OGY FORECASTING AND STRATEGIC PLANNING ation is vastly more complex because it operates on two levels and involves complex trade-offs across multiple divisions or operating units. The eternal pursuit of the Holy Grail of growth is a continuous consideration of internal or external growth. Do we grow by acquisi- tion, or by internal design and development? This is one of the most often asked questions when considering long-range plans. Another common question: Where do we get the money-are we generating sufficient cash, should we issue more common stock, and is borrowing a viable option? Resolving these issues is the stuff of creating and updating long-range plans. Non-profit sector organizations and government enterprises don't necessarily use the same terms, but must recognize their sources of income and typically use the same accounting terms such as revenue, cost, assets, liabilities, etc. Sometimes these organizations merge, but less often than profit sector enterprises. Most of the effort and focus in creating or updating a long-range plan is likely to go into planning and detailing the product or service mix and engineering design and development programs. A successful business depends on a well-defined and managed product or set of products. A well-defined product set comes from continuous study of customer needs, competition, emerging core technology, and evolving standards. Understanding timing and economic parameters that constrain the organization is key to successful, long-term plan- ning. Basic timing associated with day-to-day financial aspects such as the time from receipt of an order to fulfillment of the order varies from industry to industry and entity to entity. But billing to cash collection is about the same for everyone. If the organization designs, makes, and sells products, it is highly likely they build products for inventory, and production time is a key consideration in the oper- ations cycle. PRO-FORMA FINANCIAL STATEMENTS A key part of the long-range plan is the financial summary-bala