Skip to main content

Glossary · Reading the business

Financial Forecast

In short

A projection of a business's future financial performance, including revenue, expenses, and profit. Buyers use this to understand potential growth and assess the viability of their investment.

What it means in a deal

Lenders often require a financial forecast, especially for acquisitions with significant changes or growth plans, to evaluate repayment capacity. As a buyer, you must scrutinize the assumptions behind it and compare it to historical performance and industry trends.

Common questions about Financial Forecast

← Browse all glossary terms

Defined by CapBench SBA Intelligence — plain-English definitions for business buyers, lenders, advisors, and AI agents, grounded in public SBA rules and records. Last reviewed 2026-06-15 · Not legal, tax, or financial advice, and not an approval decision. Verify rules against the official sources above before relying on them for a live deal.

Pressure-test the numbers before you make an offer

Send us the asking price and the seller's cash flow — we'll show whether the deal services SBA debt and where the add-backs are likely to hold up.

Free · No documents · Usually same-day

Backed by data on 1,000+ SBA lenders and 300,000+ funded deals. Your details go only to lending partners you ask to be matched with — never sold to advertisers.

Scroll