farm business plans

[pcdreams]

We're trying to put together a business plan for our farm and quickly becoming overwhelmed.. So I've got a few questions.

Do you define your entire farm in your business plan (such as cattle, veggies, etc) or did you do a plan for each?

It would seem to be easier to do each one individually but, maybe more difficult at tax time. or when trying to integrate them..

What I'm thinking is, since I'm not made of money and can't do it all at once, I could write a plan for our market garden/hoop house/farmers market business. then add onto it later or write a new one as we add things like an orchard, animals. etc.

Thoughts?

[farmerDale]

I try to keep everything seperate in planning, in bank accounts, and for tax reasons, meaning grains, animals, custom work, other business. When you throw it all into one pot, it is difficult to know which sector is performing well, at a glance. When you bank income seperately, you know exactly which sector is making money. It takse a bit more to do, but for my farm it keeps things clear, and makes things well organized.

[farmerj]

I have always written my business plan with my financial sheets handy.

If you put it in your financials, it needs to go into your business plan.

[pcdreams]

Originally Posted by farmerDale

I try to keep everything seperate in planning, in bank accounts, and for tax reasons, meaning grains, animals, custom work, other business. When you throw it all into one pot, it is difficult to know which sector is performing well, at a glance. When you bank income seperately, you know exactly which sector is making money. It takse a bit more to do, but for my farm it keeps things clear, and makes things well organized.

makes sense to me. Seems to me it would show better "know what your doing" to anyone (banker) who might need to see them

[JIL]

are u using any type of form to fill out? I am not CPA or even into accounting and trying to figure how to get organized to where at tax time I am not digging thru all the receipts

[farmerj]

http://www.score.org/resources/busin...mplate-gallery

A Business plan should have your financial statement included with it.

The business plan states what it is you want to do, the financial plans is how you show you are doing it.

http://tools.financial-projections.c...eTemplate.html

Personally,

Livestock, what can you class as overhead and what is direct expense.

Agriculture, another cost center.

Buildings are going to be another.

Equipment, how do you use it? Is it for livestock only, agriculture only?

The level of detail you want is kind of a personal choice, but the more detailed it is, the better you can track. Too much detail is/can be overwhelming and lead to just quiting doing it.