A profit forecast tells you if the year will be good. A 13-week cash forecast tells you if payroll clears in week 9. Owners need the second one first.
Why 13 weeks
One quarter, week by week. Long enough to see a squeeze coming. Short enough to build from facts you already have: open invoices, payroll dates and known payments.
Build it in five steps
- Start from today's bank balance, per the bank statements, not the ledger.
- Receipts: put each open customer invoice in the week you expect the money. Use each customer's real payment habits, not the due date.
- Payments: put open supplier invoices on their due dates, then add salaries, rent and other fixed costs in the weeks they fall.
- Known one-offs: loan instalments, VAT and zakat payments, equipment, dividends.
- New sales and purchases: after the first weeks, add your usual sales and purchases, with the delay before they turn into cash.
Run three scenarios
Base, downside and upside. In our downside, sales fall 10%, customers pay two weeks later and costs rise one point. If the downside dips below your minimum cash buffer, you know which week, and you still have time to act.
Update it every month
Roll it forward, replace forecasts with actuals, and ask why each gap happened. The forecast gets more accurate every month.
How Finance Pack helps
Standard and Plus include the 13-week forecast every month. Plus runs it in three scenarios and updates it mid-month.