What planning covers
The planning layer is where you set expectations for the future.
- Expenses — what you expect to spend.
- Revenues — what you expect to earn.
- Talents — your current and planned headcount with fully-loaded costs.
- Raised capital — funding rounds and their impact on cash.
- Forecasts — cash flow projections, runway, burn rate.
Planning vs bookkeeping
- Bookkeeping tracks what actually happened.
- Planning tracks what you think will happen.
Comparing the two tells you whether you’re on track, over budget, or ahead of plan.
You can use one without the other. Many early-stage startups start with just planning — a quick runway calculation and hiring plan — before they set up formal books.
Monthly spread
When you enter a planned expense like “$5,000/month for office rent,” Dotio automatically spreads it across months. You see what hits your cash each month, not just an annual total. Same for revenue, salaries, and funding rounds.
Scenarios
Planning lets you model different scenarios:
- What if we hire two more engineers?
- What if we raise $3M in June?
- What if revenue grows 20% instead of 10%?
Create a scenario, enter the changes, see how runway shifts.
Connecting to bookkeeping
Once you have real books, you can compare plan to actuals. Ask: “how are we doing vs plan this month?”