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Budgeting and Business Plans
FinAura builds your annual budget and business plan with the people who will own it: revenue by line, costs by department, hiring by month and the cash that follows. Once agreed, it is tracked every month against actual results, so you see where the year is drifting while there is time to act.
- Chartered Accountant-led
- Bangalore and across India
- Reply within one business day
What is covered
What Budgeting and Business Plans Covers
A plan the team believes in, and a way to track it.
Cost budgets
Owned by each department head.
Hiring plan
Headcount and salary cost by month.
Capex
Equipment and investment, with timing.
Cash view
What the plan means for the bank balance.
Tracking
Monthly budget against actuals.
How the month runs
How It Works
Gather, draft, agree, track.
Step 1
Gather
- Last year's actuals
- Targets from founders
- Inputs from heads
Step 2
Draft
- Revenue and costs
- Hiring
- Cash
Step 3
Agree
- Review meeting
- Trade-offs settled
- Budget locked
Step 4
Track
- Monthly actuals
- Variances
- Forecast refreshed
Your part
What We Need From You
- 01Last year's results
- 02Targets and plans from the founders
- 03Department heads' time
- 04Known commitments for the year
Our part
What You Get
- An agreed budget for the year
- A business plan document if needed
- Monthly budget-versus-actual reports
- A forecast that updates as the year unfolds
A common question
Why do budgets get ignored?
Because they are built in a spreadsheet by finance alone, with targets nobody signed up for, and never looked at again.
A budget built with the people who spend it, and checked against actuals every month, becomes a tool rather than a document.
See budget versus actualsTrackingMonthly against actuals
BudgetAgreed and locked
InputsFrom the people who own them
Who it is for
Who It Is For
SMEs without a budget
Starting the habit.
Companies with investors
Who expect an annual plan.
Businesses seeking loans
Plans the bank will read.
Multi-department teams
Needing ownership of costs.
The rules, in plain English
What the Law Asks of Your Books
Companies Act, 2013
Section 128
Every company keeps books of account that give a true and fair view of its affairs, at its registered office or another place the Board decides, and preserves them for at least the eight financial years before the current one.
Official source: mca.gov.inCompanies (Accounts) Rules, 2014
Rule 3
Books kept electronically must stay accessible in India at all times, with a daily back-up on servers physically in India. For financial years starting on or after 1 April 2023, the accounting software must keep an audit trail of every change that cannot be switched off.
Official source: mca.gov.inCGST Act, 2017
Sections 35 and 36
Every GST-registered business keeps its accounts and records at its principal place of business and retains them for 72 months from the due date of the annual return for that year, or longer while an appeal or proceeding is open.
Official source: cbic-gst.gov.inIncome-tax law
Books and tax audit
Businesses and professions above the prescribed limits must keep books of account, and a tax audit follows above further limits. The limits change from time to time, so we confirm which apply to you before the year starts.
Official source: incometax.gov.inThis is general information, not advice for your situation; we confirm what applies to you before any work starts.
Questions we get asked
Budgeting and Business Plans: Questions, Answered
When should the budget be prepared?
In the two or three months before the financial year begins, so it is agreed by the time the year starts.
What is the difference between a budget and a forecast?
The budget is the plan you commit to for the year. The forecast is your updated expectation, refreshed monthly as results come in.
Can you write a business plan for a bank or investor?
Yes. We prepare the financial plan and projections and the supporting narrative, written to be read by the lender or investor.
Do you build the budget in Excel or in our software?
Usually in a structured spreadsheet, with actuals pulled from Zoho Books or Tally Prime; budgets can also be loaded into the accounting software for reports.
Often Taken Together
All 10 Virtual CFO services01Virtual CFOCash Flow ManagementRolling cash forecasts, runway tracking and a view of what each hiring or spending decision does to cash.02Virtual CFOFinance StrategyPricing, margins, cost structure and growth plans turned into numbers you can act on.03Virtual CFOInvestor and Board ReportingA monthly pack that answers investors' questions before they ask.04Accounting & FinanceManagement Reporting & BudgetingMonthly MIS, budgets, forecasts and dashboards built from reconciled books.05Startups, Setup & GrowthAdvisory & Special ProjectsDue diligence, restructuring, CMA data and family business advisory, scoped as projects.