Financial Planning at the Enterprise

Effective financial management of an enterprise is possible only when planning all financial flows, processes and relations of an economic entity.

The market economy as a complex and organized socio-economic system requires a qualitatively different financial planning, since the enterprise itself is responsible for all the negative consequences and miscalculations of plans by the deterioration of its financial condition.

However, along with the need for widespread use of financial planning in the current conditions, there are factors that limit its use in enterprises, the main of which are:
- a high degree of uncertainty in the Russian market associated with ongoing global changes in all spheres of public life;
- a small proportion of enterprises that have the financial capacity to carry out serious financial work;
- Lack of an effective legal and regulatory framework for domestic business.

Large companies have great opportunities for effective financial planning. They have sufficient financial resources to attract highly qualified specialists to ensure the implementation of large-scale planned work in the field of finance.

In small enterprises, as a rule, there are no funds for this, although the need for financial planning is no less than in large ones. Small firms are more likely to need borrowed funds to support their economic activities, while the external environment of such enterprises is less controllable and more aggressive.

The value of financial planning for an economic entity is that it:
- embodies the developed strategic goals and the form of specific financial indicators;
- provides financial resources for the economic proportions of development laid down in the production plan;
- provides opportunities to determine the viability of an enterprise project in a competitive environment;
- serves as a tool for obtaining financial support from external investors.

The main tasks of financial planning in the enterprise are:
- provision of necessary financial resources for production, investment and financial activities;
- determination of ways of effective investment of capital, assessment of the degree of its rational use;
- identification of on-farm reserves for increasing profits through the economical use of funds;
- establishment of rational financial relations with the budget, banks and contractors;
- observance of the interests of shareholders and other investors;
- control over the financial condition, solvency and creditworthiness of the enterprise.

The financial plan is designed to provide financial resources for the entrepreneurial plan of an economic entity and has a great impact on the economy of the enterprise. This is due to two circumstances: firstly, in the financial plans, the planned costs for carrying out activities are compared with real opportunities, and as a result of the adjustment, material and financial balance is achieved, and, secondly, the articles of the financial plan are associated with all economic indicators of the enterprise and are linked to the main sections of the entrepreneurial plan: the production of products and services, scientific and technological development, the improvement of production and management, the increase in production efficiency, capital construction, the material and technical support of labor and personnel, profit and profitability, economic incentives, etc.

Various methods are used in the practice of financial planning. The method of economic analysis allows you to determine the main patterns, trends in the movement of natural and cost indicators, internal reserves of the enterprise.

The normative method lies in the fact that on the basis of pre-established norms and technical and economic standards, the need of an economic entity for financial resources and their sources is calculated. Such standards are the rates of taxes and fees, depreciation rates, etc. There are also standards developed directly at the enterprise.

The cash flow method serves as a tool for predicting the size and timing of the receipt of the necessary financial resources.

The method of multivariate calculations consists in the development of alternative variants of plans in order to choose the optimal one from them, while the selection criteria can be set differently.

Methods of economic and mathematical modeling make it possible to quantitatively express the closeness of the relationship between financial indicators and the main factors that determine them.

The financial planning process includes several stages. 1. At the first stage, financial indicators for the previous period are analyzed. To do this, use the main financial documents of enterprises - the balance sheet, profit and loss statements, cash flow statement.

2. The second stage involves the preparation of forecast documents, such as a forecast of the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow (cash flow), which are related to long-term financial plans and are included in the structure of a scientifically based business plan of the enterprise.

3. At the third stage, the indicators of forecast financial documents are specified and specified by drawing up current financial plans. 4. At the fourth stage, operational financial planning is carried out.