Use it for:
The Investment component is used to represents investments the business makes. It can be used to buy either a one-off investment, or make a recurring investment. New or pre-existing investments can be modelled, the value of the investment can be grown and a regular cash return on the investment can be set up. Finally, the investment can be sold off, removing it from the Balance Sheet and providing Cash for the business in return.
Example usage
1. Investment in the stock market – businesses may wish to place some of their cash into stocks, shares or bonds.
2.Investment in other companies – representing buying shares/equity in other businesses where you can receive cash at a later date. This is the other way round to the equity component, which represents someone outside of your business investing into it.
Don't use it for:
If you are looking for a way of representing someone investing into the business, take a look at the Equity component instead ;)
Setup
The Investment component is used to purchase an investment, costing you cash to purchase but adding an asset to your Balance Sheet which can grow over time or provide income itself.
If the investment was made prior to the start of the plan, switch the toggle on as the investment should form part of the plans opening position.
If you have not switched the toggle on the investment will be made on the start of the component.
Both new and existing investments can have more cash invested into them during the course of the plan.
Investment amount
Enter the amount of cash you spend on this investment.
The default is one-off.
For example, if you enter £1000 on-off you'll see a cost of £1000 on your cash flow and a value of £1000 added to your balance sheet.
You can change this dropdown to enter a repeating amount. Keep in mind if you choose quarterly or yearly it will still calculate monthly.
For example, if you enter £3000 quarterly, you'll see a cost of £1000 each month on your cash flow and a value of £1000 accumulating each month on your balance sheet.
You can also use the 'Table' control to change this into a table where you can enter custom amounts in any period you like.
Grow this investment
Switching this toggle on will provide you with a new control for growing the investment. Unlike the Investment amount above, this just adds to the balance sheet value without incurring any additional cost. This is to represent the invested money growing over time.
The default is to increase the value by a percentage each month. It will look at the latest value and increase it by the percentage each period. You can also use the 'method' control to enter your own custom amount.
You'll see growth modifying the value of the investment on your balance sheet. You'll also see the amount it's grown by appear on your profit & loss.
Enter fees
Fees are a cost that is calculated based on the value of the investment. The value is determined by the two controls at the top which is the amount that has been invested as well as the amount it's grown by.
The default is a percentage cost each month. Again, you can change the way you add this through the dropdown, table and method controls.
You'll see fees as a cost on your cash flow and a loss on your profit & loss.
Receive regular cash
A simple way of representing receiving regular cash from this investment. Enter a repeating amount or set to table for custom. This amount will be added to your cash flow and profit & loss.
Keep in mind this will NOT adjust the value of your investment. If you want to represent your investment value changing due to receiving cash from it, use the sell investment option described below.
Sell investment
You may wish to sell an investment.
The investment will be sold for whatever its current value is at the time of sale, or you can manually sell a portion of the Investment over time.
If you want to sell over time, click the Table button to profile how much you sell.
You'll see the value drop or removed completely from your balance sheet. The cash received will appear on your cash flow.
Existing investment
The top tick box allows you to setup investments you may have made before the start date of your plan. It gives you an option to enter the value of this investment immediately before the start of the plan. This will appear appear in your opening balance. It will also show this value on your balance sheet.