Looking for a consulting planning business plan? You're in the right place.
A consultancy that writes plans for other people has to answer questions about its own. How many hours can a team of two or four deliver in a year? What does a fixed fee have to cover? How much of the revenue repeats, and how much is a new sale every month? A generic template won't show what a sensible answer looks like.
In this article we'll walk through a complete sample plan for Crest Lane, a planning consultancy in Charlotte, North Carolina, section by section, and finish with all of the financials. You'll see how fixed-fee packages feed a monthly retainer, and what that does to cash.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The executive summary: see how a consultancy puts its offer, its funding and its first three years on one page, so a reader sees the ask on one page
- The offer ladder: learn how a fixed-fee package leads to a retainer, so you can decide what to charge once and what to bill every month
- The delivery-hours table: check how many billable hours a team can carry before you promise revenue it cannot deliver
- The first year, month by month: spot which months lose money in a business that bills on delivery, and size the reserve to match
- The marketing plan: see what a new firm might spend to win its first 32 engagements and which channels carry them
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet: understand how each hire, pay raise and price rise shows up in the numbers
- The downside case and single-input tests: have an answer ready for "what if work runs 20% short?", with the steps the owner takes in response and the cases that break the plan
If you're setting up a planning or advisory firm, read this before you write your own. The firm is fictional, so keep what fits your practice and change the rest.
In this plan
Looking for a consulting planning business plan template? The Toolkit builds yours with your own numbers.
The Plan on One Page
Crest Lane is a planning consultancy that opens in the SouthPark area of Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 1, 2027. It writes business plans, forecasts and lender packages for start-ups and owner-run firms at fixed fees, and keeps the clients that want a finance function on a monthly planning retainer. Founder Tessa Holloway owns 100% of the firm.
Crest Lane needs $225,000: $110,000 of Tessa's savings and a $115,000 bank term loan. Of that, $196,500 is held as cash (a $191,000 reserve and a $5,500 lease deposit), $10,000 buys equipment and office set-up, and $18,500 covers legal work, registration and the launch campaign. The reserve is large because the firm bills on delivery, is paid about 45 days later and carries Tessa's $112,000 salary from the first month.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $284,200 | $544,100 | $743,750 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($60,581) | $44,982 | $68,151 |
| Closing cash | $110,934 | $103,493 | $104,147 |
Year 1 delivers 32 engagements and ends with 5 retainer clients paying $11,000 a month. The year loses money because Tessa works alone through April, the first analyst starts in May, and packages bill on delivery and are paid about 45 days later. Revenue covers operating costs in four of the twelve months. Year 2 is the first profitable year, and net income stays positive through Year 5.
The model also runs a downside. If revenue falls 20% short every year, Tessa cuts her own pay from July 2027, hires slip, the firm stays in its first office and distributions shrink, net income is positive from Year 2 and closing cash stays positive in all five years. Debt cover on 2027 results is negative in the base case and the downside alike, so the bank would be asked for no cover test until 2028.
Crest Lane's offer is narrow. Every client gets a model built from their own operating figures, a named person who answers the lender's follow-up questions, and the choice to keep that person on a monthly retainer afterward.
What a lender would still ask
- Security for the $115,000 loan. Apart from cash, the firm's assets at the end of 2027 are $35,038 of receivables and $8,229 of equipment bought for $10,000, against $104,782 of loan outstanding, so the lender would look to Tessa's guarantee, a pledge over the reserve account or an SBA guarantee, and would ask for her personal financial statement.
- Tessa's liquidity after putting $110,000 into the firm, and what she lives on if the March 2027 slip or the downside lasts longer than the plan allows.
- Evidence for Year 1 volume: engagement letters beyond the two in hand, a log of the referral conversations behind 14 referral-sourced engagements, and the 96 discovery calls at one in three closing.
- Support for 36, 56 and 36 hours per package. September to December 2027 sit at 780 of 780 available hours, and 25% longer hours put Year 1 at 109% of capacity.
- How fast clients pay. The model uses 45 days, and 60 days takes the Year 1 low from about $76,000 to about $58,000. Whether a deposit at signing becomes policy is open.
- Professional liability: the limit and retention, and the claim in which a client's loan is declined and the forecast is blamed. Claims-made cover also has to stay in force after the work ends.
- Debt cover of -1.3x on 2027 results and 1.8x in 2028, and a covenant that fits: quarterly accounts in place of a 2027 test, and a first test on 2028.
- Why the reserve is $191,000 when the base-case low is about $76,000. It is sized for the March 2027 slip, whose low is about $22,000, and the borrowed part of whatever goes unused costs 10.75% in interest.
- Owner pay and distributions: a $112,000 salary from month one while the firm loses money, and $115,000 of distributions over Years 3 to 5, when five of the nine single-input tests end with year-end cash below zero.
- What triggers the Year 4 office move and the second senior hire in October 2030, and whether both wait for revenue.
Crest Lane and Its Four Offers
Crest Lane, LLC is a North Carolina limited liability company. It leases 1,000 square feet in SouthPark, with room for six desks, and starts work in January 2027 so that the first packages are delivered in the first quarter. At opening the lease, website and engagement-letter templates are in place and two packages are signed.
The offer ladder
| Offer | What is delivered | Fee | Delivery hours | Year 1 share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startup plan package | Written plan, three-year forecast, funding summary | $5,800 | about 36 | 37% |
| Lender package | Plan, forecast, debt-service schedule, lender question list and a preparation call | $9,500 | about 56 | 27% |
| Forecast and budget build | Three-statement model and a monthly budget-versus-actual template for an operating firm | $6,300 | about 36 | 13% |
| Planning retainer | Monthly numbers review, rolling 13-week cash forecast and a quarterly planning session | $2,200 a month | about 10 a month | 23% |
Packages and builds are one-off fixed fees, invoiced in full on delivery on 30-day terms, and the model collects them in 45 days on average. The retainer is the recurring line, invoiced monthly. A client who finishes a package is offered a retainer at the handover call, and roughly one in six takes it in the first two years.
What Crest Lane does not do
The firm does not prepare tax returns, issue audit, review or compilation reports, give securities or investment advice, or arrange financing. Fees do not depend on whether a loan closes. Lenders and the SBA publish their own rules for paid helpers on loan applications, and the firm confirms them before it quotes any lender package. Counsel reviews the engagement letter, and North Carolina's licensing rules for accounting services are confirmed with counsel before the firm adds anything that sits near them.
Where it is headed
Thirty-two engagements in Year 1, 49 packages and 15 builds a year by Year 5, and a retainer book of 22 clients, which is 55% of Year 5 revenue. Headcount rises from two to five and a half full-time equivalents, with the loan repaid on schedule by the end of Year 5.
The Charlotte Planning Market
Why a founder or owner asks for a forecast
A forecast is requested by someone else: a lender, a landlord, an investor, a partner buying in. Lenders set their own checklists. The SBA's 7(a) page lists a maximum loan of $5 million and says the contents of an application vary with the size of the loan and the lender's processing method. Crest Lane therefore builds each lender package to the checklist of the lender named in the engagement letter, and does not offer a single template.
How big the local base is
The Census Bureau's QuickFacts estimates Mecklenburg County's population at 1,233,383 on July 1, 2025, 10.6% above the April 2020 estimates base, and lists 36,472 employer establishments (2023). Growth brings new firms and new lending. Most of those establishments are not buyers; the target is the narrower group that is raising a loan, opening a second location or preparing a budget for the first time.
What the people who do this work earn
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put median pay for management analysts at $101,860 in May 2025 and projects 10% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,077,100 jobs in 2025. Crest Lane sets its wages against that figure: $112,000 for the founder and for the first senior consultant, $115,000 for the second, $82,000 for an associate and $72,000 for an analyst. Tessa's salary matches the first senior consultant's, so her return as owner comes from distributions. Charlotte pay may differ from the national median, and the senior and associate figures are planning figures, not survey results.
How fees are set here
No published benchmark for a lender package fee in Charlotte was found, so Crest Lane sets fees from hours. The target is about $160 to $220 of fee per delivery hour: $161 on the startup package, $170 on the lender package, $175 on a build and $220 on a retainer hour, higher because the model is built once and then updated. The first three are fixed fees, so a slow client is Crest Lane's cost, and scope is written into the engagement letter for that reason. Package and build hours that run 25% longer than planned cut Year 2 net income from $44,982 to $19,244.
The other ways to get a forecast
| Alternative | What the buyer gets | Why a buyer picks it | How Crest Lane differs by design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan-builder software and templates | A guided document and a spreadsheet | Low upfront cost, immediate | A person builds the model and answers the lender's questions |
| Freelance plan writers | A written plan, often prose-led | Low fee, fast turnaround | Forecast and debt schedule built from operating figures |
| CPA firms with an advisory arm | Tax, bookkeeping and some forecasting | An existing relationship | Planning is the main product; no tax-return work |
| Small business development centers | Counseling and workshops | Many offer free or low-cost help | Hands-on build and an ongoing monthly retainer |
| Fractional finance leaders | Senior finance leadership, part time | Depth for larger firms | Narrower scope and a retainer sized for smaller firms |
The table describes categories and where this firm positions itself. It is not a ranking, and fees are not quoted because each provider publishes its own. Small business development centers also serve as referral partners.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Founder has underwritten small-business loans and built operating forecasts | One senior person: when Tessa is away, lender packages stall |
| Fixed fees and a clear scope are easy for a founder to approve | New brand with no client case studies |
| Two packages signed before opening | Year 1 loses money and draws on the reserve |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Banker and CPA referrals once the first lender packages close | Software and AI drafting tools pushing plan fees down |
| Retainers from clients who finish a package | Slow payers: fees bill on delivery and the model already allows 45 days |
| Budget work in the fourth quarter | A senior hire leaving mid-project |
Who Buys a Plan
The founder preparing for a loan or a partner
A first-time owner opening a restaurant, clinic, trades business or service firm, with a clear idea of the work and no model of the cash. The trigger is a lender's checklist, a landlord's request for projections or a partner asking what the business is worth. This buyer purchases a startup plan package or a lender package.
The established owner who has outgrown a spreadsheet
An owner of a firm with 5 to 40 employees who needs a budget that matches payroll and a line of credit that has to be renewed. The trigger is a missed payroll forecast, a new location, an equipment loan or a bank asking for a three-year projection. This buyer purchases a forecast and budget build and often a retainer.
The owner with a deadline
Some buyers need a figure by a date: a lender's committee meeting, a lease signing, an acquisition closing. Crest Lane quotes a delivery date with every proposal, and the engagement letter names the date it depends on, which is the day the client delivers the opening financials.
What they ask for
A forecast that reconciles, a plan the owner can explain, and a person to call when the lender has a question. Few ask for the document first.
How concentrated the book is
No client is large enough to matter alone. The biggest single fee in Year 1 is a $9,500 lender package, 3.3% of revenue, and a full year of one retainer is $26,400, 9.3% of Year 1 revenue. The sharper risk is the referral channel. Of the 32 Year 1 engagements, 14 come from bankers, CPAs and attorneys, and the sensitivity table models the loss of the largest partner as 15% of package and build volume, a planning figure.
From Discovery Call to Signed Scope
A 30-minute discovery call, a fixed-fee proposal within two working days, an engagement letter, and a kick-off call in the first week. Tessa takes every discovery call in Year 1. After the analyst arrives, a written intake form collects the client's financial statements, lease, equipment quotes and personal financial summary before work starts.
The Year 1 pipeline
About 96 discovery calls at a close rate of one in three produce the 32 engagements. Calls come at roughly eight a month, thinner in January and July. A call that does not close within 30 days is moved to a quarterly email list.
From first call to cash
A proposal follows the call within a week, a signature about two weeks after that, delivery about five weeks after the signature, and payment about 45 days after delivery. Those timings are the plan's own. They put the first cash about 14 weeks after the first call, so a package signed in the first week of May is delivered in early June and paid in late July. The lag is why a busy spring does not fund itself, and why the reserve is sized on a September low and not on the month of the first sale.
Setting the price of a lender package
The base fee is $9,500. A second lender, a sophisticated debt schedule, an equipment-financing schedule or a rush deadline adds fixed amounts that are listed on the proposal. Fees do not move after the engagement letter is signed unless the client changes the scope.
Keeping the client after the handover
Every package ends with a handover call and a one-page retainer proposal built from the model Crest Lane has just delivered: the three numbers the client should watch, the cash forecast and the date of the first quarterly session. The retainer is month to month after 90 days.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retainer clients at year end | 5 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 22 |
Retainer growth slows after Year 3 because the book is fed by completed packages and loses about a fifth of its clients each year. About one completed engagement in six becomes a retainer in Years 1 and 2, and about one in eight or nine after that. Retainers are the steadier revenue, 55% of Year 5 revenue at 22 clients, and also the exposed line: if clients leave at 35% a year, Year 3 net income falls to $35,908.
Where the Work Comes From
What the budget buys
Year 1 marketing is $38,000: $12,000 of launch spend funded from the start-up capital and $26,000 of running cost. That is 13.4% of Year 1 revenue, falling to 4.6% by Year 3 and 3.4% by Year 5 as referrals take over. Spread over 32 engagements it comes to about $1,190 each, about a sixth of the $6,938 average package fee.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is meant to do | Engagements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website and case-study pages (launch) | $7,500 | Service pages by buyer type and a downloadable lender checklist | – |
| Referral launch events (launch) | $4,500 | Breakfasts with community bankers, CPAs and attorneys | – |
| Referral partner program | $6,500 | Coffee meetings, a one-page referral guide, quarterly updates | 14 |
| Search and local listings | $7,000 | Searches such as "business plan for bank loan Charlotte" | 7 |
| Workshops and association events | $4,500 | Three-hour clinics on forecasting for first-time borrowers | 5 |
| Monthly guide and email | $5,000 | One practical guide a month; supports every channel above and is not credited with engagements of its own | – |
| Newsletter and client follow-up | $3,000 | A reason for past clients to call again; not credited with engagements of its own | – |
| Existing network and repeat | – | Introductions from Tessa's banking and finance contacts | 6 |
Marketing milestones
- January 2027: website live, two packages signed and delivered in January and February.
- May 2027: analyst starts.
- September 2027: first month with positive EBITDA.
- November 2027: the busiest month of the year, with $38,400 of revenue.
- December 2027: 32 engagements delivered in the year and 5 retainer clients.
Delivery Hours and the Office
How many hours the team can carry
The model counts 1,800 working hours per person after leave and holidays. Tessa is billable 55% of that in Years 1 and 2 and 50% after, the analyst and associate 75%, the senior consultants 70%, and a new hire counts at half rate for the first two months. Delivery hours include the second reader's review.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery hours needed | 1,612 | 2,856 | 3,712 | 4,484 | 5,104 |
| Delivery hours available | 1,778 | 3,353 | 4,230 | 5,070 | 6,120 |
| Capacity used | 91% | 85% | 88% | 88% | 83% |
Year 1 runs tightest. Tessa alone covers January to April, with 312 hours needed against 330 available, and from September to December the work needs about 780 hours against 780 available, a full house with no room for a slow client, so contract analyst hours sit in direct costs for those weeks and not a new hire. The hours per package are targets from the firm's own templates, not measured times. Package and build hours 25% longer would put Year 1 at about 1,940 hours, 109% of what the team has.
How a package moves through the firm
Intake, financial statements and lender checklist; analyst builds the model; Tessa writes or edits the narrative; a second person reads every deliverable for arithmetic and consistency before it leaves the firm; a handover call. Before the analyst starts in May, a contract editor paid from direct costs reads each deliverable. From month 15 the associate consultant does it, and from month 30 the senior consultant.
The office and the tools
1,000 square feet in SouthPark at about $33 a square foot a year all in ($33,000 in Year 1), a planning figure to test against listings, on a three-year lease with a personal guarantee. The firm moves to about 1,500 square feet in Year 4 at $52,000. Software covers modeling tools, a research database, project tracking, e-signature and a client portal, at $8,500 in Year 1 and $20,000 by Year 5.
Insurance and client data
Professional liability (errors and omissions), general liability, cyber and workers' compensation, budgeted at $8,500 in Year 1 and including key-person disability cover on Tessa. Errors and omissions is the exposure that matters in this trade: a lender relies on a forecast, a client's loan is declined, and the claim starts from the forecast. A $1 million limit per claim is the planning limit and a broker's quote sets the real limit, retention and price. Professional liability policies are usually written on a claims-made basis, so the firm keeps cover in force after work ends. Clients' financial statements and personal financial summaries are kept in an access-controlled portal, shared with a lender only on the client's written instruction.
Scope control
Every engagement letter lists what the forecast covers and what it does not. Forecasts are labeled as management projections. Client-supplied figures are not audited, and the letter says so.
Tessa Holloway and the Team
Background
Tessa has seven years in small-business lending at a regional bank in Charlotte, first as a credit analyst and then as a relationship manager, and five years as the FP&A manager of a mid-size manufacturer in the Carolinas. She holds an MBA in finance. Her $110,000 is savings from twelve years of salaried work, and she owns 100% of the firm.
Where the team is thin
Tessa has not sold consulting, run a firm or hired staff before. The gap is covered by a referral program on a fixed weekly schedule, an outside adviser who has run a small firm and reviews the numbers each quarter, and an employment lawyer on call for the first hires, the last two paid from the professional-fees line. Her former employer's non-solicitation terms were reviewed with a lawyer before opening, and no Year 1 engagement is planned from that bank's customers. Industry depth varies by client, so each engagement letter states which sector benchmarks the model uses and where they come from.
If Tessa is out
Lender packages are signed off by Tessa until the senior consultant starts in month 30 (June 2029). Until then, the firm carries key-person disability cover, and a retired commercial lender on a fixed-fee arrangement, paid from direct costs only when used, covers sign-off for up to four weeks. The analyst runs build work from templates and the engagement letters.
The bank and ownership
Tessa personally guarantees the $115,000 term loan, which is also secured by a lien on the firm's assets. The loan carries a covenant to deliver quarterly accounts. She takes no distribution until Year 3, when it is $20,000.
Funding, Forecast and Cash
The forecast runs five years: monthly through 2027, annual after that. Funding comes first, then the operating figures behind it, then revenue, staffing, earnings, cash, single-input tests and a downside case.
What it takes to open the doors
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Laptops, monitors, phones, conference-room display | $6,000 |
| Office furniture and signage | $4,000 |
| Entity formation, city registration, memberships | $1,500 |
| Legal: engagement letters, NDAs, lease and insurance review | $5,000 |
| Launch: website, case-study pages, referral events | $12,000 |
| Lease security deposit (two months of rent, held by the landlord until the lease ends) | $5,500 |
| Cash reserve: nine months to the cash low point, a two-month revenue slip and the downside case | $191,000 |
| Total uses | $225,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Founder savings | $110,000 |
| Bank term loan | $115,000 |
| Total sources | $225,000 |
Tessa puts in $110,000 of savings, 49% of the $225,000 total, and the firm borrows $115,000 from a bank on a five-year term at 10.75%, interest-only for the first six months. The loan carries her personal guarantee and a lien on the firm's assets, and that security is thin. The equipment cost $10,000, a consultancy owns no stock or property, and apart from cash its main asset after opening is receivables ($35,038 at the end of 2027). The SBA describes its 7(a) program as a loan guarantee to lenders, which lenders can use to cover a gap like this, though whether this loan qualifies is the lender's call. The rate and terms are planning figures, not a quote. Tessa draws a $112,000 salary from month one, and the $191,000 reserve exists to carry it. Operating costs exceed revenue until September, when the month-end cash low arrives at about $76,000. Every cash figure in this plan includes the $5,500 lease deposit, which the landlord holds until the lease ends, so spendable cash is $5,500 lower than shown. The reserve is sized for more than the base case. If first revenue arrives in March 2027 instead of January, with every fixed cost on its base date (direct costs and the bad-debt allowance follow the lower revenue), the low falls to about $22,000 in November, and the same slip on top of the downside case below, with the direct-cost rate held at 4.7%, leaves about $12,000 in November. Year-end cash stays positive in both. These lows are approximate, because the monthly view carries no receivables timing.
Operating figures behind the forecast
- Fees and hours: a startup plan package is $5,800 for about 36 delivery hours, a lender package $9,500 for about 56, a forecast and budget build $6,300 for about 36, and a retainer $2,200 a month for about 10. That is $161, $170, $175 and $220 of fee per delivery hour. Hours include the second-reader review and client calls. Fees rise 3% a year from Year 2, rounded to the nearest $25. Fees and hours are the plan's own planning figures.
- Year 1 volume is 18 startup packages, 8 lender packages and 6 builds, which is 32 engagements, and 5 retainer clients by December (30 client-months). Years 2 to 5 deliver 24, 26, 29 and 32 startup packages, 12, 14, 16 and 17 lender packages, and 10, 12, 14 and 15 builds, and finish with 11, 15, 19 and 22 retainer clients.
- About one completed engagement in six turns into a retainer in Years 1 and 2, and one in eight to nine after that. Retainer clients leave at about 20% a year, and a retainer is month to month after 90 days. Packages and builds are invoiced in full on delivery and retainers monthly, all on 30-day terms. Small-business clients tend to pay later than their terms, so the model collects in 45 days on average. Receivables reach $35,038 at the end of 2027 and $136,362 at the end of 2031. A deposit at signing would shorten that lag and is not counted.
- Delivery capacity counts 1,800 working hours per person after leave and holidays. Tessa is billable 55% of that in Years 1 and 2 and 50% after, the analyst and associate 75%, the senior consultants 70%, and a new hire counts at half rate for the first two months. Year 1 needs about 1,612 delivery hours against 1,778 available, 91% use; Years 2 to 5 run at 85%, 88%, 88% and 83%. September to December 2027 need about 780 hours against 780 available, so those months have no slack. If package and build hours run 25% longer than planned, Year 1 needs about 1,940 hours, 109% of what the team has.
- Revenue per delivery hour works out to $176 in Year 1 and $217 by Year 5, which is fee increases and a larger retainer share rather than faster work.
- Direct costs run at 4.7% of revenue, a blend set by the Year 1 mix and applied to every year: contract analyst hours in peak weeks, contract designers for charts and exhibits, research reports, binding and e-signature. Packages carry 6%, builds 5% and retainers 1%.
- Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health cover, workers' compensation and a retirement match (15% for the part-time coordinator). The personnel table shows launch wages; 3% annual pay raises are charged as a separate line from Year 2. Every wage is above the $7.25 federal minimum, which is also North Carolina's basic rate on the Department of Labor's state table (updated July 1, 2026), and each salaried role is above the $684 a week ($35,568 a year) salary threshold the Department lists for the executive, administrative and professional overtime exemption. The part-time coordinator is paid by the hour and eligible for overtime. Wages are planning figures set against the BLS median for management analysts.
- Rent is about $33 a square foot a year all in, a planning figure to test against SouthPark listings: $33,000 for 1,000 square feet in Year 1 with 3% annual steps, then about 1,500 square feet from Year 4 at $52,000. Utilities are separate.
- Insurance is $8,500 in Year 1 for professional liability (errors and omissions), general liability, cyber, workers' compensation and key-person disability cover on Tessa. Professional liability is the largest piece and is priced for a firm that builds forecasts for lenders; a broker's quote sets the real figure. Professional fees of $6,500 cover bookkeeping and the tax return, a quarterly review by an outside adviser, an employment lawyer on call and the $200 minimum North Carolina franchise tax.
- Marketing is $26,000 of running cost in Year 1 on top of $12,000 of launch spend, and rises to $38,000 by Year 5. Software covers modeling tools, a research database, project tracking, e-signature and a client portal. The bad-debt allowance is 1.5% of revenue, because first-time founders are the main buyers and some will not pay in full.
- Tax uses the 21% federal corporate rate and a 2% North Carolina rate. The state's rate table lists 2.00% for tax year 2026 and the model holds it for later years, which the legislature sets. The model taxes the LLC as a corporation, which requires an election; a single-member LLC otherwise reports on its owner's return, and an S corporation election would move this tax to Tessa's personal return. The Year 1 loss is carried forward. The engine's tax base leaves out the $18,500 of start-up costs and does not apply the federal 80% limit on carried-forward losses, which would modestly raise Year 2 tax; an accountant sets the real treatment.
- Owner distributions of $20,000, $40,000 and $55,000 start in Year 3. They stay below that year's net income and below cash after loan principal. From Year 3, when payouts start, cumulative distributions stay below cumulative net income after start-up costs ($20,000 against $52,551 in Year 3, $60,000 against $150,002 in Year 4, $115,000 against $256,364 in Year 5); nothing is paid in Years 1 and 2. The loan is repaid on its schedule and is gone by the end of Year 5.
Revenue by line
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan and lender packages | $180,400 | $260,700 | $300,950 | $350,150 | $390,700 |
| Forecast and budget builds | $37,800 | $65,000 | $80,100 | $96,250 | $106,500 |
| Planning retainers | $66,000 | $218,400 | $362,700 | $489,600 | $608,850 |
| Total revenue | $284,200 | $544,100 | $743,750 | $936,000 | $1,106,050 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 91% | 37% | 26% | 18% |
The first line combines the startup and lender packages. Packages bring in 63% of Year 1 revenue and retainers 23%. By Year 5 the order has flipped: retainers are 55%, packages 35% and builds 10%. The shift comes from client count, not price: five retainer clients at the end of Year 1 become 22 by the end of Year 5. Retainers also level out the year, because packages bunch in spring and fall. Year 2 is up 91% on Year 1 but only about 31% above the fourth quarter of 2027 annualized ($414,000), a step a lender will test.
Month by month in 2027
| Month | Plan and lender packages | Forecast and budget builds | Planning retainers | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $5,800 | $0 | $0 | $5,800 | ($19,390) |
| Feb 2027 | $5,800 | $0 | $0 | $5,800 | ($19,390) |
| Mar 2027 | $15,300 | $0 | $2,200 | $17,500 | ($8,240) |
| Apr 2027 | $21,100 | $0 | $2,200 | $23,300 | ($2,713) |
| May 2027 | $15,300 | $6,300 | $4,400 | $26,000 | ($140) |
| Jun 2027 | $21,100 | $0 | $4,400 | $25,500 | ($617) |
| Jul 2027 | $5,800 | $6,300 | $6,600 | $18,700 | ($7,097) |
| Aug 2027 | $15,300 | $0 | $6,600 | $21,900 | ($4,047) |
| Sep 2027 | $21,100 | $6,300 | $8,800 | $36,200 | $9,580 |
| Oct 2027 | $17,400 | $6,300 | $8,800 | $32,500 | $6,054 |
| Nov 2027 | $21,100 | $6,300 | $11,000 | $38,400 | $11,676 |
| Dec 2027 | $15,300 | $6,300 | $11,000 | $32,600 | $6,149 |
Costs in the model are spread evenly across each year, so the first months show Tessa's full salary against one package a month: January and February each lose about $19,400 at EBITDA. The analyst starts in May, and May and June come within $700 of break-even. July and August lose again ($7,097 and $4,047) when only two engagements are delivered in each month. September to December are positive on the fall lender and budget cycle, so four months are positive and eight negative. The lowest month-end cash balance is September, at about $76,000, after taking off 45 days of that month's revenue as unpaid invoices; before that adjustment the lowest balance is $123,295, in August. The monthly view has no receivables timing, so both figures are approximate. The annual statements size receivables at 45 days of the year's average revenue, which gives the $110,934 closing balance; on December's revenue the same 45 days would leave the year near $97,000, and later years carry the same optimism while revenue grows. Years 2 to 5 appear as annual totals, so a fall trough in 2028, when the busiest quarter's invoices are still unpaid, is not modeled; Year 2 cash falls by $7,441 over the year.
Who is on payroll, and from when
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and principal consultant | $112,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Financial analyst | $72,000 | Month 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Associate consultant | $82,000 | Month 15 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Client coordinator (part time, 20 hours a week) | $27,000 | Month 20 | – | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Senior consultant | $112,000 | Month 30 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second senior consultant | $115,000 | Month 46 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $203,200 | $333,401 | $451,843 | $547,623 | $657,160 |
Tessa is the only person on payroll until the financial analyst starts in May 2027 (month 5). The associate consultant follows in March 2028 (month 15), the part-time coordinator in August 2028 (month 20), a senior consultant in June 2029 (month 30) and a second senior consultant in October 2030 (month 46). Hires are timed so that capacity use stays between 83% and 91% in every year (table in Delivery Hours and the Office). Until the associate arrives, Tessa and the analyst supply about 195 delivery hours a month against a 2028 average need of about 238, so January and February 2028 run over capacity and contract analyst hours cover the gap. Full-time equivalents at year end are 2, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 and 5.5. Tessa's $112,000 salary starts in month one and sits in the costs, so the profit lines are what remains after she is paid.
Earnings, year by year
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $284,200 | $544,100 | $743,750 | $936,000 | $1,106,050 |
| Direct costs (contract analyst hours, designers, research reports, print and e-signature) | ($13,374) | ($25,604) | ($35,000) | ($44,047) | ($52,049) |
| Gross profit | $270,826 | $518,496 | $708,750 | $891,953 | $1,054,001 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($203,200) | ($333,401) | ($451,843) | ($547,622) | ($657,160) |
| Rent | ($33,000) | ($34,000) | ($35,000) | ($52,000) | ($53,500) |
| Utilities | ($3,000) | ($3,100) | ($3,200) | ($4,200) | ($4,300) |
| Marketing | ($26,000) | ($30,000) | ($34,000) | ($36,000) | ($38,000) |
| Insurance | ($8,500) | ($9,500) | ($10,500) | ($11,800) | ($12,500) |
| Professional fees | ($6,500) | ($8,000) | ($8,000) | ($8,500) | ($9,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($8,500) | ($12,000) | ($16,000) | ($18,500) | ($20,000) |
| Training, certifications and memberships | ($2,500) | ($3,500) | ($4,500) | ($5,000) | ($5,500) |
| Travel and client meetings | ($3,500) | ($5,000) | ($6,500) | ($7,500) | ($8,000) |
| Equipment replacement and new-hire kit | $0 | ($4,000) | ($3,000) | ($3,500) | ($6,000) |
| Bad debt allowance (1.5% of revenue) | ($4,300) | ($8,200) | ($11,200) | ($14,000) | ($16,600) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($10,002) | ($27,517) | ($50,779) | ($82,479) |
| EBITDA | ($28,174) | $57,793 | $97,490 | $132,552 | $140,962 |
| Depreciation | ($1,771) | ($1,771) | ($1,771) | ($1,771) | ($1,771) |
| Interest | ($12,136) | ($10,194) | ($7,692) | ($4,907) | ($1,807) |
| Income tax | $0 | ($846) | ($19,876) | ($28,422) | ($31,021) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($42,081) | $44,982 | $68,151 | $97,451 | $106,362 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licensing, launch marketing) | ($18,500) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($60,581) | $44,982 | $68,151 | $97,451 | $106,362 |
Year 1 loses $28,174 at EBITDA and $60,581 after depreciation, interest and the $18,500 of start-up costs. Year 2 is the first profitable year at $44,982 net, and the Year 1 loss carried forward shelters most of its taxable income (tax is $846). EBITDA margin is 10.6% in Year 2, 13.1% in Year 3 and 14.2% in Year 4, then 12.7% in Year 5, the second senior consultant's first full year, when pay raises reach $82,479. Gross profit is 95% of revenue only because the people who deliver the work sit in payroll, not in direct costs; payroll with pay raises takes 71% of revenue in Year 1 and 63% to 67% after.
Cash in and out
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($93,848) | $14,711 | $45,308 | $75,521 | $87,169 |
| Equipment and office set-up | ($10,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $225,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | ($10,218) | ($22,152) | ($24,654) | ($27,439) | ($30,538) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | ($20,000) | ($40,000) | ($55,000) |
| Net change in cash | $110,934 | ($7,441) | $654 | $8,082 | $1,630 |
| Closing cash | $110,934 | $103,493 | $104,147 | $112,229 | $113,859 |
Cash from operations is negative only in Year 1, at ($93,848), and the year-end receivable balance of $35,038 (45 days of the year's average revenue) accounts for that much of it. Closing cash is $110,934 after Year 1, dips to $103,493 in Year 2 as receivables grow by $32,042 and $22,152 of loan principal is repaid, and ends Year 5 at $113,859 after $115,000 of distributions over Years 3 to 5 and the final loan payment. Receivables absorb $136,362 of cash over the five years, the cost of invoicing on delivery.
Position at each year end
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $110,934 | $103,493 | $104,147 | $112,229 | $113,859 |
| Accounts receivable | $35,038 | $67,081 | $91,695 | $115,397 | $136,362 |
| Equipment and office set-up (net) | $8,229 | $6,457 | $4,686 | $2,914 | $1,143 |
| Total assets | $154,201 | $177,031 | $200,527 | $230,540 | $251,364 |
| Bank loan | $104,782 | $82,631 | $57,977 | $30,538 | $0 |
| Paid-in capital | $110,000 | $110,000 | $110,000 | $110,000 | $110,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($60,581) | ($15,600) | $32,551 | $90,002 | $141,364 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $154,201 | $177,031 | $200,527 | $230,540 | $251,364 |
Break-even and how hard the team works
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -9.9% | 10.6% | 13.1% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -14.8% | 8.3% | 9.2% | 10.4% | 9.6% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 71% | 63% | 64% | 64% | 67% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $142,100 | $155,457 | $165,278 | $170,182 | $201,100 |
| Average monthly revenue | $23,683 | $45,342 | $61,979 | $78,000 | $92,171 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $26,147 | $40,288 | $53,454 | $66,409 | $79,844 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -1.3x | 1.8x | 3.0x | 4.1x | 4.4x |
Year 1 averages $23,683 of revenue a month against $26,147 needed to cover operating costs, so it loses money. Year 2 averages $45,342 against $40,288, and revenue stays above the needed figure in every later year. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1, because EBITDA is negative while interest is paid, 1.8x in Year 2 and 3.0x or better after that. A 1.25x test (the lender sets the covenant) would fail on 2027 results even in the base case.
Single-input tests
Each row changes one input on the same engine run with no management response. The direct-cost rate is held at the base 4.7% except in the direct-cost row, the bad-debt allowance stays at 1.5% of revenue, and distributions stay at the base amounts. In the hours row, hours above 90% of capacity are bought from contract analysts at $85 an hour, a planning figure. The March 2027 row moves Year 1 revenue two months later (the last two months fall out, leaving $213,200) while Tessa's pay, the lease, the May analyst start and every other fixed cost stay on their base dates; direct costs and the bad-debt allowance follow the lower revenue. Month-end lows are approximate and rounded to the nearest $1,000.
| Case | Year 1 net income | Year 2 net income | Year 3 net income | Year 2 debt cover | Year 1 month-end low | Lowest year-end cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base case | ($60,581) | $44,982 | $68,151 | 1.8x | $76,000 | $103,493 (Year 2) |
| Revenue 10% lower, every line and year | ($87,164) | ($5,122) | $18,352 | 0.2x | $64,000 | ($134,728) (Year 5) |
| Direct costs 3 points of revenue higher | ($69,107) | $29,505 | $55,641 | 1.3x | $70,000 | $29,918 (Year 5) |
| Wages 10% higher | ($80,901) | $11,487 | $40,091 | 0.7x | $61,000 | ($69,162) (Year 5) |
| Rent 10% higher | ($63,881) | $42,428 | $66,108 | 1.7x | $73,000 | $96,250 (Year 3) |
| First revenue in March 2027, not January | ($127,140) | $45,828 | $82,334 | 1.8x | $22,000 | $37,780 (Year 2) |
| Clients pay in 60 days, not 45 | ($60,581) | $44,982 | $68,151 | 1.8x | $58,000 | $68,405 (Year 5) |
| Package and build hours 25% longer | ($89,502) | $19,244 | $50,372 | 1.0x | $54,000 | ($10,187) (Year 5) |
| 15% fewer packages and builds every year | ($91,271) | $72 | $34,459 | 0.4x | $62,000 | ($80,400) (Year 5) |
| Retainer clients leave at 35% a year, not 20% | ($60,581) | $32,743 | $35,908 | 1.4x | $76,000 | ($77,607) (Year 5) |
The plan has little slack. A 1.25x test in Year 2 holds in the base case and five of the nine tests, and fails in four: a 10% revenue shortfall, wages 10% higher, longer hours and the loss of a referral source. Five rows end with year-end cash below zero, and a 10% revenue shortfall takes it negative by the end of Year 3. Stopping the $115,000 of distributions would lift every row above zero except the revenue row, which still ends Year 5 at ($19,728). The March 2027 row is the one the reserve is sized for: Year 1 loses $127,140 and the low month-end balance is about $22,000. Its Year 3 income is above the base case only because the larger Year 1 loss shelters more Year 2 and Year 3 tax.
If engagements run a fifth short
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $227,360 | $435,280 | $595,000 | $748,800 | $884,840 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($81,123) | $43,213 | $53,416 | $57,982 | $89,425 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($99,623) | $43,213 | $53,416 | $57,982 | $89,425 |
| Closing cash | $78,900 | $76,099 | $86,941 | $87,295 | $101,181 |
Every revenue line is cut by 20% in every year, so Year 1 revenue is $227,360 against $284,200. The owner sees the shortfall after six months of trading, so each response starts in July 2027 or later. Tessa's pay falls 20% from month 7 to month 30 (July 2027 to June 2029) and is then restored. The associate consultant and the part-time coordinator start six months later than in the base case, the senior consultant 12 months later, and the second senior consultant is never hired. The firm stays in its first office, so rent rises 3% a year and not to the larger space. Training, travel and equipment replacement fall 25% from Year 2. Distributions are $0 in Year 3, $13,000 in Year 4 (within that year's $13,353 of cash after loan principal) and $30,000 in Year 5, restarting only after two tested years of cover at 1.7x and 2.1x. The analyst still starts in month 5, insurance, software, professional fees and utilities stay as in the base case, pay raises follow the smaller payroll, and marketing is held, because a shortfall in new work is not fixed by spending less on finding it. Year 1 cost lines are not trimmed, since the engine spreads them evenly across the months, but direct costs and the bad-debt allowance follow revenue in every year. The smaller team runs at 73% to 85% of its rated hours. On those terms Year 1 loses $99,623 after start-up costs and equity ends the year at $10,377; the lowest Year 1 month-end balance, on the base-case basis, is about $62,000 in November. Net income is below the base case in every year and positive from Year 2, though Year 2 ($43,213 against $44,982) is close only because the delayed hires and Tessa's pay cut take out nearly as much cost as the lost revenue takes out of income. Year-end cash stays at or above $76,099 and under the base case in every year. Debt service cover is negative in 2027 (-3.0x), 1.7x in 2028, 2.1x in 2029 and above 2.5x after that, so the owner would ask the bank for no cover test on 2027 results and a first test on 2028. Stacking the March 2027 revenue slip on this case, with the direct-cost rate held at 4.7%, leaves the low month-end balance at about $12,000 in November and year-end cash positive in every year. Without the response, the same shortfall loses money in every year, as the next table shows.
| No response: same 20% shortfall, base-case hiring, rent and distributions | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income after start-up costs | ($113,847) | ($56,172) | ($51,423) | ($49,717) | ($70,117) |
| Closing cash | $64,676 | ($37,510) | ($151,506) | ($285,852) | ($456,508) |
| Debt service cover | -3.6x | -1.4x | -1.3x | -1.3x | -2.1x |
Sources
- U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans: maximum loan of $5 million; application contents vary by loan size and lender processing method. The page's metadata shows a modification date of July 27, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Mecklenburg County, North Carolina: population estimate of 1,233,383 on July 1, 2025 and 10.6% growth from the April 2020 estimates base; 36,472 employer establishments listed (2023).
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Management analysts, Occupational Outlook Handbook: median pay of $101,860 in May 2025; 10% projected employment growth from 2025 to 2035; about 1,077,100 jobs in 2025.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue, Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Rates: corporate income tax rate of 2.00% for tax year 2026 and 2.25% for 2025; minimum franchise tax of $200. The model holds 2% for later years, and the rate may change.
- 26 U.S.C. section 11(b): the federal corporate income tax is 21 percent of taxable income.
- Internal Revenue Service, Single member limited liability companies: a single-member LLC that does not elect corporate treatment is a disregarded entity reported on its owner's return.
- U.S. Department of Labor, State minimum wage laws: federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and a North Carolina basic rate of $7.25; the page was updated July 1, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Earnings thresholds for the executive, administrative and professional exemption: $684 a week, $35,568 a year; the page lists no date.
- Fees for plan packages, retainers and consultant hours in Charlotte, and the rent, insurance and wage figures other than the BLS median: no published benchmark was found, so these are the plan's own planning figures.
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