If a new financing or refinancing is necessary or if the company’s earning power or liquidity begins to shrink, financing partners often demand that the medium-term planning be checked for plausibility by a neutral management consultant. Even in the case of larger SMEs, however, there is often no planning at all – usually, at best, the next year is planned, and only in the last quarter of the current business year. And if subsequent years have been planned, then almost always it is only as a mere top-down update.
If there is no sufficiently well-founded and detailed forecast for the next two to four years, then an interlocking set of plans must be drawn up, backed up with well-founded assumptions and also documented in a way that is comprehensible to third parties. If the company is actually in a crisis situation, then integrated planning is an integral part of every restructuring report that meets the requirements of the IDW S6 auditing standard.
Typical questions are: Is the submitted planning mathematically correct? Are the income statement, balance sheet and liquidity planning integrated? If there are sub-plans, e.g. for individual countries or business areas, are they correctly aggregated at segment or company level? Are the premises on which the planning is based documented, comprehensible and consistent with each other?
And what is often underestimated and, in our experience, often paid too little attention by financiers, is can the corporate planning stand up to a test with the market? In other words, is it appropriate in terms of content? All too often, some “number fans” put a lot of effort and knowledge into preparing, analysing and testing the figures. But when it comes to presenting the reliability of planning and future (!) market development, the ice suddenly becomes very thin. Studies are quoted that do not always fit, or one relies immediately on the statements of the management – which one is supposed to verify – and recites market data that are then not validated, unlike the rest of the figures for which the tools of the trade are usually lacking.
maconda looks at both – internal figures and the company’s environment as well as its strategic positioning. Since, in our experience, different skills are required for this, we always work with mixed teams with ideal professional backgrounds. For example, the colleagues who check or optimise liquidity planning are different from those who deal with the market. According to our many years of experience, there is no other way.
As a result – and taking all the different perspectives together – it is possible to accurately assess the current earnings and financial situation and realistically evaluate possible changes. Above all, however, it is also possible to look into the future, to justify the continuation forecast and to identify growth potential as well as the need for action.
maconda is skilled not only in checking the plausibility of submitted business plans, but also in developing and technically implementing them. We support you with methodical know-how, a lot of experience in the implementation of software and tools, with constructive ideas that have been tested in the market and also with a drive for action.
What you can expect from us:
- Preparation and moderation of planning workshops
- Plausibility check or derivation of the qualitative and quantitative planning assumptions: in terms of calculation and content
- Coaching and preparation of integrated financial planning (balance sheet, P&L, cash flow, also upstream personnel- and sales planning, etc.)
- Creating scenarios for the top and bottom line
- Comprehensible documentation of the planning premises
- Technical implementation using various tools and software
- Introduction of suitable software solutions for financial performance management and BI, also with international roll-out
Whether in the run-up to financing decisions, in the systematisation of the business or when implementing (new) software solutions use the proven toolbox, pragmatic approach and experience of an interdisciplinary team to safely reach your goal!
