Executive Summary The second part of the Business Report for Balogne Pty. Ltd addresses the issues of financial forecasting and the sphere of business and technology. Microsoft Excel has been applied to the creation of four graphs and one table demonstrating the company’s predicted performance based on such key indicators as earnings, earnings by product, variable costs, and sell prices. It has been explained how certain market influences, such as inflation/deflation, can affect the calculations of predictions. Further, contemporary business issues have been addressed, including knowledge management, business intelligence, Five Forces, and security. Introduction Upon reflecting on the role of business modeling and process modeling in decision-making, the use of Microsoft Excel for calculations, and the adoption of Web 2.0 applications for internal and external communications, the business analyst of Balogne Pty. Ltd, a company that produces several types of sugar products, turns to forecasting and strategic business planning. For the newly appointed General Manager, it is important to receive predictions as per the company’s expected performance and factors that may affect the operation in the nearest future. Three areas will be addressed as part of these business analytics efforts: forecasting financial performance (with the use of graphs demonstrating key indicators of financial dynamics), accumulating predicted financial data (with the use of a pivot table), and investigating contemporary issues related to technology and business, including knowledge management, business intelligence, market forces, and security. Forecast Graphs In financial planning, strategic decisions should be based on future projections; even though such projections’ accuracy may be questionable (due to the constantly changing market trends and influences), there is still a need for Balogne Pty. Ltd to build forecasts as per such crucial financial indicators as revenues, costs, and earnings and such considerations as the dynamics of these indicators among the company’s products. The first prediction to be designed is the prediction of earnings; it should be based on the current indicators, inflation/deflation rates, and volume sold. The result of the prediction is presented below (Figure 1). Figure 1: Yearly USD earnings forecast by product. Earnings are calculated as the difference between revenue and cost: revenue, in turn, is the product of multiplying volume sold by the selling price, and the cost is the product of volume sold and variable cost plus fixed cost (overhead). In 2016 and 2017, costs and prices are affected by the inflation/deflation rate, and there is growth/loss dynamics for volume sold, too. By considering all these factors and inputting data correctly into relevant software, such as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, a business analyst will be able to predict earnings and provide the General Manager with the information needed for strategic decision making. Further, looking into the dynamics of earnings distribution among different products is needed to improve product policies of Balogne Pty. Ltd (Figure 2). Figure 2: Estimated percentage of total earnings by-product (2015 to 2017). As can be seen from the graph above, golden syrup is accountab