Prepare Your Files

Get your Excel files ready or use a blank template and add your data

Uploading your files to sherloc is simple. There are a few things to be aware of in order to have a smooth experience getting started with sherloc. This information is for importing your Excel files. We also have information for using the Xero integration.

The only requirement to getting started with sherloc is an income statement (profit and loss account), however, we recommend importing your balance sheet and cashflow as well.
To take advantage of our ‘bottom-up’ forecasting, you will also need to upload your business data. Business data can include any forward-looking plans that you can tie into your financial data.
You must upload your business data before you create your forecast. During the forecast creation process, you will need to select the business data you would like to use for the forecast. If you would like to change the business data used for your forecast, you will need to create a new forecast.

Top-down forecasts use more general assumptions and do not require additional business data. If you would like to create a forecast using only top-down assumptions, you do not need to add business data.

Financial data
You should have your income statement, balance sheet, and cashflow in one Excel file, with each document on its own tab. If there are other tabs included in this file, they will not be uploaded.

Business data
To upload your business data or plans to sherloc, have all data in one Excel file. You can use different tabs for different types of data (staffing costs or sales targets). You can use different categories for your data. You will be able to create assumptions using categories to give you more granular control of your forecast.

Tips:

Keep your data simple, keep it clean
Separate your data into two files
- Financial data (income statement, balance sheet, cashflow)
- Business data (staffing costs, sales forecasts, etc)
Use tabs to separate your data
Use a zero instead of leaving it blank
When making a forecast, sherloc will use your last month of financial data and carry it forward to create a 'shell forecast'. This includes numbers and formulas, please ensure your formulas refer to data that is uploaded in the same file.