Archive:Trade Finance/Financial Plan

Module Introduction

The objective of this module is to develop a financial plan to establish whether internal/external international trade financing is required.

Financial planning is necessary for all businesses, not just international businesses. Financial planning goes beyond the obvious internal needs of the business and extends to the external environment as well. Good financial planning will demonstrate to banks, investors and other external sources your knowledge of the organization. Establishing this level of confidence with these external entities will enable you to raise capital and get financing. International trade is complicated because of the additional influencing factors such as available information on suppliers or buyers, transportation costs, insurance and currency exchange risks, to name but a few. Planning allows you to project, evaluate, and review these variables to reach a reasonable conclusion about how to proceed.

To understand fully the financial plan and all of the terminology associated with financial documents, you will need to take an accounting class or two. In this module, you will be introduced to the key components of a financial plan

• key financial ratios
• key financial resources: the Ex-Im Bank, SBA, private banks and non-bank private sector lenders required to develop a financial plan
• advantages and disadvantages of each resource

Module Sections

• Unit 6.1: Resources for Developing a Financial Plan