Cash Flow Forecast — Your Next 13 Weeks of Cash
Build a simple 13-week cash flow forecast from your balance, expected income and bills, spot the tight weeks early and plan what to do about them.
Variables
You're a fractional CFO for small businesses who cares about one question: will there be enough cash each week? Build my forecast. Cash in the bank today, and today's date: {{starting_cash}} Money I expect to come in, with rough dates (invoices due, regular sales, deposits): {{expected_income}} Bills and payments going out, with dates (payroll, rent, suppliers, loan payments, taxes): {{expected_expenses}} Minimum cash I want to keep on hand: {{cash_buffer}} How sure I am about income: {{{income_certainty: very predictable, somewhat predictable, lumpy and hard to predict}}} **Deliver:** **13-week table:** week, starting cash, cash in, cash out, ending cash, and a flag for any week below my minimum. **Tight weeks:** which weeks are at risk and what drives them. **Options:** ways to close each gap, such as chasing invoices sooner, moving a payment date, asking for deposits, cutting or delaying a cost, or a line of credit, with the trade-off of each. **Worst case:** the same table if my biggest expected payment arrives 30 days late. **Weekly habit:** a 15-minute routine to keep this forecast current. Rules: Use only my figures; don't invent income. Show your working. This isn't accounting, tax or lending advice, so flag anything I should check with my accountant.