SmartHelping / Mobile Apps / Excel
Mobile App — 5-Year Startup Financial Model
Connect downloads and user retention to advertising, ad-free service, and in-app purchase revenue. Build a five-year startup forecast with financial statements, a capitalization table, SaaS KPIs, and investment return analysis.
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See the template in action
Walk through the mobile app forecast.
Three ways to monetize your app
Model the revenue mix around your users.
Advertising revenue
Forecast advertising revenue from users who download the app and do not pay to remove ads.
Ad-free service
Model revenue from the portion of downloads that pay for ad removal.
In-app purchases
Use up to five purchase slots, each with an average monthly spend and a percentage of active users who make those purchases.
Recurring purchase scenarios
The in-app purchase logic can also represent subscription services, using the model’s user retention and churn calculations.
From new downloads to active users
Build acquisition and retention assumptions.
Paid user acquisition
Set advertising spend and cost per acquisition to calculate the users acquired through paid marketing.
Organic traffic and conversion
Forecast traffic from sources such as search, word of mouth, and shared links, then define the percentage that downloads the app.
User retention
Set the expected average time a user remains active. The model derives monthly churn and tracks users remaining over time alongside newly acquired users.
Flexible purchase participation
Use a single average monthly in-app spend or multiple purchase slots. The slots are not mutually exclusive, so a user can participate in more than one spending category.
Financial statements, operating costs, and KPIs
Review the business from several angles.
Three financial statements
Review the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement alongside a capitalization table.
Expenses and tax assumptions
Include fixed operating expenses, depreciation, corporate income tax, and payroll tax and benefits assumptions.
SaaS unit economics
Track customer lifetime value, customer acquisition cost, months to recover acquisition cost, LTV-to-CAC ratio, and monthly churn.
Financial and KPI visuals
Review individual metrics and combined charts to see how the user, revenue, and financial assumptions affect the forecast.
Funding, valuation, and returns
Connect the operating plan to the investment.
Funding sources
Model bank debt and outside investor funding, with owner/operator equity as the default cash source.
Exit assumptions
Set an EBITDA-based exit multiple and account for outstanding debt repayment in the exit month.
Separate return views
Review discounted cash-flow analysis for the project, investor, and owner/operator, including IRR, NPV, and equity multiple.
More context for your assumptions
Supporting financial modeling resources.
Financial Statement Generator
Explore a separate financial statement generator for accrual or cash-basis reporting.
Read moreCohort Analysis Best Practices
Read about cohort analysis for subscription businesses.
Read morePayroll Tracker and Calculator
Explore a separate payroll tool for comparing budget with actual results.
Read moreGiving Up Equity in Your Startup
Read about considerations when raising funding in exchange for equity.
Read moreIRR Target Investment Analysis
Explore a separate template for analyzing target investment returns over up to 15 years.
Read moreIncluded in the recurring-revenue collection
Explore the SaaS Financial Model Bundle.
SaaS / Recurring Revenue Financial Models
This mobile app model is included in the SaaS financial model bundle. Explore the collection for subscription, membership, marketplace, and other recurring-revenue modeling tools.
Explore the SaaS bundleQuestions before you start
A few useful details.
Which revenue streams does the model cover?
Advertising revenue, payments for ad-free service, and in-app purchases. The in-app purchase logic can also be used for subscription scenarios.
How many in-app purchase categories can I model?
Up to five, with an average monthly spend and participation percentage for each. These categories are not mutually exclusive.
How does the model forecast new users?
Paid acquisition is driven by advertising spend and cost per acquisition. Organic acquisition is driven by traffic and the share of visitors who download the app.
Are financial statements included?
Yes. The model includes an income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and capitalization table.
Can I analyze funding and an exit?
Yes. The model includes debt, investor funding, owner/operator equity, an EBITDA-based exit valuation, and separate project, investor, and owner/operator return analysis.
Turn your app assumptions into a forecast
Plan your mobile app business.
Mobile App 5-Year Startup Financial Model — $75, delivered as an Excel download.
