Forecast weekly/monthly cash flows with receivables, payables, and recurring expenses to predict shortfalls and surpluses.
The Cash Flow Forecast Tool turns an opening cash balance and scheduled money movements into a weekly or monthly running projection. Enter expected receivables as inflows, payables as outflows, and repeating costs as recurring expenses; the result shows each period's net movement and projected cash position. Timing is central: an invoice does not support the forecast until the period in which you expect to collect it. A profitable plan can therefore show a negative balance when payments leave before customer receipts arrive.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Period: weekly Opening cash: $1,000 Week 1 receivable: $500 Week 1 payable: $300 Recurring weekly expense: $100 Forecast length: 2 weeks
Expected output
Week 1: inflows $500; outflows $400; net cash flow +$100; ending cash $1,100 Week 2: inflows $0; outflows $100; net cash flow -$100; ending cash $1,000
In week 1, $500 - ($300 + $100) = $100, which raises the opening balance from $1,000 to $1,100. Week 2 has only the $100 recurring expense, so the ending balance returns to $1,000.
Each receivable and payable belongs to the week or month when cash is expected to change hands. The tool totals inflows and outflows for that period, then calculates net cash flow as inflows minus outflows. Moving an expected receipt or payment to another period can change where a projected shortfall or surplus appears.
The opening cash balance starts the first period. That period's net cash flow is added to produce its ending balance, which carries into the following period. Recurring expenses apply across their scheduled intervals. A negative projected balance indicates a shortfall under the entered assumptions; a positive balance indicates projected cash on hand, not accounting profit.
No. It projects cash availability from the amounts and timing supplied. Profit can include revenue earned but not yet collected and expenses recognized on a different schedule, while this forecast follows cash entering and leaving. Use a profit forecast or income statement for profitability, and use this tool to locate possible cash shortages.
Use the period in which you realistically expect the customer's payment to become available, not automatically the invoice date. If collection timing is uncertain, compare a likely case with a later-payment case. The tool cannot determine when a customer will actually pay, so an optimistic collection assumption can overstate projected cash.
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