LivePlan Update: Easier Forecasting, Improved Help, and More
Posted Noah Parsons
We’ve just released some exciting updates to LivePlan that make it easier to create new financial forecasts. We’ve also given you a new option to forecast cost of goods sold and improved how we provide help.
We’re excited about this latest round of improvements and think you’ll enjoy them. Read on to learn more.
Use your accounting data to jump-start your forecast
If you already use either QuickBooks or Xero accounting software, you can now get a jump start on creating new financial forecasts and scenarios in LivePlan.
All you have to do is connect your accounting software to LivePlan and then you can use LivePlan’s scenarios feature to create a new financial forecast based on the data that’s already in your accounting system. You’ll get your entire sales forecast and expense budget pre-filled based on the previous year of data. You can then apply a growth rate or manually adjust the numbers until you have a forecast that works for your business.
This new functionality can save you a ton of time and makes forecasting even faster and easier.
Note: the above screenshot is for users connected to QuickBooks. Users connected to Xero will see the option to “Use Xero data.”
New option for forecasting direct costs
Users now have the option to enter a general direct cost as a percentage of overall revenue, as they do with expenses. This is really helpful if your direct costs (also known as costs of goods sold) are tied directly to your sales numbers. If you adjust your sales forecast, your direct costs will automatically adjust to the new forecast.
An easier way to get help in LivePlan
If you open the help widget in LivePlan—the blue help button in the bottom right of your screen—you’ll get help articles specifically tailored to what you’re looking at. Keep the widget open, and you’ll get new, context-sensitive help for any area of LivePlan as you move around.
We hope you find these new features useful. We’d love to hear from you, too. Tell us what you’d like us to work on next via @liveplan on Twitter or by emailing help@liveplan.com.
This post originally appeared on the LivePlan Blog.
