Financing plan (plan de financement): method, employment-resources table and worked example

Before signing a lease, ordering equipment, or taking on a first employee, one question deserves a rigorous, quantified answer: do the resources you can mobilise genuinely cover all the needs the project will generate, and at the right time? That is precisely the purpose of the plan de financement (financing plan). It is not simply a table prepared for the bank. It is the document that forces a business owner to place side by side everything the project consumes on a durable basis and everything that will fund it on a stable basis.

Across our advisory missions supporting French SME founders and growth-stage companies, we consistently observe the same gap: the project is well thought through commercially, but the BFR (besoin en fonds de roulement — working capital requirement) is underestimated by 30 to 50 per cent, and the safety cash buffer is almost entirely absent. The result is a financing plan that looks balanced on paper, but a cash crisis that materialises by month three. A financing plan built with method prevents this outcome.

The plan de financement is a table that sets permanent uses of funds — fixed assets, working capital requirement, loan capital repayments, distributions — against the durable funding sources available to cover them: share capital, shareholder current account contributions, medium and long-term bank loans, self-financing capacity (CAF, capacité d'autofinancement), and investment grants. The balance must be zero or positive. A negative balance means the project is not financeable in its current configuration.

The initial financing plan is prepared at the outset of a project: company formation, business acquisition, opening of a new site, or launch of a separate activity. It captures the uses-versus-resources balance at the point of launch.

It differs from the three-year rolling financing forecast, which tracks year by year how uses evolve — notably loan capital repayments and new capital expenditure — and how resources develop, primarily through CAF generated by operations and any additional fundraising.

The two documents are complementary: the initial plan proves the project can get off the ground; the rolling forecast demonstrates the business can fund itself over time without reverting to structural imbalance.

Permanent uses cover everything that locks up cash on a structural basis. Four main categories:

Intangible fixed assets: goodwill, leasehold premium (droit au bail), bespoke software, patents, capitalised development costs.

Tangible fixed assets: plant and machinery, vehicles, fixtures and fittings, installation works, office furniture.

Financial fixed assets: rental deposits, guarantees paid, equity investments.

BFR — working capital requirement: this is most frequently the poorly calibrated item. The calculation is straightforward:

BFR = inventories + trade receivables − trade payables

A retailer that buys on 60-day terms and collects at 30 days carries a low WCR. A professional services firm that invoices at month-end and collects at 60 days carries a significant WCR from the first contracts. The BFR entered in the initial financing plan should correspond to the WCR the activity requires at steady state: project the first few months of revenue and apply the average payment terms observed in the sector.

Two further lines are frequently omitted: loan capital repayments (in the multi-year forecast) and the safety cash reserve, which is not a formal accounting line but which every serious lender expects to see in the dossier.

CAF (capacité d'autofinancement — self-financing capacity or operating cash flow) deserves particular attention in the three-year forecast. It represents the cash the business generates through its own operations, without external recourse. Calculating it correctly means starting from the projected net profit and adding back depreciation and amortisation (non-cash charges), then deducting any provision write-backs. A structurally insufficient CAF signals that the business model cannot self-finance: credit committees identify this immediately.

The table is presented in two symmetrical columns. A standard layout for a company formation:

The balance is zero: the plan is in equilibrium. If resources totalled only €130,000, the €20,000 gap reveals a funding shortfall that must be resolved before any commitment is made.

Consider an independent consultant creating a SASU (simplified single-shareholder company) and opening a first office in Paris. Permanent uses break down as follows:

• Intangible fixed assets (CRM software, website): €10,000
• Tangible fixed assets (furniture, IT equipment, fit-out): €70,000
• BFR — WCR (average client payment 45 days, no inventory, suppliers paid at 30 days): €40,000
• Formation costs, legal and accounting fees: €10,000
• Safety cash reserve (3 months of fixed overheads): €20,000
• Total uses: €150,000

The founder mobilises the following resources:

• Share capital (cash contribution): €50,000
• Bank loan over 5 years: €80,000
• Regional investment grant: €20,000
• Total resources: €150,000

The plan is in balance. But analysis does not stop there: the €40,000 WCR represents 27 per cent of total uses — high for a service business. If the first clients pay at 60 days instead of 45, the real WCR climbs to roughly €53,000, and the plan shows a shortfall of €13,000. This is precisely the sensitivity test that must be run before signing the bank facility — and one we carry out systematically in our company formation advisory missions.

For a deeper understanding of capital expenditure as a permanent use, see our article on Capex: definition, calculation and issues for your SME.

The rolling forecast applies the same uses-versus-resources logic across three financial years. The lines shift: loan capital repayments appear in uses each year; CAF generated by operations enters as a resource.

A simplified structure:

In year one, equilibrium is maintained by external resources. From year two, CAF takes over. If projected CAF in year two falls to €20,000 (slower revenue growth), the balance turns negative by €14,000: the project cannot self-finance without additional resources. Running this sensitivity test is non-negotiable in any bank or investor dossier.

1. List all permanent uses exhaustively: fixed assets, WCR, ancillary costs, safety reserve, future repayments. Omit nothing, even small amounts.
2. Calculate BFR rigorously: apply actual client and supplier payment terms observed in the sector, not optimistic assumptions.
3. Identify confirmed resources only: distinguish what is signed, what is probable, and what is conditional. Flag conditional items clearly.
4. Calculate projected CAF for each year, starting from the projected profit and loss account.
5. Balance uses against resources: if the balance is negative, identify the missing resource or reduce a use.
6. Test downside scenarios: 15–20 per cent revenue shortfall, 15-day extension of client payment terms, cost overrun on a key investment.
7. Link the plan to the monthly cash flow forecast: the financing plan validates structural equilibrium; the cash flow plan tracks liquidity month by month.
8. Have the document reviewed by a chartered accountant before submitting any dossier.

The financing plan reasons in durable flows, over one or three years: it answers the question "is the project financeable?" The cash flow forecast (plan de trésorerie) reasons in monthly flows — actual receipts and payments: it answers the question "will the bank account remain positive each month?"

A project may show a balanced financing plan and still experience a cash crisis in month four if the first client payments arrive late. Both documents must always be built in parallel and remain consistent with each other. The financing plan establishes the structural foundation; the cash flow forecast handles the operational landing.

A financing plan is not a one-off document produced for the bank and then filed away. It must be reopened in several situations:

• Before any significant new capital expenditure: an unplanned Capex item immediately alters the uses-resources balance.
• Before fundraising or a bank facility request: a private investor or credit committee will request an updated version consistent with the latest accounts.
• When WCR drifts: rising client payment terms or growing inventory without matching financing create an unplanned gap.
• On a change of business model: internationalisation, material recruitment, opening of a second site.
• When dividends are to be distributed: an unprovisioned distribution reduces resources available to fund growth.

On our outsourced CFO engagements, we update the financing plan at least annually as part of the budgeting cycle, and whenever a strategic decision warrants it. This prevents the late discovery that a resource has been consumed by an unplanned use. Directors who want this level of financial oversight can rely on our outsourced CFO (DAF externalisé) service.

WCR underestimated or absent. The most systematic error. Directors focus on the tangible investment and overlook the cash the business will need to operate before its first invoices are collected.

CAF conflated with net profit. CAF incorporates depreciation and amortisation — non-cash charges that must be added back. Omitting them leads to understating the actual self-financing resource.

Conditional resources presented as certain. A grant whose application has not yet been submitted, a credit line "under negotiation": presenting these as confirmed resources undermines credibility and creates real imbalance if they do not materialise.

No downside scenario. A plan built solely on the optimistic case is systematically perceived as lacking credibility by lenders. The robustness of a dossier is tested precisely where assumptions break down.

Disconnection between the financing plan and the cash flow forecast. If the financing plan shows a WCR of €40,000 while the monthly cash flow forecast implies €60,000, the inconsistency must be corrected before any external presentation.

Banks and public funding partners (Bpifrance, regional agencies) have tightened their dossier analysis since 2023. Three points consistently draw attention from credit committees:

WCR coverage. Is the working capital requirement funded by long-term resources (equity, medium-term loans) or by precarious short-term lines? A structural WCR funded by an overdraft facility is a red flag.

CAF trajectory. Does self-financing capacity cover loan repayments from year two onward? The CAF-to-annual-debt-service ratio is scrutinised closely. Below 1.2 to 1.3, the dossier is considered fragile.

Safety cash reserve. A plan with no buffer is perceived as one that cannot withstand the first unforeseen event. Three months of fixed overheads held as a safety reserve is the minimum expected for formation-stage projects.

This article sets out general principles for constructing a financing plan. It does not constitute personal advice. Amounts, timelines, and ratios given are illustrative and must be adapted to your specific situation, sector, and prevailing financing conditions. Review by a chartered accountant (expert-comptable) is recommended before submitting any dossier. Current as of 29 May 2026 — sources: Bpifrance Création (business plan and cash flow plan), Banque de France (corporate financing).