Business Plan 101: Personal Financial Statement

A personal financial statement is very similar to a business financial statement. It will calculate the total value of you as an individual so that you can track your financial progress.  It is a good indication of how your business is progressing because the business entity should be the largest financial entity on the statement. Another name for this is a net worth statement and should be done annually at least.

The first step towards obtaining your personal financial statement is getting your business valued. You need to know how much your business is worth. You can hire a CPA to get a basic valuation. The next thing is to get your total assets calculated. To do this, you need to add all of your cash accounts, investments, real estate, and the value of your business that you received from your business valuation. If you own any expensive jewelry or artwork then this can be counted at a wholesale price.  All of these variables are documented as total assets. You also need to calculate your total liabilities.  This is everything that you owe including loans, credit cards, auto, mortgage, etc. You also need to include your liability from your business such as business loans and anything that needs to be paid out.

Once you have all of these numbers figured out, then you can calculate your total net worth.  You get this number by subtracting your total liabilities from your total assets.  The resulting number is your personal net worth and includes your business figures.

Other information you should include are:

• Tax returns for the past three years.
• A recent credit report, showing credit score.
• A resume or curriculum vitae.