Advice and answers from the Slidebean Team
If you’re building a startup financial model, you’ll quickly run into SG&A—short for Selling, General & Administrative expenses. These are the operating costs that keep your business running day-to-day but don’t directly produce revenue.
In this guide—based on Slidebean’s SG&A modeling tutorial—we break down:
Use our free startup financial model template to follow along.
SG&A includes all the core non-production costs your company incurs. These typically include:
Slidebean recommends modeling staff by role rather than by individual. For example:
This enables automated headcount forecasting without the need for manual updates each month.
If you’re hiring contractors who work like full-time staff, include them in the staff sheet but set payroll taxes and benefits to 0%.
Short-term contractors, like legal advisors or accountants, should be included in the Professional Services section.
Most SG&A expenses are assumed to be recurring. The model auto-fills these values across future months. You can override this by:
Use scaling rules and assumptions instead of manual inputs. If you do enter custom values, highlight them with color or comments to avoid confusion later.
Avoid labeling rows with individual team member names. Group employees with the same responsibilities and compensation under shared role titles.
Assign each expense or team role to a specific category—Operations, Growth, Legal, etc.—using the settings sheet. These categories drive the dashboard visuals and should align with your P&L structure.
The SG&A model includes a Use of Funds pie chart that shows expense breakdowns over time. This is useful for internal tracking and pitch decks alike.
Accurate SG&A modeling has a major impact on:
If your company is already operating and you’re tracking many expenses, syncing your P&L manually can become unsustainable. That’s where our financial modeling services can help streamline the process and ensure accuracy.
Your SG&A forecast is more than a line item—it’s a window into how your business scales. A clear, automated, and well-structured SG&A model helps you:
If you’re building a startup financial model, you’ll quickly run into SG&A—short for Selling, General & Administrative expenses. These are the operating costs that keep your business running day-to-day but don’t directly produce revenue.
In this guide—based on Slidebean’s SG&A modeling tutorial—we break down:
Use our free startup financial model template to follow along.
SG&A includes all the core non-production costs your company incurs. These typically include:
Slidebean recommends modeling staff by role rather than by individual. For example:
This enables automated headcount forecasting without the need for manual updates each month.
If you’re hiring contractors who work like full-time staff, include them in the staff sheet but set payroll taxes and benefits to 0%.
Short-term contractors, like legal advisors or accountants, should be included in the Professional Services section.
Most SG&A expenses are assumed to be recurring. The model auto-fills these values across future months. You can override this by:
Use scaling rules and assumptions instead of manual inputs. If you do enter custom values, highlight them with color or comments to avoid confusion later.
Avoid labeling rows with individual team member names. Group employees with the same responsibilities and compensation under shared role titles.
Assign each expense or team role to a specific category—Operations, Growth, Legal, etc.—using the settings sheet. These categories drive the dashboard visuals and should align with your P&L structure.
The SG&A model includes a Use of Funds pie chart that shows expense breakdowns over time. This is useful for internal tracking and pitch decks alike.
Accurate SG&A modeling has a major impact on:
If your company is already operating and you’re tracking many expenses, syncing your P&L manually can become unsustainable. That’s where our financial modeling services can help streamline the process and ensure accuracy.
Your SG&A forecast is more than a line item—it’s a window into how your business scales. A clear, automated, and well-structured SG&A model helps you:
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