Andersch | Business planning assessments

Overview

An Andersch business planning assessment

provides you with a neutral evaluation of how plausible your business planning is;
makes apparent, to insiders and third parties alike, the sound foundations upon which your business planning is based, thus giving all parties involved peace of mind;
creates transparency and strengthens the confidence of equity suppliers and lenders by validating your business planning;
allows you to avail of our extensive restructuring expertise and in-depth understanding of business models and markets across a broad range of sectors;
puts at your disposal the sophisticated technical and methodological knowledge of our employees with regard to financial planning.

Areas of application

An Andersch business planning assessment makes sense

if your company is currently undergoing upheaval due to, for example, changes on the market, internal restructuring measures or strategy realignment;
if your company has repeatedly failed to meet its business planning objectives;
if your company expects declining business earnings and the management wants to document its duty of care;
if refinancing or growth financing is planned or required;
if, as part of preparing the annual financial statement, your company’s status as a going concern needs to be evaluated and documented.

Core benefits

Sound financial expertise:
Andersch has over 20 years of experience in evaluating business planning for all types of companies, with its clients ranging from medium-sized enterprises through to major, highly complex corporations.
A neutral perspective:
Our independent perspective on your central planning premises together with our sector expertise will significantly increase the integrity of your planning.
Professional support:
We use flexible scenario simulations to render relevant opportunities and risks clearly visible and quantifiable, and to then help you develop solid, viable business planning based on the insights gained.

Services

To assess your business planning, we examine both your general and your segment planning. For this, we draw on historical finance data, cost accounting data, as well as customer- and market-related information.

Our assessments typically involve the following:

examinations and assessments of a plan’s fitness for purpose, integrity and mathematical accuracy;
analyses of the value drivers relevant to future business development and of the causal relations existing between them;
the separation, analysis and evaluation of key planning assumptions and positions, including
- plausibility checks for revenue development calculations (here we compile price-quantity scales per key segment based on market forecasts, peer group analyses and/or benchmark analyses), for internal organizational structures and for the defined measures;
- differentiated analyses of cost and investment planning;
- separate assessments of the effects of measures defined as part of overall planning;
- the alignment of planning assumptions and results with the company’s strategic outlook;
the presentation of key sensitivities and inference of relevant scenarios;
the delivery of adjusted business planning featuring a realistic spectrum of possible results (e.g. for free cash flow) as the basis for finance and investment decisions;
a statement on the robustness and fitness for purpose of overall business planning;
the identification and testing of further measures harboring potential.

Results

Andersch business planning assessments will provide you with:

sound evaluations with regard to planning plausibility (these will determine whether your business planning is resilient or flawed and, if the latter is the case, also elucidate the effects of the corresponding flaws. The insights thus provided can then be used to effectively eliminate the problem areas identified, and to render your planning feasible);
a comprehensive professional analysis of the technical and methodological appropriateness, the integrity, the mathematical accuracy and the plausibility of the premises applied;
differentiated statements for the individual planning drivers as well as a comprehensive evaluation of your profit planning, asset planning and financial planning;
recommendations on how to improve planning processes and premises, and on what other measures to implement.

FAQ

What documents are required for the planning assessment process?

We start with the individual plans (sales plan, financial plan, production plan, personnel plan, etc.) that comprise a company’s business planning. We also need the historical financial data (e.g. financial statements, cost accounting calculations) as well as customer- and market-related information (e.g. order volumes, customer contracts, market studies, if available). Once we have conducted initial analyses and management interview, we will discuss any further document requirements with you personally.

How long does a business planning assessment take?

The time frame can vary greatly depending on the size of the company in question and the complexity of its business model. We provide you with an initial assessment within two weeks.