Uploading historical financial data
Once you have the template in place, the next step is to obtain historical financials. With historical data, we are interested in the balance sheet, profit and loss account, and cash flow statement. It is common, in the course of preparing financial statements, to have a number of initial drafts that may have content that will be superseded when the final statements are agreed upon. Ensure that the financials you are given are the final audited financial statements.
The more information you have, the more accurate your projections will be; however, you must not get carried away, as too much information will make the model unnecessarily cumbersome. Generally, historical data is limited to 5 years, with another 5 years of projected financials. Try to get soft copies of the historical financials in Excel readable format, as this will significantly reduce the amount of time you will need to spend converting into your template format.
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