A forecast built for one small organisation, now shared with yours
EF Forecast began as a working tool, not a business plan. Elaine designed it to keep the books of a children’s music school in France. It worked so well that she and her partner are turning it into a service for other small businesses.
Elaine and the music school
Elaine is a finance professional based in Ireland, and she looks after the finances of a children’s music school in France. Like any small organisation, the school has bills to meet and money coming in at its own pace.
Cash flow problems tend to be noticed only when it is too late, once the balance is already lower than it should be. Elaine wanted to see those months coming, well before they arrived.
Spreadsheets can do the sums, but they feel daunting and take time. So she built something simpler. Upload the bank statement, set a safety cushion, and see the months ahead laid out in plain colours: green when all is well, amber when cash dips below the cushion, red only if it would fall below zero.
Looking back at last month only tells part of the story. The questions that matter are whether the months ahead are safe, and whether a decision is affordable.
That second question led to scenario planning. Before saying yes to a new cost or a new commitment, you can ask “what if…” and get an answer in plain English, without touching the real figures at all.
The tool worked so well that Elaine and her partner decided to share it. Sole traders and small businesses face the same questions, so EF Forecast is being turned into a service for them.
Why it is called EF
EF are Elaine’s initials. Putting them on the tool says something simple: there is a real person behind this forecast.
It also says something about how EF Forecast came to be. It was not designed in the abstract. It was built by someone keeping real books for a real organisation.
- Who built it
- Elaine, a finance professional based in Ireland.
- What it was for
- Running the books of a children’s music school in France.
- Who it is for now
- Sole traders and small businesses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, working in pounds or euros.
- Where it stands
- Built and running in testing, with beta testers joining shortly.
Four things built in from the start
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Plain English
A verdict, not a spreadsheet
Your forecast ends in a sentence you can act on, such as “You are fine: cash stays above your safety cushion.”
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Safe to explore
Scenarios never change your real figures
Test a late payer, taking on help or a big purchase as often as you like. Your actual books and bank figures stay exactly as they are.
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Any bank
A simple CSV download
It works with an ordinary CSV statement downloaded from your bank. Nothing has direct access to your account.
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Your data, your call
Delete everything yourself
Delete your account and every uploaded statement whenever you choose. Read more on privacy and data.
The first testers are just starting
EF Forecast is about to begin beta testing. Honest reviews from those first users will appear here as they come in, rather than borrowed praise.
Owner slot: a review from a beta tester belongs here, with their name and business shown only with their permission.
See your months ahead
Start your free 30-day trial with just an email address. No card details, and no password to remember. Questions about your bank’s CSV or how your data is handled? Ask Elaine first.