One of the almost obligatory steps for the creator or buyer of a business is to prepare a forecast of the income statements over 3 years.

The main purpose of drafting forecast accounts is to measure the profitability and viability of your project. The forecast accounts are most often carried out over a period of 3 years maximum and are materialized by the establishment of several financial tables: an income statement, a balance sheet, a cash flow table and a financing plan. The forecast is the first thing a banker will ask you to open a professional account or to a request for financing / bank loan. But above all it is an essential tool for framing the financial aspects of your project. This is therefore not a step to be taken lightly. It is crucial to the future success of your project. In order to successfully complete this step, it is advisable to seek support or have your forecast accounts validated by a competent professional. The accountant is best placed to support you in this process.

To build a 3-year forecast, the entrepreneur must gather all possible information on :

- Its initial investments,
- Its activity costs (variable and fixed)
- Salaries and social contributions (for the manager and for any employees)
- Its turnover and its evolution over time,
- Its taxes and duties.

This information is obtained as your project progresses.

Financial tables

- An income statement contains all the products including turnover and expenses over one year. It allows you to calculate the profitability of the company, its result (profit or loss), and to visualize its construction. An income statement is established for each of the 3 forecast years. contains all the products including turnover and expenses over one year. It allows you to calculate the profitability of the company, its result (profit or loss), and to visualize its construction. An income statement is established for each of the 3 forecast years.
- The Balance Sheet represents the assets and liabilities of the company. That is, what your company owns and what it owes. The balance sheet is the image of the company's assets at the end of each financial year. The balance sheet is also drawn up at the end of each year.
- A treasure table lists monthly all the receipts and disbursements expected over the forecast period. It allows you to check whether the cash flow is positive at the end of each month.
- The financing plan represents all the financial needs of the company and the resources it has to finance them. This table makes it possible to ensure that the funds mobilized allow to finance the investments and the working capital requirement.

Making forecast accounts over 3 years allows the entrepreneur to:

- Measure the risk attached to your business creation project;
-Have goals to achieve. That is, a benchmark against which you can see whether actual activity is in line with what you planned;
- Determine, in figures, whether your creation project can generate sufficient profits. You will thus be able to be alerted to the fact that your project is not generating sufficient profitability and that certain aspects need to be reworked. In particular, whether your operating margin is sufficient to generate income.

The income statement forecasts are a means for the entrepreneur to avoid embarking on an adventure doomed to failure.The risk of finding yourself in a project without real medium-term financial prospects will be more limited. You will be able to determine the amount of financing that will be necessary to set up your structure in order to anticipate future cash flow problems. With the support of these documents, investors will be more easily convinced to support you.