All good business planning software has the same key elements that you would incorporate in a business plan created manually. A business plan must include an executive summary, a description of the company, information on its product or service, market analysis, strategy, implementation, management team information, and financial plans. Let’s take a look at how business plan software will detail and assist with each of these crucial elements. The executive summary, while it should appear first in your business plan, actually is written last as an overview of the entire business plan. Your business plan software will help you break this down into one or two pages. The next component of your business plan is the description of the company. You note here whether it is a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability corporation, or an S Corporation. You talk about the history of the business, and your plans to start it on its way. Here you would include advertising and marketing ideas. Your business plan software would prompt for these items. Next on your business plan you would talk about each product or service that your company offers to consumers or other businesses. While a company with hundreds of items wouldn’t detail each it would talk about the variations in types of products, as well as clarifying what benefit customers would achieve from the products or services. Business planning software helps you put your best foot forward here. Market analysis is covered next in your business plan, with prompts from the software to talk about your familiarity with and study of the local market, the fact that you don’t feel it’s saturated, where your customers are to be found and how best to reach them. The strategy and implementation phase of your business planning software gives you opportunities to be specific about dates, budget and managerial responsibilities. Good business planning software also provides fields and prompts that give you the chance to talk about the expertise and efforts of your key managers. You also talk here about human resource strategies. The final part of your business planning software, and the resulting business plan covers all financial aspects of your firm’s growth. You talk about where you will find your funding for start up and / or expansion, what your profit and loss statement looks like, your cash flow, the company’s balance sheet, and the financial point at which you can say your firm has broken even. Source: http://www.bplans.com/dp/article.cfm/41