The Cash Flow Projector answers a simple question: how much will be in the bank each week for the next few weeks? It starts from today's balance in the bank accounts you choose, adds what your open invoices are due to bring in, subtracts what your open bills are due to take out, lets you type the other receipts and expenses you expect, and shows the balance each week ends on. A week that ends below zero is shown in red, so you can see a shortfall coming while there is still time to chase a payment or move a bill.
Opening the page
- Company ▸ Planning & Budgeting ▸ Cash Flow Projector
It opens over the Home Page; Esc takes you back to the Home Page. It needs permission for Budget vs Actual.
The page at a glance
Top row
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Weeks drop-down | 6 weeks, 8 weeks or 13 weeks ahead. Changing it reloads the projection. |
| Refresh | Reads balances, invoices and bills again. Typed amounts are cleared. |
BEGINNING BALANCE FROM
A chip for each bank account, showing its name and its balance today from the general ledger, for example Chequing 18,420.55. Every account starts ticked. Click a chip to leave that account out of the beginning balance, or to put it back; the projection recalculates at once.
Late invoices and bills
| Chip | Ticked | Not ticked |
|---|---|---|
| Count late invoices in week 1 (total overdue) | Money from invoices already past due is expected in the first week. | Overdue invoices are left out of the projection. Off when the page opens. |
| Count late bills in week 1 (total overdue) | Bills already past due are expected to be paid in the first week. On when the page opens. | Overdue bills are left out. |
Each chip shows the total overdue amount, so you can see what you are including or leaving out. The defaults are cautious: late money owed to you is not counted on, while late bills are.
The projection grid
One column per week, each headed with its dates (for example Sep 22 – Sep 28). Weeks run Monday to Sunday, starting with the current week.
| Row | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Beginning Balance | The first week: the total of the ticked bank accounts. Later weeks: the previous week's ending balance. |
| Cash Receipts (invoices due) | The unpaid balance of every open invoice whose due date falls in the week (plus the overdue total in week 1, if ticked). |
| Other Receipts (adjust) | Money you expect that is not on an invoice: a loan advance, a tax refund, a sale not yet invoiced. You type it. |
| Business Expenses | Money you expect to pay that is not on a bill: wages, rent, card payments, remittances. You type it. |
| Accounts Payable (bills due) | The unpaid balance of every open bill and unpaid expense whose due date falls in the week (plus the overdue total in week 1, if ticked), shown as a negative. |
| Net Cash Flow | Receipts plus other receipts, less business expenses and bills due. |
| Ending Balance | Beginning balance plus net cash flow. Shown in red when below zero. |
The note at the foot says Invoices and bills fall in the week they are due, from their terms. Typed amounts are not saved.
Project your cash, step by step
- Open Cash Flow Projector and choose how many weeks to look ahead.
- Under BEGINNING BALANCE FROM, leave ticked only the accounts that pay your bills (for example, untick a savings account you do not intend to touch).
- Decide on late invoices and late bills with the two chips.
- Type the expenses you expect each week in Business Expenses, such as payroll on pay weeks and rent in the first week of the month.
- Type any other money you expect in Other Receipts (adjust).
- Read the Ending Balance row. Any red week is a week you are short.
How due dates are worked out
An invoice or bill falls in the week of its due date, which comes from its terms (for example, Net 30 from the invoice date). A document with no due date is placed on its own date. Only the unpaid part counts: a half-paid invoice contributes the half still owed. Documents due after the last week shown are left out. Vendor credits and customer credits are not counted.
To move money between weeks, change the facts rather than the projection: collect an invoice early from the Collections Center, or pay a bill later in Pay Bills.
What it does not do
- It saves nothing. The amounts you type are for this sitting only and are cleared by Refresh, by changing the number of weeks, or by closing the page.
- It posts nothing to your books.
- It does not read your budget or your memorised transactions; type expected regular payments in Business Expenses.
Related screens and reports
- Reports ▸ Company & Financial ▸ Cash Flow Forecast — a report version, week by week: cash on hand, what is due in and out, and the projected balance. It can be memorised, printed and exported. See Company & Financial reports.
- Reports ▸ Snapshots ▸ Cash Flow — a picture of money in and out. See snapshot dashboards.
- Statement of Cash Flows — what actually happened to cash in a past period. See Statement of Cash Flows.
Permissions
The page needs access to the Report Centre or to the Profit & Loss.
Tips
- Run it every Monday with 6 weeks, and with 13 weeks before a large purchase or at the start of a quarter.
- Make sure customers and vendors have the right terms. An invoice without terms is expected on the day it was dated, which makes receipts look earlier than they will be.
- If your bank balance looks wrong, reconcile the account first: the beginning balance is the balance in your books, not your bank's figure.
Common problems
- A bank account is missing from the chips. Only bank accounts are listed; credit card and other accounts are not.
- The beginning balance does not match my bank. Cheques not yet cleared and deposits not yet recorded make the book balance differ. See Reconcile.
- My typed amounts disappeared. They are not saved; changing the weeks or choosing Refresh clears them.
- An invoice I expect this week is not counted. It is overdue and Count late invoices in week 1 is off, or its due date is later.