Farm financial statements
Build a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow budget for your farm, then print or download them.
Balance sheet
What the farm owns and owes on one date. Value assets at what they would fetch today, not what you paid.
Enter what the farm owns and owes to see its net worth and ratios.
Income statement
One full year of farming, usually your financial year. Leave out loan capital received or repaid and household spending.
Enter the year's income and costs to see gross margin and net farm income.
Cash flow budget
Cash you expect in and out of the bank each month for the next 12 months. Unlike the income statement, include loan repayments and household drawings. Rename any row to suit your farm.
Enter an overdraft as a negative number, e.g. -50000.
Start where your season or financial year starts.
| Rand | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash in | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| Total cash in | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 |
| Cash out | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| R 0 | |||||||||||||
| Total cash out | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 |
| Net cash flow | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 |
| Opening balance | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | |
| Closing balance | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 | R 0 |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every month. Print in landscape for the full year on one page.
Fill in the months you expect money in and out to see your lowest balance and borrowing need.
How this is calculated
Blank lines count as zero, so fill in only the lines your farm has. The worked examples below use one mixed farm: current assets R600 000, non-current assets R8 400 000, current liabilities R400 000 and long-term liabilities R2 200 000.
Balance sheet
- Net worth (owner's equity) = total assets − total liabilities. R9 000 000 − R2 600 000 = R6 400 000.
- Current ratio = current assets ÷ current liabilities. R600 000 ÷ R400 000 = 1.5 : 1, meaning R1.50 of cash, debtors and saleable stock for every R1 due within a year. Below 1 the farm cannot meet this year's debts without selling long-term assets or borrowing more.
- Debt ratio = total liabilities ÷ total assets. R2 600 000 ÷ R9 000 000 = 0.29, so 29% of the farm is financed with borrowed money. Lower is safer.
- Solvency ratio = total assets ÷ total liabilities. R9 000 000 ÷ R2 600 000 = 3.46 : 1. It is the debt ratio turned upside down; the higher it is, the more cover the lender has if the farm had to be sold.
The strong, fair and weak labels are rough rules of thumb, not an official standard: a current ratio of 1.5 or more reads as strong, 1 to 1.5 as fair and below 1 as weak; a debt ratio below 0.4 reads as strong, 0.4 to 0.7 as fair and above 0.7 as weak. Each lender sets its own limits and weighs them against your cash flow and track record.
Income statement
- Gross income = crop sales + livestock sales + other farm income + change in stock value. R1 800 000 + R600 000 + R50 000 − R50 000 (stock fell) = R2 400 000.
- Gross margin = gross income − direct costs. R2 400 000 − R1 200 000 = R1 200 000.
- Net farm income = gross margin − overheads − interest − depreciation. R1 200 000 − R500 000 − R180 000 − R220 000 = R300 000. Interest and depreciation have their own lines, so leave them out of overheads or they are counted twice. This is what is left to pay the owner for labour, management and capital, before tax and drawings.
- Return on assets = (net farm income + interest) ÷ total assets from the balance sheet. (R300 000 + R180 000) ÷ R9 000 000 = 5.3%. Interest is added back so the figure measures the assets themselves, however they are financed; compare it with the interest rate you pay.
Cash flow budget
- Net cash flow for a month = total cash in − total cash out.
- Closing balance = opening balance + net cash flow; it becomes the next month's opening balance.
- Peak borrowing need = the lowest closing balance, if it is below zero. Starting with R50 000, spending R40 000 a month for three months and R10 000 a month after that, with a R400 000 crop cheque in month six, the balance bottoms out at −R90 000 at the end of month five. That is the overdraft facility to arrange before the season, not during it.
Your figures are saved only in this browser on this device and are never sent to us. Clearing your browser data removes them, so download the CSV files or print a copy to keep.
Read the guide: The farm financial statements a lender asks for
Results are estimates for planning. Check product labels and local recommendations before you apply anything.