Merchandise financial planning (MFP) workbook
Top-down MFP template — sales, margin, inventory, receipts and OTB by month and by category. A working version of the financial plan a planner can use today, and the most direct way to see where the spreadsheet stops scaling.
The MFP workbook is the top-down half of the planning wedge. It lays out sales, margin, inventory, receipts and open-to-buy by month and category, with cells linked the way a real plan is linked — the kind a buyer can edit, the CFO can sign off and finance can audit.
What's in it
12-month MFP grid across category and channel. Sales, returns, gross margin, inventory at retail and cost, receipts, BOM/EOM stock and OTB. The math is explicit; nothing is hidden in a macro.
Where the spreadsheet stops
The workbook is intentionally honest about where the spreadsheet model breaks. Once the plan covers more than a few categories, or once the bottom-up demand forecast needs to feed back into the top-down view, the file becomes the bottleneck. That's the point at which a connected planning system pays for itself.
Who it's for
Planners, buyers, planning directors and finance partners at retail and DTC brands building a structured MFP. Works equally as a teaching reference for new planners and a working template for established teams.