By Dale Farris, Reviews Coordinator
Golden Triangle PC Club

Plan vs. Actual Financial Analysis

Premier Edition
Integrated Management Dashboard
Profit and Loss: Plan vs. Actual
Sales Forecast: Plan vs. Actual
Create Business Plan Templates

Inside the Box

Both Standard and Premier Editions
500+ Complete Sample Business Plans
The Art of the Start Book, by Guy Kawasaki
Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning, by Tim Berry
9,000+ Industry Profiles for Market Research
The Nolo Small Business Law Center
Choosing a Legal Structure for Your Small Business
Free Customized Logo
Research Your Business – James J. Hill Library
Discounts on Incorporation Services
Professional PowerPoint Templates
Database of Venture Capitalists
Wall Street Journal online discount
Fees waived on Commercial Mortgages
Discount on Website Development
Free Business Plan Review
$75 Credit for Google AdWords

Create a Business Plan in Hours, not Weeks

It couldn't be easier. The EasyPlan Wizard asks you simple questions, then determines the next steps based on your unique answers. Not only does Business Plan Pro walk you through the entire planning process with instructions throughout, but you also have access to detailed examples from over 500 sample business plans from hundreds of different industries. Whether you are planning a new business or simply revising your business strategy, the step-by-step guides and resources will make the planning process simple and easy.

Print and Publish Your Plan

Produce a plan that gets attention. Every page is automatically organized and collated to produce a bulletproof business plan, in the preferred format of banks, investors and the Small Business Administration (SBA), that gets results. Customize your plan by easily importing your own graphics, logos, photos, and even fonts and layouts. Conveniently distribute your plan. Easily export your business plan to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Or create an Adobe PDF document. You can even upload your completed business plan to a secure password-protected website.

Forecast Expenses, Sales, and Growth

Create a foundation for your cash-flow projections with the start-up wizard. Business Plan Pro then guides you through completing an accurate cash flow and balance sheet. Make realistic projections using our break-even analysis tool. It helps you understand when you will break even and when you will start making money. Plan for growth with our Forecaster tool. The Forecaster tool helps you add data to the cells of the income and expense tables.

New Features in Version 11

Business Plan Pro has been rebuilt from the ground up for 2008. The updated design makes the most popular business plan software more powerful and easier to use than ever. Beyond the improved user interface, Version 11.0 offers a bevy of new features. These include new table and chart editing tools, more options for streamlined plans, support for Spanish language plans, a new management dashboard view, and more.

Get Funding

Everybody knows you can't get money without a plan. Business Plan Pro has everything you need to create a custom business plan so you can get the money needed to execute on your idea. Business Plan Pro includes a valuable venture capital database, and a friends and family financing guide and many Small Business Administration (SBA) resources. The Premier version includes additional funding tools such as a business valuation worksheet and an investment offering table.

Keep Your Business Plan Alive

Premier Edition
Implementation depends on tracking and following up, and that's where plan vs. actual analysis is critical. Track business performance by monitoring the variance between the original plan and how the company actually performed. When things turn out different from the original plan, pay attention - your numbers are telling you something.

The Management Dashboard, new in Version 11, gives you a quick visual overview of how your plan is living up to real-world results. Special Dashboard Overview charts for Sales and Expenses let you see Planned, Actual, and Variance results in a single glance.

If you started your plan by importing from QuickBooks, you can even import your real accounting numbers to populate the Actual tables, saving you time. As your plan starts rolling, you will want to revise budgets and forecasts, making course corrections in your Sales Forecast, Profit and Loss, and Milestones Actual tables. At year end, you can even roll your plan forward into the new to continue your implementation and planning.

Proven Format

Business Plan Pro is based on a business plan format recognized by leading banks, lenders, investors, and the Small Business Administration (SBA). Business Plan Pro walks you through the entire planning process and generates a complete, professional and ready to distribute plan with a proven formula for success. With the proprietary EasyPlan Wizard, writing a business plan is easier than ever, making it a snap to get started!

Grow Your Business

Creating a business plan is not just for startups. Take your business to the next level with our easy-to-use, powerful, Plan vs. Actual financial tools. Track your results and manage your business better by comparing your actual numbers to the figures you projected in your plan. These tools help you better manage your profits, expenses and cash flow.

Other Neat Features

Financial Planning Options Business
Plan Pro helps you determine your strategy whether you want to sell your business, go public, or simply stay the course and grow. Some of the new topics include detailed Exit Strategy and Financial Risks and Contingencies.

SWOT Analysis
Develop a thorough and objective study of your company's internal Strengths and Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats so that you can determine the best strategy for success.

Creates Five Different Document Types:

Loan Document
New Product or Service Description
Financial Plan
Marketing Plan
Complete Business Plan

Industry Insight
Business Plan Pro now leverages more than 9,000 different industry profiles to give you insight into how your business compares to similar companies. The software will explain, step by step, what the data means and how you can use it to your strategic advantage.

Improved Plan Review
The automatic Plan Review included in the software now checks for even more of the common financial-planning mistakes by entrepreneurs, offering tips and suggestions on improving your plan.

Improved Table Wizards
Detailed table wizards walk you through the entire process of generating advanced financial tables for your specific business and industry niche.

Integrated Resources
Get the additional help you need directly from Business Plan Pro, including direct links to sources for market data, venture capital opportunities, and legal guidance.

New Plan Setup Wizard
Customize your plan to meet your needs with the new and improved Plan Setup Wizard. The Wizard will guide you through the process of configuring your plan outline, your financials, and other key settings to match your plan to your company and your industry.

Improved Sample Plan Browser
Open a sample business plan and view the Plan Setup summary to see if it's a good match for your business. You can then make specific changes to the sample plan in order to tailor the business plan for your particular business needs, goals and objectives.

Improved Report Writer
Based on your document type, the new and improved Report Writer will generate a finished report that includes only the data relevant to your business and planning objectives.

Additional Add-in Components
Additional add-ins for specific business needs are also available. Try our Sales Forecast-Subscription Model add-in if your business sells subscriptions, memberships or similar services that involve continuing payments.

Business Plan Pro Premier - Why Buy Premier?

Business Plan Pro Premier has more advanced tools for businesses that are truly serious about creating a comprehensive and professional business plan. Save time and money by using the Excel import tools. Create a detailed business valuation for your business or startup Create “what-if scenarios” to plan for future changes in your business and much more.

Manage Your Business Better:
Are you on track with your initial goals? Import QuickBooks data directly into your business plan so that you can compare what you have planned against your real-world numbers. Quickly see variances in an easy to understand format so you can make adjustments to your business that keep you and your team focused on the long-term goals.

Present Your Plan to Investors with Confidence:
Calculating the value of your business is vital if you are trying to find investors, apply for a loan or sell your business to a potential buyer. The premier version of Business Plan Pro includes detailed valuation tools that can help you determine a solid business valuation and create a professional investment offering. Showcase the true value of your business with more advanced spreadsheets that describe the sources and uses of cash for any new or existing business. Make sure you maximize the full value of your business by using this option, only available in the Premier version.

Understand Your Cash Flow:
Want to see exactly where your cash is going? The Premier version of Business Plan Pro includes a visual cash flow chart called the Cash Pilot. The Cash Pilot gives you a visual representation of how Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Inventory are affecting Cash Flow. The dynamic capabilities of the Cash Pilot allow you to adjust these amounts on the fly to easily see how your cash flow is affected by changes in your plan. Want to hire a new employee? How will this affect your overall cash flow? Easily visualize your cash needs with this advanced feature, available only in the Premier version.

Completely Customizable:
For those advanced users that would prefer to create additional tables or import current work done in Excel, there are many options available that allow for customization of your business plan. The Premier version gives you the power to insert a new user table, and paste cells directly from Excel into it; you can also import an entire Excel worksheet or workbook directly into your plan.

Create custom templates, perfect for planning consultants, franchise owners and any business looking to create a custom outline for a business plan. A template can be used to create future plans with customized topics and tables. You can export templates to share with other Business Plan Pro users, or import templates sent by other users.

Save Time with Team Collaboration:
Want to delegate tasks to others? The Premier version has team collaboration tools that allow you to easily split up specific portions of the business plan. This is an ideal option for larger workgroups where tasks such as marketing, operations, finances and sales are all managed by different people. Streamline the entire planning process, saving valuable time and money. Collaboration features do require each user to have a licensed version of Business Plan Pro Premier.

Business Background to the Program

A classic learning step in all colleges of business, creating a business plan, is one of the many fundamental tasks students learn early in their business career. While the academic approach to learning how to prepare a business plan certainly is vital in a business curriculum, in the real world of business this process is obviously much more important. The key content areas of the plan are of course essential to any plan, but the eventual output product the company founders prepare for submission to potential investors is also highly important.

The quality plan that is eventually provided can many times frustrate those who might not have ever prepared such a document, and when these folks are also not necessarily computer experts, using a computer to help produce their plan can also become a problem. To the rescue comes this super program from PaloAlto Software, Business Plan Pro 11, that will guide you through all the essential steps in creating a business plan, as well as assist with the all important quality output for presentation. Even those less experienced with computers will find using this program to be very easy.

While there certainly are other business plan software programs on the market, this latest 2008 edition of Business Plan Pro continues to shine as the most used and well known of the bunch, and for good reason. In Business Plan Pro 11 you will find an assortment of tools not found in any other comparable product, along with some new features that highlight this 2008 edition.

In the current economy, investors, bankers, and executive teams are looking for business plans that make sound financial sense. Business Plan Pro 11 focuses on the financial components of a plan allowing entrepreneurs and business managers to demonstrate how their business strategies will lead to financial success. Whether you are starting a business or expanding your current organization, Business Plan Pro 11 helps you create professional business plans that assures financial success.

Bplans.com

Palo Alto Software has provided Bplans.com with sample business plans, marketing plans, web strategy plans, and advertising plans for you to learn from and apply to your business.

Target Audience

Business Plan Pro 11 will definitely appeal to anyone needing assistance with creating a business plan, especially those who have never completed this important planning document. This is also an excellent example of the best of the software market all public libraries should make a point to add to their collection. While many libraries already do a super job of providing print material for use by job seekers, adding this vital business plan making program is a certainty in their effort to assist with this important process.

Price

$199.95 - Business Plan Pro 11 Premier Edition
$  99.95 - Business Plan Pro 11 Standard Edition

Note that this price includes one of the most thorough, complete documentation manuals you will ever see. When so many other software vendors commit to loading all their help on disc, it is a surprise to find that with Business Plan Pro 11 you also get a superb paper-based manual.

System Requirements

IBM-compatible Pentium or higher processor
Windows Vista, XP (SP2), or 2000 (SP4)
Mac support is not currently offered
Same RAM requirements as the operating system
Typically 100MB free hard disk space
The downloadable installer is roughly 50 MB
SVGA (800x600) with 256 colors (1024x768 with 16-bit color recommended)
CD-ROM drive to install the software from the CD

An Internet connection is required to use the product's Internet features.
Any printer supported by the above operating systems

About Palo Alto Software

Palo Alto Software, The Planning People, develops, publishes, markets and supports products that help people succeed in business Palo Alto Software's products offer task-oriented, solutions for small business and home-office entrepreneurs, professionals, and middle managers. The company is a privately owned corporation in Eugene, Oregon.

Palo Alto Software's products include Business Plan Pro, Marketing Plan Pro, and most recently, the newly launched Email Center Pro. For several years, Business Plan Pro has led its category (according to NPD Intelect, formerly PC Data), outselling all of its competitors combined. Additionally, Palo Alto Software¹s website, www.paloalto.com, provides product information and sales, product support, and online registration and updates.

Information on business planning and marketing planning can be found at the award winning www.bplans.com and www.mplans.com. These sites include sample business and marketing plans and scenarios, practical advice on planning, and a panel of experts who have answered more than 1,400 questions and make those responses available for visitor¹s to review.

Palo Alto Software's founder and president is Tim Berry. A renowned planning expert, Tim is listed in the index of "Fire in the Valley", by Swaine and Freiberger, the history of the personal computer industry. Tim's biography may be found at www.timberry.com. Sabrina Parsons has been CEO of the company since May 2007.

Palo Alto Software develops, publishes, markets, and supports products that help people succeed in business. The company makes a fair profit that respects their customers; fairly compensates their owners, employees and authors; and supports on-going development of more great products. Palo Alto software maintains a stimulating, creative, respectful, friendly, and fun work environment that encourages ideas, diversity of thought, hard work, uncompromising product quality, and dedication to providing good value and good service to every customer.

Palo Alto Software, Inc., was founded in Palo Alto, California in 1983 as Infoplan, a sole proprietorship. In 1988 it was incorporated in California as Palo Alto Software. Palo Alto Software moved to Oregon in 1992 and was subsequently merged into Palo Alto Software, an Oregon corporation.

During the 1980s, the company focused mainly on consulting and market research, with clients including Apple Computer, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Lotus Development Corporation, Ashton-Tate and others. Its forecasts of the personal computer market in Mexico became the standard source in that market until Select S.A. was established in 1988. Founder Tim Berry developed annual business plans for Apple Latin America from 1984 through 1987, during which time sales quadrupled, and for Apple Japan from 1991 to 1993 as sales increased tenfold.

The business plan product evolved from extensive consulting in business planning for large and small companies. In 1984, Infoplan published a business plan template, which accompanied a book published by Oasis Press; and in 1988, the original version of Business Plan Toolkit was published.

Since its release in 1995, Business Plan Pro has seen favorable reviews by numerous business and high-tech magazines, and Internet sites. It is regularly on Amazon's top 10 list of best-selling business software. Business Plan Pro has won many honors, and customized versions have been developed for corporations; regional versions are available in Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as for Portuguese and Spanish speaking users. The most recent versions, Business Plan Pro 11 and Business Plan Pro 11 PREMIER, were released in January, 2008. Marketing Plan Pro debuted in 1996; its most recent version is available on www.paloalto.com.

Contact

PaloAlto Software
144 E 14th Ave
Eugene, Oregon 97401
541-683-6162
FAX 541-683-6250

Technical Support:
541-683-6162
FAX 541-683-6250

Sales:
800-229-7526
www.paloalto.com