Hello game dev friends!
Today I'm writing about boring stuff. Boring, important stuff. I'd like to share with you our cash flow and budget document, in template format, so that you can use it yourself with your own company or future company's numbers.
First thing's first, you can download the document here, but please note it's for Google Sheets and the formulas will likely explode if you try to download it as an Excel doc.
Now, I'd like to take a quick second to explain why I think it's important to have a cash flow and budget document in general. If you already agree with me, skip on ahead. I think it's crucial to make documents like this because they allow you to know:
- how much money you're spending per month
- how that money can change based on changes you might make in the company
- how long you have to survive if you keep up your current pace
- how much effect an investment might have on your future
- how much effect a publisher deal with royalties might have on your future
- and much more!
The sheet that I've linked to will allow you put in all of the details about where your money goes, make projections about the future sales of games that are already on the market, and include predictions for future games with a breakdown of your revenue based on certain factors (publisher royalty, average sale price, etc.). It also allows you to include employee salaries, potential raises, events, and more.
It should be useful for people who are just starting out or who haven't even started their company yet, but also be sufficient for people who have launched several games and have a larger company with a more complicated cash flow. I haven't gotten feedback on using the document for a larger studio of 20+ people with game budgets of $2M+ or so, but I'm happy to improve it if people find it isn't suitable.
So that's it! If you're convinced, open up the doc and have a whack at it, and if you get frustrated, please email me at [email protected] with [CashFlow] in the subject. Hopefully it'll work and won't require too much support, but who knows. Good luck!