What is Financial Forecast for?
A financial forecast shows what your business will earn and cost over the next 3 years, and whether it can repay a loan. It's the first document a bank, an investor or a grant body will ask you for.
You enter your starting revenue, your costs and your funding. The Yok-Kod engine calculates, month by month over 36 months, the income statement, the cash-flow plan, the balance sheet, the financing plan, your loan schedule, tax and VAT, then the ratios a banker looks at, with a written analysis of strengths and points to watch.
Who is it for?
Business founders
To apply for a bank loan or a start-up loan and prove the project is viable.
Shop owners & tradespeople
To check whether premises, a hire or an investment pays off before signing.
Startups
To back a pitch deck with credible figures and test several scenarios.
Consultants & business advisors
To prepare each client's forecast (up to 20 projects).
Students
For a school project or a startup competition.
Non-profits
To present a budget forecast to funders.
Before you start
Gather these figures (estimates are fine, you can adjust them later):
- The revenue you expect in the first month (excluding VAT)
- Your monthly fixed costs: rent, gross salaries, insurance, marketing, other
- Your purchases as a percentage of revenue (goods, raw materials)
- Your starting investments: equipment, fit-out, stock
- Your funding: personal contribution, loan (amount, rate, term), grants
The steps, one by one
Describe your business
Name, industry, legal form (company, sole trader…), VAT rate and start date. The legal form determines how tax is calculated.
Estimate your revenue
Enter month 1 revenue, the monthly growth (3% a month ≈ revenue doubled in 2 years), your business's seasonality and the scenario: realistic, optimistic (+20%) or pessimistic (−25%).
Enter your costs
Variable costs (as a % of revenue) and fixed costs (in € per month), plus their yearly increase (inflation, pay rises). Depreciation reflects the wear of your equipment.
Enter your needs and your funding
Open the "🏦 Investment & Funding" block: investments, stock, working capital needs, opening cash, then personal contribution, loan (rate and term), grants and your customers' payment terms.
Generate the forecast
Click "🚀 Generate the 3-year forecast". In a few seconds, you get the key indicators, the 4 bank ratios, 2 charts and the detailed tables.
Test and adjust
Change a figure (rent, loan term, pessimistic scenario…) and generate again to see the immediate effect on cash flow and ratios. Made a mistake? Ctrl+Z undoes it.
Save and export (exports: Pro)
"💾 Save" keeps your settings in "📁 My profiles". Then export for the bank: see the formats.
The 6 tabs
In the discovery version, the preview shows about a third of the document: the indicators, ratios and charts at the top, then the first 2 tabs (summary and income statement) in full. The other 4 show their title and a locked preview, with the “2 of 6 sections visible” counter.
| 📊 Summary | The headline figures year by year: revenue, costs, EBITDA, net income and margins. |
| 💼 Income statement | Month-by-month detail over 36 months: what you earn and what you spend. |
| 💵 Cash flow (Pro) | The money actually available in your account each month. The most important table to avoid nasty surprises. |
| ⚖️ Balance sheet (Pro) | What your business owns and owes at the end of year 3. |
| 🏦 Funding (Pro) | The financing plan (needs / resources) and the loan schedule. |
| 📝 Comments (Pro) | The written analysis: strengths, points to watch, recommendations for the bank. |
Understanding bank ratios
| Ratio | What it measures | What the bank expects |
|---|---|---|
| DSCR | Your ability to repay: EBITDA divided by annual loan repayments. | At least 1.2 |
| Debt ratio | Your financial debt compared with your equity. | 1.5 maximum |
| Working capital in days | The money tied up in your business (stock, unpaid customer invoices), in days of revenue. | Under 90 days |
| Net margin | What's left after all costs and tax, as a % of revenue (year 3). | 5% or more |
| Break-even | The month the business becomes profitable. | As early as possible |
Each ratio shows in green (good), amber (to watch) or red (to fix).
Exports (Pro)
| Format | Use it to |
|---|---|
| 🖨️ Bank PDF | The document to hand to your banker: indicators, ratios, charts and all the tables. In the print window, choose "Save as PDF". |
| 📊 Excel | A sheet (CSV format) that opens directly in Excel, LibreOffice or Google Sheets, to send to your accountant. |
| 📥 CSV | All the month-by-month data, for your own calculations. |
| 📝 Business Plan | A structured text (Markdown) with the figures and the analysis, to paste into your application or Notion. |
| 📦 JSON | A full backup copy. |
AI (optional) (Pro)
Without AI, the tool calculates everything and already writes an automatic analysis. With AI, you get a more detailed analysis, written as if by a bank analyst: summary, strengths, risks, ratio analysis, recommendations and sensitivity.
- In the AI panel, choose your provider: Agnes, OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Mistral, Groq, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, or any other OpenAI-compatible service. Create an API key on that provider's website (several offer free access, such as Agnes, Groq or Gemini). You can also choose the model; otherwise a fast, inexpensive model is used.
- In the tool's "⚡ AI analysis" block: paste your key, click "🔌 Test" then "💾 Save", and tick "Turn on AI".
- Generate the forecast, or click "🔄 Regenerate with AI" in the Comments tab.
Where are my forecasts saved?
To protect the confidentiality of your figures, your forecasts are saved in your browser, not on our servers. Our servers only do the calculations, without keeping anything.
Discovery or Pro?
| Discovery (free) | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Generate a forecast | 3 a day | Unlimited |
| Editor and example | ✓ 20 preset sectors, seasonality, 3 scenarios | ✓ |
| Indicators, ratios, charts | ✓ with the annual summary and the month-by-month income statement | ✓ |
| Document preview | About a third (2 tabs out of 6) | All 6 tabs |
| Cash flow, balance sheet, funding | — | ✓ |
| Written analysis (strengths, points to watch, recommendations) | — | ✓ |
| Several projects | Just 1 | Up to 20 |
| PDF, Excel, CSV, Business Plan, JSON exports | — | ✓ |
| AI analysis | — | ✓ |
Pro is a one-off purchase, no subscription: €49 for this tool on its own, or included in the Business Pack (€99) and in Full Access (€179, every tool).
Tips to convince your bank
- Be cautious about revenue: bankers are wary of growth that's too fast. Show the pessimistic scenario too.
- Watch your cash flow: it should never go below zero. If it does, increase your contribution, the loan or your opening cash.
- Aim for a DSCR of at least 1.2: if it's too low, extend the loan term or borrow less.
- Put in your own money: banks rarely finance more than 70% of a project.
- Back up your assumptions: quotes, lease, market studies, first customers. Every figure should be explainable.
- Have an accountant review it before an important meeting.
Common issues
- Why is the "Generate" button greyed out?
- The project name (2 characters minimum) and month 1 revenue must be filled in. The button tells you what's missing.
- What does "Discovery version limit reached" mean?
- You've generated 3 forecasts today. Come back tomorrow, or upgrade to Pro for unlimited use.
- Why did my values change when I chose an industry?
- Choosing an industry pre-fills typical purchases, growth, payment terms and seasonality. You can edit them afterwards, or undo with Ctrl+Z.
- Why does my cash flow go negative?
- Your starting funding doesn't cover the first months. Increase your contribution, the loan or opening cash, or cut start-up costs.
- Why does the balance sheet show a gap between assets and liabilities?
- The balance sheet is simplified: it gives a picture of the situation at the end of year 3, not an official accounting balance sheet. Your accountant will draw up the final one.
- Why can't I find my forecast any more?
- Make sure you're using the same computer, the same browser and the same account. Forecasts don't sync between devices.
- Why won't the export download?
- Allow downloads for yok-kod.com in your browser, temporarily turn off any ad blocker, then try again.
Another question? Write to us, we reply quickly.