Business Plan Workshop/Cash-flow Work-sheet Two templates have been provided on the accompanying disk. Below are step-by-step instructions to guide you through the business plan and cash flow work sheet templates. The steps illustrate how to open the file, enter data, save your work and close the Word and Excel templates. For those of you who do not have access to a personal computer to complete the plan & cash flow sheet, computers are available at each of the Oxford County Library branches. A pamphlet of library open hours is available from your course instructor or Kathryn McCulloch. Business Plan template STEP Description Additional Information 1. Insert the disk Insert disk into the floppy drive of the computer with the metal sliding door entering the slot first. In most computers the round metal circular part of the disk will face the button that protrudes out of the disk drive. 2. Open the file There are many ways to do this. I will illustrate two: One way, is to Start the program MS Word -click on the start button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, use your mouse pointer to highlight the word programs, a window containing more menu items will appear on the right, point to the Microsoft Word description on the list and click. The second way, use Windows Explorer. To open Explorer, -right click on the start button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, use your mouse pointer to highlight the word explore and click. The following window will open in windows 95- If you don’t immediately see the Microsoft Word description, look for the description Microsoft Office, point to it first, then point to the Word description click. Windows Explorer can also be found under programs when clicking the start button click under the window titled Folders and highlight the words 3 ½ floppy (A): the contents of the a disk will appear in the right-hand window highlight the file name “Business plan” with a single click then double click to open illustrated above this will first open Microsoft Word, then the business plan template. If it does not, this might mean that Word is not installed on the computer you are working on. You may have WordPerfect or an earlier version of Microsoft Word Ask your computer instructor for instructions on how to convert your file STEP Description Additional Information 3. Enter the data The template is designed as a form that allows you to enter information only into the grey shaded boxes. The first box that will be highlighted when you open the template will be name. All you have to do is type in the information and then press the tab key to move to the next grey shaded box. It’s a good idea to save your work before you are completed, usually every 5 to 10 minutes so that in the case of a power failure or system freeze you will not lose unsaved work. It will have YOUR NAME highlighted. Ask your instructor for keyboard help if you are a 1st time computer user 4. Save your work From the file menu bar click File, and Save As…. Type your file name, e.g. abc company business plan After typing the name click the save button on the right, or press the enter key on the keyboard. The blue title bar on the top of your screen should reflect the new file name. A window will come up with the file name bus- plan highlighted in blue You are limited by 256 characters as to what you name your plan 5. Closing the template and the program If you are finished your plan you can close the template. This can be accomplished by one, clicking the X in the uppermost right hand corner or by two, clicking File from the menu bar and clicking Exit. Cash flow worksheet template STEP Description Additional Information 1. Insert the disk Insert disk into the floppy drive of the computer with the metal sliding door entering the slot first. In most computers the round metal circular part of the disk will face the button that protrudes out of the disk drive. 2. Open the file Again, There are many ways to do this. I will illustrate two: One way, is to Start the program MS Excel -click on the start button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, use your mouse pointer to highlight the word programs, a window containing more menu items will appear on the right, point to the Microsoft Excel description on the list and click. The second way, use Windows Explorer. To open Explorer, -right click on the start button at the bottom left hand corner of the screen, use your mouse pointer to highlight the word explore and click. The following window will open in windows 95- If you don’t immediately see the Microsoft Excel description, look for the description Microsoft Office, point to it first, then point to the Excel description & click. Windows Explorer can also be found under programs when clicking the start button click under the window titled Folders and highlight the words 3 ½ floppy (A): the contents of the a disk will appear in the right-hand window highlight the file name “Bus-plan” with a single click then double click to open click below the blue one illustrated above, this file has an X picture beside it this will open first Microsoft Excel, then the cash flow worksheet template If it does not, this might mean that Excel is not installed on the computer you are working on. You may have QuatroPro or a previous version of Microsoft Excel Ask your computer instructor for instructions on how to convert your file 3. Enter the data The template is designed as a form that allows you to enter information only into the grey shaded boxes. Press the tab key to activate data entry. The first box that will be highlighted will be Cell C5, this is where you type in the Month, e.g. September. Once the information is typed, all you have to do is press the tab key to move to the next grey shaded box. You will be in column D row 7 under the heading month 1. This is where you enter the first number representing the amount of sales your business had in its first month of operation. You don’t need to put a $ or commas. You can enter the number as 10023.50 and the program will format it correctly. Tapping the tab key will move you under month 2. If you wish to move to the cell below instead you can press the Enter key instead of the tab key. You can also use the four directional arrow keys on your keyboard to move around the cells. Ask your instructor for keyboard help if you are a 1st time computer user It’s a good idea to save your work before you are completed, usually every 5 to 10 minutes so that in the case of a power failure or system freeze you will not lose unsaved work. 4. Save your work From the file menu bar click File, and Save As…. Type your file name, e.g. abc company cashflow After typing the name click the save button on the right, or press the enter key on the keyboard. The blue title bar on the top of your screen should reflect the new file name. A window will come up with the file name bus- plan highlighted in blue You are limited by 256 characters as to what you name your plan 5. Closing the template and the program If you are finished your plan you can close the template. This can be accomplished by one, clicking the X in the uppermost right hand corner or by two, clicking File from the menu bar and clicking Exit.