (revenue drop, customer loss)
- For investor reporting and bank meetings
4. Runway Calculator
How long will your cash last? The runway calculator shows you, based on your current burn rate and cash reserves, when you'll run out of money.
Includes:
- Cash position (currently available funds)
- Monthly burn rate (average of last 3–6 months)
- Automatic runway calculation in months
- Chart with liquidity trajectory to the "cash zero" line
- What-if calculator: how does the runway change with cost reduction?
Ideal for:
- Startups with venture funding
- Companies in transition phases
- Investor reporting
- Deciding on fundraising timing
Formula: = Cash Position / Avg. Monthly Burn Rate
5. Annual Budget Plan
Budget planning by department and cost center with monthly actual vs. plan comparison.
Includes:
- Budget per team/department (Marketing, Product, Sales, Ops)
- Monthly actual data entry
- Automatic variance calculation (absolute + percentage)
- Dashboard with progress bars
- Traffic light system: Green (< 5% variance), Yellow (5–15%), Red (> 15%)
Best practices:
- Plan conservatively: estimate revenue low, expenses high
- Build in a 10–15% buffer for unplanned costs
- Update the budget monthly with actual data
- Analyze the top 5 variances every quarter
6. Business Plan Template (3 Years)
For bank meetings, investor pitches, and grant applications. Complete financial plan with P&L, cash flow, and balance sheet planning.
Includes:
- Revenue planning by product line
- Cost planning (fixed + variable)
- Personnel and investment planning
- Projected P&L, cash flow statement, projected balance sheet
- Liquidity forecast (36 months)
When you need this template:
- Bank meeting for loan application
- Investor pitch (Seed, Series A)
- Grant application
- Internal strategic planning
More on business plan templates →
Excel Templates vs. Automated Solution
| Criterion | Excel Template | Finban |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | 1–2 hours | 5 minutes |
| Data currency | Manual (1×/week) | Real-time (automatic) |
| Error risk | High (formula errors, typos) | Low (automatic calculations) |
| Scenarios | Manual copy & adjust | One click |
| Bank data | Manual export & import | Automatic sync |
| Teamwork | Version chaos | Cloud-based, real-time |
| Cost | €0 | Free basic version |
Excel templates are a good start — but they get outdated quickly. With Finban you have your liquidity up to date: automatic bank data, intelligent categorization, and scenarios at the click of a button. Try free now →