THE BUSINESS PLAN, THE BUDGET, AND THE CASH TEST read on smbfinanceos.com Most annual plans fail before the spreadsheet is finished. They start with last year’s departments, last year’s expenses, and a revenue target someone picked because it sounds achievable. Then each department gets a version of the same question: “What do you need next year?” The answers get added together and called a plan. That process can produce a detailed budget. It rarely produces a useful direction for the...