What to Include in Your Business Plan Appendix

Overlapping files, folders, charts, graphs, and documents. Represents the information included in a business plan appendix.

Candice Landau

4 min. read

Updated March 4, 2024

Download Now: Free Business Plan Template

While not required, a well-structured business plan appendix goes a long way toward convincing lenders and investors that you have a great business idea and a viable business.

This article will cover what to include in your appendix and best practices to make it a useful part of your business plan

What is a business plan appendix?

A business plan appendix provides supporting documentation for the other sections of your business plan.  

The appendix typically comes last and includes any additional documents, spreadsheets, tables, or charts that don’t fit within the main sections of your plan. 

What goes in the appendix of a business plan?

In general, here is some of the information you might include in your business plan appendix:

  • Charts, graphs, or tables that support sections of your business plan
  • Financial statements and projections
  • Sales and marketing materials
  • Executive team resumes
  • Credit history
  • Business and/or personal tax returns
  • Agreements or contracts with clients or vendors
  • Licenses, permits, patents, and trademark documentation
  • Product illustrations or product packaging samples
  • Building permit and equipment lease documentation
  • Contact information for attorneys, accountants, and advisors

You may include some, all, or none of these documents in your appendix. It depends on your business needs and who you share your business plan with. 

Similar to your executive summary, adjusting what’s in your appendix may be helpful based on the intended audience.

Brought to you by

LivePlan Logo

Create a professional business plan

Using AI and step-by-step instructions

Create Your Plan

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

Business plan appendix best practices

Here are a few tips to help you create an appendix that supports your business plan.

Make it easy to navigate

If your appendix is more than a few pages long or contains a variety of documents, you may want to consider adding a separate table of contents.

Don’t forget security

If you share confidential information within the business plan appendix, you will also want to keep track of who has access to it. 

A confidentiality statement is a good way to remind people that the content you share should not be distributed or discussed beyond the agreed parties. You can include it as a separate page or as part of your business plan cover page.

Make the appendix work as a separate document

Given that the appendix is the last part of the business plan, it’s quite likely your readers will skip it. 

For this reason, it’s important to ensure your business plan can stand on its own. All information within the appendix should be supplementary. 

Ask yourself: if the reader skipped this part of my plan, would they still understand my idea or business model? If the answer is no, you may need to rethink some things.

Connect the appendix to sections of your business plan

Make sure that anything you include in the appendix is relevant to the rest of your business plan. It should not be unrelated to the materials you’ve already covered. 

It can be useful to reference which section of your plan the information in your appendix supports. Use footnotes, or if it’s digital, provide links to other areas of your business plan.

Keep it simple

This is good general advice for your entire business plan. 

Keep it short. 

You don’t need to include everything. Focus on the relevant information that will give your reader greater insight into your business or more detailed financial information that will supplement your financial plan.

Free business plan template with appendix

Remember, your appendix is an optional supporting section of your business plan. Don’t get too hung up on what to include. You can flag documents and information you believe are worth including in your appendix as you write your plan

Need help creating your business plan? 

Download our free fill-in-the-blank business plan template with a pre-structured format for your appendix. 

And to understand what you should include based on your industry—check out our library of over 550 business plan examples.

Business plan appendix FAQ

Gather relevant documents like financial statements, team resumes, and legal permits. Organize them logically, possibly mirroring your business plan’s structure. If long, include a table of contents, ensure each item is relevant, and focus on keeping it simple. If you’re sharing sensitive information, add a confidentiality statement.

An appendix provides supporting evidence for your business plan. It keeps your main plan more concise, enhances credibility with additional data, and can house all-important business documents associated with your business.

The following can appear in your appendix:

  • Financial projections
  • Marketing materials
  • Team resumes
  • Legal documents (like permits and patents)
  • Product details (like prototypes and packaging)
  • Operational documents (like building permits)
  • Professional contact information. 
LivePlan Logo

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Create Your Plan
Content Author: Candice Landau

Candice Landau

Candice is a freelance writer, jeweler, and digital marketing hybrid.