FORWARD FEST: Demystifying the Pro Forma: Building Financial Projections
In 40+ years of working with entrepreneurs, we have regularly observed that “the money part” of business planning is often what causes many business owners and would-be business owners alike the most anxiety and confusion. Yet the numbers don’t have to intimidate you. Instead, understanding a clear financial plan for your business will give you the confidence to make educated decisions about the viability of your business idea, access needed capital and actively manage cash flow as your business grows.
This live-virtual introductory session – designed for new and prospective business owners in any industry – will help you understand:
- The purpose (and power!) of a pro forma in business planning, management and in accessing capital
- The fundamental “inputs” to building solid projections, including:
- Identification of your business models key revenue streams, and how to translate to your projections
- Synthesis of customer, competitive and industry knowledge into reasoned market size and share estimates
- The impact of pricing decisions, buyer behavior and capacity on projected revenue
- Types of key cost estimates needed for your projections
- Other considerations
- Resources for pulling it all together!
By joining us for this overview session, you will build a solid foundation of concepts that can help you understand how to put real numbers to your dreams and learn the path to projections. Whether you plan to seek funding from a bank, determine the feasibility of your business idea, or explore new directions for your business, following the ideas we’ll cover in this session will help you build success based on knowledge.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the Role of Financial Projections – Define what financial projections are, and explain their importance in business planning and securing funding.
- Identify Key Inputs for Financial Projections – Determine what critical data and assumptions are needed to prepare to develop accurate and realistic projections.
- Translate Your Business Plan/Model from Narrative to Numbers – Learn how to convert a business plan or concept into meaningful financial projections, including revenue forecasts, expense estimates, and profitability analysis.
- Develop a Roadmap for Action – Walk away with suggestions and resources for next steps in developing your projections.
Registration Information
Date: August 19, 2026
Schedule: 1:30 pm – 2:45 pm
Location: Live Virtual
This no-cost session is being hosted as part of Forward Fest 2026! To register, you will sign up for a Forward Fest pass, and then you can add this course to your schedule.
All SBDC courses that are being held as part of Forward Fest are no cost and can be accessed via the free pass.
Registration Summer 2026
Date: August 19, 2026
Time: 1:30 pm – 2:45 pm
Location: Online, Live virtual session via Zoom. Course link will be sent out shortly before the first session.
This no-cost session is being hosted as part of Forward Fest 2026! To register, you will sign up for a Forward Fest pass, and then you can add this course to your schedule.
All SBDC courses that are being held as part of Forward Fest are no cost and can be accessed via the free pass.
Cancellation Policy: Due to program costs and space limitations for these programs, participants are expected to cancel their registration at least 24 hours ahead of the program. Cancellations that occur less than 24 hours prior to the start of the program will be considered no-shows and may be removed from future programming and/or charged a course fee.
Disability Statement: Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the UW-Madison SBDC office at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu to request accommodations.
Anne Inman
Instructor
Anne Inman has a diverse business background spanning over 25 years of bringing organization to data, functions and people to address a broad spectrum of business challenges. She began her career in the accounting profession. A growing interest in marketing lead her to several roles at Information Resources, Inc. and Kraft Foods. She has also owned her own consulting business. She has been a business consultant with the UW-Madison Small Business Development Center for two years and works with clients in the Entrepreneurial Training Grant program. Anne holds a BS in Accounting from Purdue University, an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Thank you! This was exactly what I needed to feel less intimidated about taking this step. Anne’s presentation style and all the information provided were excellent. Demystify is the correct title – I took away the confidence that I can tackle this and that with time, I can pull together the data I need.
Deepen your Learning
with The Beginner’s Guide to Financial Projections!
When seeking funding and/or determining the feasibility of your business idea, you will likely need financial projections. This free, interactive online class is designed to help you understand what inputs you need to create projections.
You will learn to answer these questions:
- How can I prepare to create financial projections? What information do I need to gather?
- What is some basic terminology I should understand to be more “fluent” in the language of projections?
- How do financial projections work? What are the key components?
- What can I expect when working with a traditional lender?
- What are some typical sources of funding for new businesses and expansion projections?
- What are some next steps I can take to translate my inputs into projections?
The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a proud part of the Office of Business & Entrepreneurship within the Universities of Wisconsin. It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison is also part of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub at UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison helps entrepreneurs succeed at any stage. We offer no-cost, confidential consulting and business education across a wide region, primarily serving Dane, Sauk, and Columbia counties. SBDC services are provided in a nondiscriminatory way to all legal residents and citizens in the US.
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact us at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu or call (608) 263-2221.