StartupModel

SBA loan financial projections, built on your numbers

If you are applying for an SBA-backed or conventional bank loan, the lender will want to see how the business pays the loan back. That means projected financial statements: an income statement, a balance sheet and a cash flow statement, with the first year in monthly or quarterly detail. StartupModel builds those statements in Excel from your own numbers, with live formulas, a low / base / high scenario switch and a Checks sheet. The Full model costs $349.

What the SBA itself says to include

The SBA's own guide to writing a business plan is direct about the financial section:

  • "Provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets."
  • "For the first year, be even more specific and use quarterly — or even monthly — projections."
  • For a business that already trades: "include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years."

It also notes that "lenders and investors commonly request this plan," and that the funding request should "clearly explain how much funding you'll need over the next five years and what you'll use it for."

Source: SBA — Write your business plan.

Individual lenders set their own requirements on top of this. Before you build anything, ask your loan officer three questions: how many years they want, whether year one should be monthly or quarterly, and whether they have a preferred format. Then build to that answer.

What a lender looks for in the numbers

From the lender's side, the projection answers a few specific questions. A model that answers them clearly makes the loan officer's job easier, and that matters.

  1. Can the business service the debt? The lender compares cash generated by operations with the interest and principal due. If the model has no balance sheet or cash flow statement, they can't check this, and they will ask for it.
  2. Where does the money go? The loan amount should tie to a list of uses: fit-out, equipment, working capital, the opening cash cushion. In the model this appears as capital spending and the opening cash position.
  3. Are the assumptions believable? A month-one revenue figure that equals a mature competitor's is a red flag. A ramp-up period is normal and expected.
  4. What happens if sales are lower? A single forecast invites the question "and if you're wrong?" A downside case that still meets the repayments is one of the strongest things you can show.
  5. Does the arithmetic hold? A balance sheet that doesn't balance, or cash that doesn't reconcile, undermines everything else in the application.

What the Full model includes

The Full tier is built for this use.

  • Inputs sheet. Every assumption in its own labelled cell, with low, base and high values side by side.
  • Monthly detail for revenue, costs, payroll, working capital, depreciation, the loan and equity. You choose 1, 3 or 5 years. For a loan, choose 5 to match the SBA guidance, unless your lender asked for something else.
  • Loan schedule. The drawdown in the first period, principal repaid evenly over the term you enter, and interest on the average balance.
  • Working capital. Receivable, inventory and payable days, so cash reflects when you are actually paid and when you pay.
  • Income tax with losses carried forward, so the early loss-making months reduce tax later rather than being ignored.
  • Annual P&L, cash flow statement and balance sheet. Annual statements built from the monthly detail.
  • Dashboard with the scenario selector. Switch between low, base and high and every statement recalculates.
  • Checks sheet. Live formulas confirm that the balance sheet balances in every period, closing cash equals the sum of net cash flows, annual totals tie to the monthly detail, and the scenario inputs are ordered the right way.

Before the file is released, every scenario and every year is recomputed independently, outside Excel, and must match the workbook within $1. A model that fails is never sent.

How to present the projection to a lender

The model gives you the numbers. These habits make them persuasive.

  • Lead with the base case and show the low case. Say plainly what has to go wrong for the low case to happen, and show that repayments are still covered, or what you would do if they weren't.
  • Tie every big assumption to a source. Rent from a lease quote. Equipment from supplier quotes. Traffic from a comparable site, a footfall count or your current sales. Write the source next to the input.
  • Show the ramp-up. Opening traffic as a share of full traffic and the months to reach it are separate inputs in our models, because lenders want to see that you haven't assumed day-one maturity.
  • Keep the owner's contribution visible. Equity in, loan in, and what each pays for.
  • Send the Excel file, not just a PDF. A loan officer who can click a cell and see the formula trusts the number more.

Which industry model to start from

The questionnaire starts with your business type, because the revenue logic differs:

For a broader guide to preparing projections for any lender, see financial projections for a bank loan. For the whole range, see custom financial models.

What we don't do

  • We don't write the narrative business plan. The model is the financial section; your plan explains the business.
  • We don't submit anything to a lender, and no model is "SBA-approved". The lender approves the loan, not the spreadsheet.
  • We don't give lending, tax or legal advice. Ask your lender, accountant or SBA resource partner about your specific case.

Questions

Should I choose 3 or 5 years? The SBA guide asks for a five-year outlook. Some lenders accept three. Ask yours, and if in doubt build five. You can still present the first three.

Can I enter my loan terms? Yes. Loan amount, interest rate and term are inputs, alongside the owner's equity.

Does it work for an existing business? The model projects forward from the start of the plan. Historical statements come from your accounts; put them alongside the projection in your application.

What if the model doesn't fit my business? Write to us within 7 days and we refund the full amount.

Build my loan projections — Full, $349