“Our five-year plan is a spreadsheet nobody can update, and next year's budget ignores it.”

The strategy is agreed at an off-site, turned into a five-year spreadsheet, and forgotten when the budget starts. Nobody can say what the plan delivers in cash, or how far the budget has drifted from it.

What usually goes wrong

  • The five-year plan is a spreadsheet only its author can update, so it is rebuilt from scratch every year
  • The plan has a P&L and nothing else, so nobody can say what it means for cash
  • There is one version of the future, with no downside or upside beside it
  • Initiatives are listed on a slide, with no owner, no timing and no money against them
  • Next year's budget is built without the plan, and nobody measures how far it has drifted
  • The plan is approved and then edited, and nobody can say which version the board signed

It suits the board and the management team, when the plan has to reach beyond next year. It goes furthest beside the budget, because year one of the plan sets the budget's targets.

How the software answers it

  1. A plan with balanced statements. Several years of P&L, balance sheet and cash flow in downside, base and upside scenarios, frozen once the board signs.
  2. Initiatives with owners and money. A baseline from your own sales history, and a bridge through each initiative to the ambition.
  3. A budget held to the plan. Year one sets the budget's targets. The budget can't be locked while it sits too far from the strategy target, unless someone overrides it on record.
  4. What it is worth. A value for each scenario by discounted cash flow, and how far it moves with the discount rate and long-term growth.

A worked example on illustrative figures: the five-year plan and how wide the range is

What we build for it

Examples from software we have already built:

  • A register of initiatives with owners, timing and each initiative's yearly effect, grouped into programmes, with initiatives from every department: R&D, operations, procurement, IT, finance, HR and sustainability

All the sample screens

Screens

“Which brands are losing volume and earning less than their category, and how much of the business is that?” Illustrative data.
“What are we spending strategic effort on, who owns each one, and what is it planned to be worth?” Illustrative data.
“What will next year's marketing, pricing and launch plans add to sales and margin, brand by brand?” Illustrative data.
“Where does the five-year plan take sales and profit, and how much of it is growth and how much is margin?” Illustrative data.
“Does the five-year plan pay for itself, and how do its statements follow on from the last two years' actuals?” Illustrative data.
“What is the company worth on this plan, and how much does that depend on the discount rate and long-term growth?” Illustrative data.
“What is in the launch pipeline, at which stage, and what will each launch add in its first year?” Illustrative data.
“How much volume do the launches add each month over the next three years, and which launch brings it?” Illustrative data.

Where to start

It starts with a paid pilot, usually a five-year three-statement plan in downside, base and upside scenarios, built from your own accounts, then a build at a fixed fee and an annual subscription.

Prices How an engagement runs

Write to us

Tell us your business need, or ask for a worked example on your figures — we want to hear it.

Or email support@mistlight.eu

Executive overview screen, on illustrative data

What changed against last year, and where did the growth and the drag come from? — Illustrative data.