Articles by Ben Murray
How I Forecast Operating ExpensesBen discusses his approach to forecasting operating expenses for a SaaS company in Excel. He creates dedicated tabs for different expense categories like wages and operating costs. Non-wage operating expenses are broken down by department and type, with formulas used to automatically spread typical smaller expenses over periods. Five formula approaches are outlined, like fixing amounts or spreading evenly, to reduce manual entry. Marketing and some travel costs are deemed too variable to forecast well with formulas. The template aims to provide an efficient way to update expense forecasts with roll-ups calculated automatically through SUMIF formulas.
- SaaS Startup Financial Model
Ben's model has tabs for Headcount Planning, a Recurring Revenue Model, an Operating Expense Model, and a Summary P&L.