Where is the business headed?
Budgeting & Forecasting
Build a month-by-month financial plan for revenue, expenses, profitability, and expected performance.
FP&A & Forecasting
Know what’s driving the numbers.
Know what’s driving the numbers.
See what’s coming next.
Financial statements tell you what happened. FP&A helps you understand why it happened, where the business is heading, and what the numbers could mean for the decisions ahead.
Forecasting · Cash Planning · Profitability · KPIs · Financial Modeling
Beyond the financial statements
You have financial statements. Now what?
Knowing last month’s revenue and profit is useful. Running the business also means understanding what caused those results, whether they’re likely to continue, and what could change them. That’s where FP&A comes in.
Why was profit lower even though revenue increased?
Which customers, services, or products are actually most profitable?
Are expenses growing faster than revenue?
What will cash look like three months from now?
Are we on track with the budget?
What happens if we hire another employee?
Can we afford a major purchase?
What happens if sales slow down?
What FP&A actually looks like
Turn financial information into a forward-looking view of the business.
The right mix depends on what you need to understand, plan for, or improve.
Budgeting & Rolling Forecasts
Turn business goals into a financial plan, then update that plan as actual results and expectations change.
Cash Flow Forecasting
See expected cash needs before they become surprises, whether that means a short-term 13-week view or longer-range cash planning.
Budget vs. Actual Analysis
Compare what happened with what you expected, identify meaningful variances, and understand what drove them.
Profitability Analysis
Understand profitability by customer, service, project, product, or another meaningful part of the business when the underlying data supports it.
KPIs & Management Reporting
Focus reporting on the financial and operating measures that help you understand how the business is performing.
Financial Modeling & Scenario Planning
Test assumptions around growth, hiring, pricing, costs, investments, or changing business conditions before committing to a decision.
What you receive
The goal isn’t more spreadsheets. It’s better visibility.
Depending on the engagement, your FP&A support may include a combination of recurring reporting, forecasts, analysis, and models built around your business.
Monthly management reporting
Financial results organized around the information management actually needs to see.
Budget-to-actual reporting
Where results differed from plan, with the meaningful drivers highlighted.
Rolling forecasts
Updated expectations for revenue, expenses, profit, and cash as the business changes.
Profitability views
Customer, service, project, or product-level analysis where the data supports it.
KPI dashboards
A focused view of the measures that matter most to the business.
Scenario models
Side-by-side financial impact of different assumptions or decisions.
See FP&A in action
What the analysis can actually look like.
Real examples of the kinds of financial views SmartScale can build to help owners understand performance and plan ahead.
Are we performing the way we expected?
Budget vs. Actual & Financial Performance
Compare actual results with the plan, identify meaningful variances, and understand what is driving them.
What’s actually making us money?
Profitability Analysis
Look beyond total revenue to understand margins and profitability across the parts of the business that matter.
What will our cash position look like ahead?
Cash Flow Planning
Model expected cash inflows and outflows so upcoming needs can be seen and planned for before they arrive.
How it works
Financial analysis built around your business.
FP&A should answer the questions you actually have, not force your business into a generic template.
Understand the business
We start with how your business makes money, what drives costs, what information you have today, and what you’re trying to understand.
Build the right financial view
That may include a budget, forecast, cash model, profitability analysis, KPI reporting, or a combination based on your needs.
Compare expectations with reality
As actual results come in, we look at what changed, where performance differs from plan, and what’s driving the difference.
Keep looking forward
Forecasts, assumptions, and scenarios are updated as the business changes so your financial view stays useful.
FP&A options
Ongoing support or a focused project.
Pricing depends on business complexity, reporting needs, forecasting requirements, and the level of ongoing analysis involved.
Ongoing FP&A & Forecasting
Forward-looking financial support
$900/mo & up
- ✓Forecasting and financial planning
- ✓Budget vs. actual analysis
- ✓Management reporting and KPIs
- ✓Profitability, cash, or scenario analysis as scoped
Project-Based FP&A
A defined financial planning or analysis need
Custom
- ✓Budget or forecast builds
- ✓Financial models and scenarios
- ✓Profitability analysis
- ✓KPI and management reporting
Already have a bookkeeper? Keep them.
SmartScale can provide FP&A using reliable financial information produced by your existing bookkeeper or accounting team.
FP&A vs. Fractional CFO
FP&A helps you understand the numbers. CFO support helps you act on them.
FP&A & Forecasting focuses on building the financial view of the business: budgets, forecasts, cash planning, profitability, KPIs, variance analysis, and financial models.
Fractional CFO support uses that financial information as part of broader business decisions involving pricing, hiring, investments, growth, cash and capital planning, and other decisions with significant financial impact.
There can be overlap. Some businesses need ongoing FP&A without CFO-level support. Others need both analysis and an experienced financial partner involved in the decisions that follow.
Explore Fractional CFO Support →Common questions
About FP&A & forecasting with SmartScale
Do I need SmartScale to do my bookkeeping too?
No. SmartScale can provide FP&A using financial information from your existing bookkeeper or accounting team, as long as the underlying information is reliable.
What’s the difference between a budget and a forecast?
A budget establishes the financial plan and expectations for the business. A forecast updates the expected outcome as actual results, assumptions, and business conditions change. Both can be useful, but they serve different purposes.
How far ahead do you forecast?
It depends on what you’re trying to understand. Short-term cash forecasting may focus on the next 13 weeks, while operating forecasts commonly look across the next 12 months or longer.
Can you help me understand which customers or services are most profitable?
Yes. When the underlying financial and operational data supports it, profitability can be analyzed by customer, service, project, product, or other meaningful parts of the business.
Can FP&A be a one-time project?
Yes. Budgets, forecasts, financial models, profitability analysis, KPI reporting, and other defined FP&A needs can be scoped as project work as well as ongoing support.
When would I need Fractional CFO support instead?
If the primary need is broader financial leadership and help evaluating significant business decisions, Fractional CFO support may be a better fit. Some engagements combine CFO-level guidance with ongoing FP&A.
FP&A & Forecasting
Your financials should help you see what’s ahead.
Tell me what you’re trying to understand, plan for, or decide. We’ll look at the financial information you have today and determine what kind of analysis would actually help.
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