cash flow projection for a business plan

How to Create a Cash Flow Forecast

10 min. read

Updated May 3, 2024

A good cash flow forecast might be the most important single piece of a business plan . All the strategy, tactics, and ongoing business activities mean nothing if there isn’t enough money to pay the bills.

That’s what a cash flow forecast is about—predicting your money needs in advance.

By cash, we mean money you can spend. Cash includes your checking account, savings, and liquid securities like money market funds. It is not just coins and bills.

Profits aren’t the same as cash

Profitable companies can run out of cash if they don’t know their numbers and manage their cash as well as their profits.

For example, your business can spend money that does not show up as an expense on your  profit and loss statement . Normal expenses reduce your profitability. But, certain spending, such as spending on inventory, debt repayment, and purchasing assets (new equipment, for example) reduces your cash but does not reduce your profitability. Because of this, your business can spend money and still be profitable.

On the sales side of things, your business can make a sale to a customer and send out an invoice, but not get paid right away. That sale adds to the revenue in your profit and loss statement but doesn’t show up in your bank account until the customer pays you.

That’s why a cash flow forecast is so important. It helps you predict how much money you’ll have in the bank at the end of every month, regardless of how profitable your business is.

Learn more about the differences between cash and profits .

• Two ways to create a cash flow forecast

There are several legitimate ways to do a cash flow forecast. The first method is called the “Direct Method” and the second is called the “Indirect Method.” Both methods are accurate and valid – you can choose the method that works best for you and is easiest for you to understand.

Unfortunately, experts can be annoying. Sometimes it seems like as soon as you use one method, somebody who is supposed to know business financials tells you you’ve done it wrong. Often that means that the expert doesn’t know enough to realize there is more than one way to do it.

• The direct method for forecasting cash flow

The direct method for forecasting cash flow is less popular than the indirect method but it can be much easier to use.

The reason it’s less popular is that it can’t be easily created using standard reports from your business’s accounting software. But, if you’re creating a forecast – looking forward into the future – you aren’t relying on reports from your accounting system so it may be a better choice for you.

That downside of choosing the direct method is that some bankers, accountants, and investors may prefer to see the indirect method of a cash flow forecast. Don’t worry, though, the direct method is just as accurate. After we explain the direct method, we’ll explain the indirect method as well.

The direct method of forecasting cash flow relies on this simple overall formula:

Cash Flow = Cash Received – Cash Spent

And here’s what that cash flow forecast actually looks like:

Let’s start by estimating your cash received and then we’ll move on to the other sections of the cash flow forecast.

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Forecasting cash received

You receive cash from three primary sources: 

1. Sales of your products and services

In your cash flow forecast, this is the “Cash from Operations” section. When you sell your products and services, some customers will pay you immediately in cash – that’s the “cash sales” row in your spreadsheet. You get that money right away and can deposit it in your bank account. You might also send invoices to customers and then have to collect payment. When you do that, you keep track of the money you are owed in  Accounts Receivable . When customers pay those invoices, that cash shows up on your cash flow forecast in the “Cash from Accounts Receivable” row. The easiest way to think about forecasting this row is to think about what invoices will be paid by your customers and when.

2. New loans and investments in your business

You can also receive cash by getting a new loan from a bank or an investment. When you receive this kind of cash, you’ll track it in the rows for loans and investments. It’s worth keeping these two different types of cash in-flows separate from each other, mostly because loans need to be repaid while investments do not need to be repaid.

3. Sales of assets

Assets are things that your business owns, such as vehicles, equipment, or property. When you sell an asset, you’ll usually receive cash from that sale and you track that cash in the “Sales of Assets” section of your cash flow forecast. For example, if you sell a truck that your company no longer needs, the proceeds from that sale would show up in your cash flow statement.

Forecasting cash spent

Similar to how you forecast the cash that you plan on receiving, you’ll forecast the cash that you plan on spending in a few categories:

1. Cash spending and paying your bills

You’ll want to forecast two types of cash spending related to your business’s operations: Cash Spending and Payment of Accounts Payable. Cash spending is money that you spend when you use petty cash or pay a bill immediately. But, there are also bills that you get and then pay later. You track these bills in  Accounts Payable . When you pay bills that you’ve been tracking in accounts payable, that cash payment will show up in your cash flow forecast as “payment of accounts payable”. When you’re forecasting this row, think about what bills you’ll pay and when you’ll pay them. In this section of your cash flow forecast, you exclude a few things: loan payments, asset purchases, dividends, and sales taxes. These will show up in the following sections.

2. Loan Payments

When you make loan repayments, you’ll forecast the repayment of the principal in your cash flow forecast. The interest on the loan is tracked in the “non-operating expense” that we’ll discuss below.

3. Purchasing Assets

Similar to how you track sales of assets, you’ll forecast asset purchases in your cash flow forecast. Asset purchases are purchases of long-lasting, tangible things. Typically, vehicles, equipment, buildings, and other things that you could potentially re-sell in the future. Inventory is an asset that your business might purchase if you keep inventory on hand.

4. Other non-operating expenses and sales tax

Your business may have other expenses that are considered “non-operating” expenses. These are expenses that are not associated with running your business, such as investments that your business may make and interest that you pay on loans. In addition, you’ll forecast when you make tax payments and include those cash outflows in this section. 

Forecasting cash flow and cash balance

In the direct cash flow forecasting method, calculating cash flow is simple. Just subtract the amount of cash you plan on spending in a month from the amount of cash you plan on receiving. This will be your “net cash flow”. If the number is positive, you receive more cash than you spend. If the number is negative, you will be spending more cash than you receive. You can predict your cash balance by adding your net cash flow to your cash balance.

• The indirect method

The indirect method of cash flow forecasting is as valid as the direct and reaches the same results.

Where the direct method looks at sources and uses of cash, the indirect method starts with net income and adds back items like depreciation that affect your profitability but don’t affect the cash balance.

The indirect method is more popular for creating cash flow statements about the past because you can easily get the data for the report from your accounting system.

You create the indirect cash flow statement by getting your Net Income (your profits) and then adding back in things that impact profit, but not cash. You also remove things like sales that have been booked, but not paid for yet.

Here’s what an indirect cash flow statement looks like:

There are five primary categories of adjustments that you’ll make to your profit number to figure out your actual cash flow:

1. Adjust for the change in accounts receivable

Not all of your sales arrive as cash immediately. In the indirect cash flow forecast, you need to adjust your net profit to account for the fact that some of your sales didn’t end up as cash in the bank but instead increased your accounts receivable.

2. Adjust for the change in accounts payable

Very similar to how you make an adjustment for accounts receivable, you’ll need to account for expenses that you may have booked on your income statement but not actually paid yet. You’ll need to add these expenses back because you still have that cash on hand and haven’t paid the bills yet.

3. Taxes & Depreciation

On your income statement, taxes and depreciation work to reduce your profitability. On the cash flow statement, you’ll need to add back in depreciation because that number doesn’t actually impact your cash. Taxes may have been calculated as an expense, but you may still have that money in your bank account. If that’s the case, you’ll need to add that back in as well to get an accurate forecast of your cash flow.

4. Loans and Investments

Similar to the direct method of cash flow, you’ll want to add in any additional cash you’ve received in the form of loans and investments. Make sure to also subtract any loan payments in this row.

5. Assets Purchased and Sold

If you bought or sold assets, you’ll need to add that into your cash flow calculations. This is, again, similar to the direct method of forecasting cash flow.

• Cash flow is about management

Remember: You should be able to project cash flow using competently educated guesses based on an understanding of the flow in your business of sales, sales on credit, receivables, inventory, and payables.

These are useful projections. But, real management is minding the projections every month with plan versus actual analysis so you can catch changes in time to manage them. 

A good cash flow forecast will show you exactly when cash might run low in the future so you can prepare. It’s always better to plan ahead so you can set up a line of credit or secure additional investment so your business can survive periods of negative cash flow.

• Cash Flow Forecasting Tools

Forecasting cash flow is unfortunately not a simple task to accomplish on your own. You can do it with spreadsheets, but the process can be complicated and it’s easy to make mistakes. 

Fortunately, there are affordable options that can make the process much easier – no spreadsheets or in-depth accounting knowledge required.

If you’re interested in checking out a cash flow forecasting tool, take a look at LivePlan for cash flow forecasting. It’s affordable and makes cash flow forecasting simple.

One of the key views in LivePlan is the cash flow assumptions view, as shown below, which highlights key cash flow assumptions in an interactive view that you can use to test the results of key assumptions:

With simple tools like this, you can explore different scenarios quickly to see how they will impact your future cash.

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

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• Cash Flow Projection – The Comple...

Cash Flow Projection – The Complete Guide

Table of Content

Key takeaways.

• Cash flow projection is a vital tool for financial decision-making, providing a clear view of future cash movements.
• Cash flow is crucial for business survival and includes managing cash effectively and providing a financial planning roadmap.
• Automation in cash flow management is a game-changer. It enhances accuracy, efficiency, and scalability in projecting cash flows, helping businesses avoid common pitfalls.

Introduction

Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. Yet, many companies constantly face the looming threat of cash shortages, often leading to their downfall. Despite its paramount importance, cash flow management can be overwhelming, leaving businesses uncertain about their financial stability.

But fear not, there’s a straightforward solution to this common problem – cash flow projection. By mastering the art of cash flow projection, you can gain better control over your finances and steer your business away from potential financial crises. Cash flow projections offer a proactive approach to managing cash flow, enabling you to anticipate challenges and make informed decisions to safeguard the future of your business.

If you’re unsure how to accurately perform cash flow projections or if you’re new to the concept altogether, this article explains everything you need to know, provides you with a step-by-step guide to preparing cash flow projections and highlights the key role automation plays in enhancing the effectiveness of these projections. 

What Is Cash Flow Projection?

Cash flow projection is a financial forecast that estimates the future inflows and outflows of cash for a specified period, typically using a cash flow projection template. It helps businesses anticipate liquidity needs, plan investments, and ensure financial stability.

Think of cash flow projection as a financial crystal ball that allows you to peek into the future of your business’s cash movements. It involves mapping out the expected cash inflows (receivables) from sales, investments, and financing activities and the anticipated cash outflows (payables) for expenses, investments, and debt repayments.

It provides invaluable foresight into your business’s anticipated cash position, helping you plan for potential shortfalls, identify surplus funds, and make informed financial decisions.

Why Are Cash Flow Projections Important for Your Business?

Managing cash flow is a critical aspect of running a successful business. It can be the determining factor between flourishing and filing for Chapter 11  bankruptcy .

In fact, studies reveal that 30% of business failures stem from running out of money. To avoid such a fate, by understanding and predicting the inflow and outflow of cash, businesses can make informed decisions, plan effectively, and steer clear of potential financial disasters.

Calculating projected cash flow is a crucial process for businesses to anticipate their future financial health and make informed decisions. This process involves forecasting expected cash inflows and outflows over a specific period using historical data, sales forecasts, expense projections, and other relevant information. Regularly updating and reviewing projected cash flow helps businesses identify potential cash shortages or surpluses, allowing for proactive cash management strategies and financial planning.

Cash Flow Projection vs. Cash Flow Forecast

Having control over your cash flow is the key to a successful business. By understanding the differences between cash flow forecasts and projections, business owners can use these tools more effectively to manage their finances and plan for the future. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Cash Flow Projection

An effective cash flow projection enables better management of business finances. Here is a step-by-step process to create cash flow projections:

Step 1: Choose the type of projection model

• Determine the appropriate projection model based on your business needs and planning horizon.
• Consider the following factors when choosing a projection model:
• Short-term projections : Covering 3-12 months, these projections are suitable for immediate planning and monitoring.
• Long-term projections : Extending beyond 12 months, these projections provide insights for strategic decision-making and future planning.
• Combination approach : Use a combination of short-term and long-term projections to address both immediate and long-range goals.

Step 2: Gather historical data and sales information

• Collect relevant historical financial data, including cash inflows and outflows from previous periods.
• Analyze sales information, considering seasonality, customer payment patterns, and market trends.

Pro Tip: Finance teams often utilize accounting software to ingest a range of historical and transactional data. 

Step 3: Project cash inflows

• Estimate cash inflows based on sales forecasts, considering factors such as payment terms and collection periods.
• Utilize historical data and market insights to refine your projections.

Step 4: Estimate cash outflows

• Identify and categorize various cash outflow components, such as operating expenses, loan repayments, supplier payments, and taxes.
• Use historical data and expense forecasts to estimate the timing and amount of cash outflows.

Pro Tip: By referencing the cash flow statement, you can identify the sources of cash inflows and outflow s. 

Step 5: Calculate opening and closing balances

• Calculate the opening balance for each period, which represents the cash available at the beginning of the period.
• Opening Balance = Previous Closing Balance
• Calculate the closing balance by considering the opening balance, cash inflows, and cash outflows for the period.
• Closing Balance = Opening Balance + Cash Inflows – Cash Outflows

Step 6: Account for timing and payment terms

• Consider the timing of cash inflows and outflows to create a realistic cash flow timeline.
• Account for payment terms with customers and suppliers to align projections with cash movements.

Step 7: Calculate net cash flow

• Calculate the net cash flow for each period, which represents the difference between cash inflows and cash outflows.
• Net Cash Flow = Cash Inflows – Cash Outflows

Pro Tip: Calculating the net cash flow for each period is vital for your business, as it gives you a clear picture of your future cash position. Think of it as your future cash flow calculation.

Step 8: Build contingency plans

• Incorporate contingency plans to mitigate unexpected events impacting cash flow, such as economic downturns or late payments.
• Create buffers in your projections to handle unforeseen circumstances.

Step 9: Implement rolling forecasts

• Embrace a rolling forecast approach, where you regularly update and refine your cash flow projections based on actual performance and changing circumstances.
• Rolling forecasts provide a dynamic view of your cash flow, allowing for adjustments and increased accuracy.

Cash Flow Projection Example

Let’s take a sneak peek into the cash flow projection of Pizza Planet, a hypothetical firm. In March, they began with an opening balance of $50,000. This snapshot will show us how their finances evolved during the next 4 months.

Here are 5 key takeaways from the above cash flow projection analysis for Pizza Planet:

Upsurge in Cash Flow from Receivables Collection (April):

• Successful efforts at collecting outstanding customer payments result in a significant increase in cash flow.
• Indicates effective accounts receivable management and timely collection processes.

Buffer Cash Addition (May and June):

• The company proactively adds buffer cash to prepare for potential financial disruptions.
• Demonstrates a prudent approach to financial planning and readiness for unexpected challenges.

Spike in Cash Outflow from Loan Payment (May):

• A noticeable cash outflow increase is attributed to the repayment of borrowed funds.
• It suggests a commitment to honoring loan obligations and maintaining a healthy financial standing.

Manageable Negative Net Cash Flow (May and June):

• A negative net cash flow during these months is offset by a positive net cash flow in other months.
• Indicates the ability to handle short-term cash fluctuations and maintain overall financial stability.

Consistent Closing Balance Growth:

• The closing balance exhibits a consistent and upward trend over the projection period.
• Reflects effective cash flow management, where inflows cover outflows and support the growth of the closing cash position.

Overall, the cash flow projection portrays a healthy cash flow for Pizza Planet, highlighting their ability to collect receivables, plan for contingencies, manage loan obligations, have resilience in managing short-term fluctuations, and steadily improve their cash position over time.

How to Calculate Projected Cash Flow?

To calculate projected cash flow, start by estimating incoming cash from sources like sales, investments, and financing. Then, deduct anticipated cash outflows such as operating expenses, loan payments, taxes, and capital expenditures. The resulting net cash flow clearly shows how much cash the business expects to generate or use within the forecasted period. 

Calculating projected cash flow is a crucial process for businesses to anticipate their future financial health and make informed decisions. This process involves forecasting expected cash inflows and outflows over a specific period using historical data, sales forecasts, expense projections, and other relevant information. Regularly updating and reviewing projected cash flow helps businesses identify potential cash shortages or surpluses, allowing for proactive cash management strategies and financial planning. 

Download our cash flow calculator to effortlessly track your company’s operating cash flow,

net cash flow (in/out), projected cash flow, and closing balance.

6 Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Creating Cash Flow Projections

At HighRadius, we recently turned our research engine toward cash flow forecasting to shed light on the sources of projection failures. One of our significant findings was that most companies opt for unrealistic projection models that don’t mirror the actual workings of their finance department.

Cash flow projections are only as strong as the numbers behind them. No one can be completely certain months in advance if they will encounter any unexpected events. Defining a realistic cash flow projection for your company is crucial to achieving more accurate results. Don’t let optimism cloud your key assumptions. Stick to the most likely numbers for your projections.

A 5% variance is acceptable, but exceeding this threshold warrants a closer look at your key assumptions. Identify any logical flaws that may compromise accuracy. Take note of these pitfall insights we’ve gathered from finance executives who have shared their experiences:

• Avoid overly generous sales forecasts that can undermine projection accuracy.
• Maintain a realistic approach to sales projections to ensure reliable cash flow projections.

Accounts Receivable: 

• Reflect the payment behaviour of your customers accurately in projections, especially if they tend to pay on the last possible day despite a 30-day payment schedule.
• Adjust the projection cycle to align with the actual payment patterns.
• Factor in annual and quarterly bills on the payables side of your projections.
• Consider potential changes in tax rates if your business is expected to reach a new tax level.
• Account for seasonal fluctuations and cyclical trends specific to your industry.
• Analyze historical data to identify patterns and adjust projections accordingly to reflect these variations.
• Incorporate contingencies in your projections to prepare for unforeseen circumstances such as economic downturns, natural disasters, or changes in market conditions.
• Build buffers to mitigate the impact of unexpected events on your cash flow.
• Failing to create multiple scenarios can leave you unprepared for different business outcomes.
• Develop projections for best-case, worst-case, and moderate scenarios to assess the impact of various circumstances on cash flow.

By addressing these pitfalls and adopting these best practices shared by finance executives, you can create more reliable and effective cash flow projections for your business. Stay proactive and keep your projections aligned with the realities of your industry and market conditions.

How Automation Helps in Projecting Cash Flow?

Building a cash flow projection chart is just the first step; the real power lies in the insights it can provide. Cash flow projection is crucial, but let’s face it – the traditional process is resource-consuming and hampers productivity. 

However, there’s a solution: a cash flow projection chart automation tool. 

Professionals in treasury understand this need for automation, but it requires an investment of time and money. Building a compelling business case is straightforward, especially for companies prioritizing cash reporting, forecasting, and leveraging the output for day-to-day cash management and investment planning.

Consider the following 3 business use cases shared by finance executives, highlighting the benefits of automated cash flow projections that far outweigh the initial investment:

Scalability and adaptability:

Forecasting cash flow in spreadsheets is manageable in the early stages, but as your business grows, it becomes challenging and resource-intensive. Manual cash flow management struggles to keep up with the increasing transactions and customer portfolios.

Many businesses rely on one-off solutions that only temporarily patch up cash flow processes without considering the implications for the future. Your business needs an automation tool that can effortlessly scale with your business, accommodating evolving needs.

Moreover, by opting for customization options, you can tailor the cash flow projections to your specific business requirements and adapt to changing market dynamics.

Time savings:

Consider a simple example of the time and effort involved in compiling a 13-week cash flow projection for stakeholders every week. The process typically includes:

• Capture cash flow data from banking and accounting platforms and classify transactions.
• Create short-term forecasts using payables and receivables data.
• Model budgets and other business plans for medium-term forecasts.
• Collect data from various business units, subsidiaries, and inventory levels.
• Consolidate the data into a single cash flow projection.
• Perform variance and sensitivity analysis.
• Compile reporting with commentary.

This process alone can consume many hours each week. Let’s assume it takes six hours for a single resource and another six hours for other contributors, totalling 12 hours per week or 624 hours per year. 

By implementing a cash flow projection automation tool, you can say goodbye to tedious manual tasks such as logging in, downloading data, updating spreadsheets, and compiling reports. Automating these processes saves your team countless hours, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives and high-value activities.

Imagine the added time spent on data conversations, information requests, and follow-ups. Cash reporting can quickly become an ongoing, never-ending process.

By implementing a cash flow projection automation tool, you can say goodbye to tedious manual tasks such as logging in, downloading data, manipulating spreadsheets, and compiling reports. Automating these processes saves your team countless hours, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives and high-value activities.

Accuracy and efficiency:

When it comes to cash flow monitoring and projection, accuracy is paramount for effective risk management. However, manual data handling introduces the risk of human error, which can have significant financial implications for businesses. These challenges are:

• Inaccurate financial decision-making
• Cash flow uncertainty
• Increased financial risks
• Impaired stakeholder confidence
• Wasted resources and time
• Compliance and reporting challenges
• Inconsistent data processing

Automating cash flow projections mitigates these risks by ensuring accurate and reliable results. An automation tool’s consistent data processing, real-time integration, error detection, and data validation capabilities instill greater accuracy, reliability, and confidence in the projected cash flow figures.

For example, Harris, a leading national mechanical contractor, transformed their cash flow management by adopting an automation tool. They achieved up to 85% accuracy across forecasts for 900+ projects and gained multiple 360-view projection horizons, from 1 day to 6 months, updated daily. This improvement in accuracy allowed the team to focus on higher-value tasks, driving better outcomes.

Cash Flow Projections with HighRadius

Managing cash flow projections today requires a host of tools to track data, usage, and historic revenue trends as seen above. Teams rely on spreadsheets, data warehouses, business intelligence tools, and analysts to compile and report the data.

Discover the power of HighRadius cash flow forecasting software , designed to precisely capture and analyze diverse scenarios, seamlessly integrating them into your cash forecasts. By visualizing the impact of these scenarios on your cash flows in real time, you gain a comprehensive understanding of potential outcomes and can proactively respond to changing circumstances.

Here’s how AI takes variance analysis to the next level and helps you generate accurate cash flow forecasts with low variance. It automates the collection of data on past cash flows, including bank statements, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and other financial transactions, and integrates with most financial systems. This data is analyzed to detect patterns and trends that can be used to anticipate future cash flows. Based on this historical analysis and regression analysis of complex cash flow categories such as A/R and A/P, AI selects an algorithm that can provide an accurate cash forecast.

When your forecast is off, you can miss opportunities to invest in growth or undermine your credibility and investor confidence. An accurate forecast means predictable growth and increased shareholder confidence. 

1. How do you prepare a projected cash flow statement?

Steps to prepare a projected cash flow statement:

• Analyze historical cash flows.
• Estimate future sales and collections from customers.
• Forecast expected payments to suppliers and vendors.
• Consider changes in operating, investing, and financing activities.
• Compile all these estimates into a projected cash flow statement for the desired period.

2. What is a projected cash flow budget?

A projected cash flow budget is a financial statement that estimates the amount of cash your business is expected to receive and pay out over a specific time period. This information can help your business have enough cash flow to maintain its regular operations during the given period.

3. What is a 3-year projected cash flow statement?

A 3-year projected cash flow statement forecasts cash inflows and outflows for the next three years. It helps businesses assess their expected cash position and plan for future financial needs and opportunities.

4. What are projected cash flow and fund flow statements?

A projected cash flow statement forecasts cash inflows and outflows over a period, aiding in budgeting and planning. The fund flow statement tracks the movement of funds between sources and uses, analyzing the financial position. Both provide insights into a company’s liquidity and financial health.

5. What are the four key uses of a cash flow forecast?

• Evaluate cash availability for operational expenses and investments.
• Identify potential cash flow gaps or surpluses.
• Support financial planning, budgeting, and decision-making.
• Assist in securing financing or negotiating favorable terms with stakeholders.

6. What is the cash flow projection ratio?

The term cash flow projection ratio is not a commonly used financial ratio. However, various ratios like operating cash flow ratio, cash flow margin, and cash flow coverage ratio are used to assess a company’s cash flow generation and management capabilities.

7. What is the formula for projected cash flow?

The projected cash flow formula is Projected Cash Flow = Projected Cash Inflows – Projected Cash Outflows . It calculates the anticipated net cash flow by subtracting projected expenses from projected revenues, considering all sources of inflows and outflows.

8. What are the advantages of cash flow projection?

Cash flow projection helps businesses:

• Anticipate future financial needs
• Manage cash shortages effectively
• Make informed decisions
• Ensure stability and growth
• Provide a roadmap for financial planning
• Stay proactive in managing finances

Related Resources

6 Tips for effective corporate treasury management

A Strategic Approach to Make Cash Forecasting Foolproof and Fit for the Future

Types of Hedge Accounting: Definition, Example & Differences

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How to create a cash flow projection (and why you should)

For small business owners, managing cash flow (the money going into and out of your business) can be the difference between a thriving, successful company and filing for chapter 11 (aka bankruptcy).

In fact, one study showed that 30% of businesses fail because the owner runs out of money, and 60% of small business owners don’t feel knowledgeable about accounting or finance .

Understanding and predicting the flow of money in and out of your business, however, can help entrepreneurs make smarter decisions, plan ahead, and ultimately avoid an unnecessary cash flow crisis.

After all, knowing whether the next month will see a financial feast or famine can help you make better decisions about spending, saving, and investing in your business today.

One way to do this (without hiring a psychic)? Cash flow projection.

What is cash flow projection?

Cash flow projection is a breakdown of the money that is expected to come in and out of your business. This includes calculating your income and all of your expenses, which will give your business a clear idea on how much cash you'll be left with over a specific period of time.

If, for example, your cash flow projection suggests you’re going to have higher than normal costs and lower than normal earnings, it might not be the best time to buy that new piece of equipment.

On the other hand, if your cash flow projection suggests a surplus , it might be the right time to invest in the business.

Cash flow projections: The basics

In order to properly create a cash flow forecast, there are two concepts you should be aware of: accounts receivable (cash in) and accounts payable (cash out)

• Accounts Receivable: refers to the money the business is expecting to collect, such as customer payments and deposits, but it also includes government grants , rebates, and even bank loans and lines of credit .
• Accounts Payable: refers to the exact opposite—that is, anything the business will need to spend money on. That includes payroll , taxes, payments to suppliers and vendors, rent, overhead, inventory, as well as the owner’s compensation.

A cash flow projection (also referred to as a cash flow forecast) is essentially a breakdown of expected receivables versus payables. It ultimately provides an overview of how much cash the business is expected to have on hand at the end of each month .

Cash flow projections typically take less than an hour to produce but can go a long way in helping entrepreneurs identify and prepare for a potential shortfall, and make smarter choices when running their business.

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How to calculate your cash flow projection

Calculating your cash flow projection can seem intimidating at first, but once you start pulling together the necessary information, it isn’t so scary. Let’s walk through the first steps together.

1. Gather your documents

This includes data about your business’s income and expenses.

2. Find your opening balance

Your opening balance is the balance in your bank at the start of a period. (So, if you’ve just started your business, this is zero.)

Your closing balance is the amount in your bank at the end of the period.

So the opening balance in one month should equal the closing balance at the end of the previous month. But more on this later.

3. Receivables (money received/cash in) for next period

This is an estimate of your anticipated sales (such as invoices you expect to be paid, or payments made on credit), revenue, grants , or loans and investments.

4. Payables (money spent/cash out) for next period

Again, this is an estimate. You should consider things like materials, rent, taxes, utilities, insurance, bills, marketing, payroll, and any one-time or seasonal expenses.

“Seasonality can have a material effect on the cash flow of your business,” Andy Bailey, CEO of Petra Coach, wrote in an article for Forbes . “A good cash flow forecast will anticipate when cash outlays and cash receipts are higher or lower so you can better manage the working capital needs of the company.”

5. Calculate cash flow

Now, let’s bring it all together using this cash flow formula : Cash Flow = Estimated Cash In – Estimated Cash Out

6. Add cash flow to opening balance

Now, you’ll want to add your cash flow to your opening balance, which will provide you with your closing balance.

Put it all together: How a cash flow projections look on paper

In practical terms, a cash flow projection chart includes 12 months laid out across the top of a graph, and a column on the left-hand side with a list of both payables and receivables.

Here are all the categories you’ll need for your cash flow projection:

• Opening balance/operating cash
• Money received (cash sales, payments, loans, investments, etc.
• Money spent (expenses, materials, marketing, payroll and taxes, bills, loans, etc.)
• Totals for money received and money spent, respectively
• Total cash flow for the period
• Closing balance

This column typically begins with “operating cash”/opening balance or unused earnings from the previous month. For example, if your cash flow projection for January suggests a surplus of $5,000, your operating cash for February is also $5,000.

Below operating cash, list all expected accounts receivable sources—such as sales, loans, or grants—leaving a space at the bottom to add them all up.

Next, list all potential payable items—such as payroll, overhead, taxes, and inventory—with another space to add their total below.

Once you have your numbers prepared, simply subtract the total funds that are likely to be spent from the cash that is likely to be received to arrive at the month’s cash flow projection.

Once you’ve calculated your monthly cash flow, take the final number and list it at the top of the next month’s column under operating cash, and repeat the process until you’ve got a forecast for the next 12 months.

After the end of each month, be sure to update the projection accordingly, and add another month to the projection.

If you’re a Wave customer and you prefer to use a ready-made chart to help you create your projection, you can pull your financial data from the Reports section of Wave and feed it into this cash flow forecast template .

Be realistic with your cash flow forecast

Cash flow projections are only as strong as the numbers behind them, so it’s important to be as realistic as possible when putting yours together.

For example, being overly generous in your sales estimates can compromise the accuracy of the projection.

Furthermore, if you provide customers with a 30-day payment schedule and a majority pay on the last possible day, make sure that cycle is accurately reflected in your projection.

On the payables side of the equation, try to anticipate annual and quarterly bills and plan for an increased tax rate if the business is likely to reach a new tax level.

Those who pay their staff on a bi-weekly basis also need to keep an eye out for months with three payroll cycles, which typically occurs twice each year.

“Monthly or quarterly forecasts generally are more useful for stable, established businesses,” Bailey also wrote . “Weekly projections will be essential for companies scaling up or going through significant changes, such as a restructuring or merger/acquisition.”

“We like to encourage business owners—especially those who are starting out—to create a 13-week forecast for cash,” William Lieberman, the Managing Partner of The CEO’s Right Hand, told Forbes . “Each week, update the forecast based on what happened the previous week and extend the forecast window by one more week. In this way, you can keep a close watch on exactly what’s coming in and going out so you can be more proactive in addressing potential cash crunches.”

Those who want to be extra cautious with their projections can even include an “other expenses” category that designates a certain percentage of revenues for unanticipated costs. Putting aside some extra cash as a buffer is especially useful for those building their first projections, just in case they accidentally leave something out.

What now: Use your cash flow forecast to make data-driven decisions

Building the cash flow projection chart itself is an important exercise, but it’s only as useful as the insights you take away from it. Instead of hiding it away for the remainder of the month, consult your cash flow projection when making important financial decisions about your business.

If, for example, you anticipate a deficit in the months ahead, consider ways to cut your costs , increase sales, or save surpluses to help make up the difference. If you notice that payments often come in late, consider introducing a late penalty for bills past due.

You can also consult your cash flow projection to determine the best time to invest in new equipment, hire new staff, revise your pricing and payment terms, or when to offer promotions and discounts.

Have clients that regularly procrastinate on payments? Check out these tactics to get your clients to pay you faster .

Improving the accuracy of cash flow projections over time

Once you’re in the habit of creating cash flow projections, it becomes easier to improve their accuracy over time.

Comparing projections to actual results can help you improve the accuracy of your cash flow projections, and help identify longer-term patterns and cycles. Seasonal changes in revenue, patterns that contribute to late payments, and opportunities to cut costs will all become more apparent with each new cash flow projection.

While all these benefits won’t come all at once, entrepreneurs can use their cash flow projection to become better operators and better decision makers with each passing month.

Cash flow projection FAQs

How do cash flow projections affect business decisions, and how can small business owners improve their accuracy.

Cash flow projections play a key role in how you make business decisions by giving you important info on the movement of money in and out of your business You can up their accuracy by regularly updating projections, comparing them to actual results, and adjusting for any discrepancies. This helps you make smart choices about spending, saving, and investing in your business.

What industry-specific factors should small business owners consider in cash flow projections?

Small business owners need to consider various industry-specific factors when creating cash flow projections. For instance, seasonal changes in revenue, payment cycles, and market trends can significantly impact cash flow. By analyzing these factors, you can tailor your projections to better reflect the realities of your industry and adjust your strategies accordingly.

How can small business owners make sure their cash flow projections are reliable?

Small business owners often face challenges in making cash flow projections due to uncertainties in revenue, expenses, and market conditions. To ensure reliability, you should try to be realistic in your estimates, account for potential fluctuations, and regularly update your projections based on actual performance. Additionally, seeking advice from financial experts and using tools like cash flow forecasting templates can help with these challenges and improve the accuracy of projections over time.

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Cash Flow Forecasting: A How-To Guide (With Templates)

Janet Berry-Johnson, CPA

Reviewed by

May 30, 2023

This article is Tax Professional approved

Most small business owners just want their accounting done so they can focus on doing what they love. But tracking and forecasting cash flow—despite the time and effort required—is essential for starting, operating, and expanding a business.

I am the text that will be copied.

In 2018, CB Insights analyzed 101 failed startups and found that running out of cash was the second most common cause of failure, impacting 29% of businesses.

To avoid that fate, you need a cash flow forecast to help you estimate how much your cash outflows and inflows will affect your business.

What is a cash flow forecast?

A cash flow forecast (also known as a cash flow projection) is like a budget, but rather than estimating revenues and expenses, it estimates cash coming in and going out based on past business performance.

It’s not uncommon for a business to experience a cash shortage, even when sales are good. This usually happens when customers are allowed to pay after the product or service is delivered. In cases like these, a business owner must plan how they will cover costs before receiving the payment.

For example, say Hana Enterprises ships $50,000 worth of security products to customers in January, along with invoices that are due in 30 days. The company will have $50,000 of revenues for the month but won’t receive any cash until February. On paper, the business looks healthy, but all of its sales are tied up in the accounts receivable. Unless Hana Enterprises has plenty of cash on hand at the beginning of the month, they will have trouble covering their expenditures until they start receiving cash from clients.

With a cash flow forecast, you ignore sales on credit, accounts payable, and accrued expenses, instead focusing on the revenue you actually expect to collect and the expenses you actually expect to pay during a given period. You can also use the information provided on past cash flow statements to estimate your expenses for the period you’re forecasting for.

( If you just want to dive into cash flow forecasting, check out our free cash flow forecast template . )

The benefits of cash forecasting

Cash forecasting may sound like something boring that accountants do in big companies. Not so! It’s absolutely essential for every single business. Here’s why:

• It helps you identify potential problems. Cash forecasting can help you predict the months in which you’re likely to experience a cash deficit and make necessary changes, like changing your pricing or adjusting your business plan.
• It decreases the impact of cash shortages. When you can predict months in which you might experience a cash shortage, you can take steps to plan for them. You might save more in months where you have a surplus, step up your receivables collection efforts, or establish a line of credit with your bank to guarantee enough working capital to last the period.
• It keeps suppliers and employees happy. Late payments and missing paychecks damage your reputation with suppliers and employees. When you can predict how much money you’ll have on hand in any given month, you can confirm that you’ll be able to meet your payroll obligations and pay suppliers by the due date.

Free cash flow forecast template

To make this a lot easier, we’ve created a business cash flow forecast template for Excel that you can start using right now.

Access Template

The template has three essential pieces:

• Beginning cash balance. This is the actual cash you expect to have on hand at the beginning of the month. It should include bank accounts, PayPal, Venmo, anything you use that’s currently holding just business funds. This information can be found on your balance sheet .
• Sources of cash. These are all of your cash inflows each month. It can include cash sales, receivables collections, repayments from money you’ve loaned out, etc.
• Uses of cash. This is every expense your business may incur, including payroll, payments to vendors, utilities, rent, loan payments, etc.

Here’s an example of a completed cash flow projection for a three month period:

Hana Enterprises, Inc.

Cash Flow Projection

January to March 2022

As you can see from the example above, Hana Enterprises expects to have a cash shortage in March. This results from a negative net cash flow (when more cash goes out than comes in). Knowing that information ahead of time, the company can take steps to prevent the shortage from occurring.

Hana Enterprises has several options to avoid this shortage in March. They might secure a line of credit from the bank, purchase fewer computers in February, negotiate longer payment terms from vendors, contact late-paying customers to speed up the collection of receivables, or take other cost-cutting measures to reduce their overhead expenses.

When you’re ready to get started, download your copy of the cash flow forecasting sheet here .

How Bench can help

Use Bench’s simple, intuitive platform to get all the information you need to project your cash flow. Each month, your transactions are automatically imported into our platform then categorized and reviewed by your bookkeeper. Bench helps you stay on top of your business’s top expenses so you can make informed budgeting decisions on the fly. Explore our platform with a free demo .

Tips for improving your cash flow spreadsheet

Keep in mind: a cash flow forecast isn’t something you create once a year and never look at again. It’s a living, breathing business tool you should review and update on a monthly basis.

Though projections are helpful, they can’t perfectly predict the future. As the months pass, you should expect to see that your projections aren’t quite matching up with your actual results. That means it’s time to re-run your forecast to take into account these differences.

To improve the accuracy of your cash flow worksheet, consider the following:

• Account for extra pay periods. If you pay employees bi-weekly, make sure your projection takes into account any months with three payrolls.
• Remember annual payments. If certain insurance policies, subscriptions, or other expenses are paid annually rather than monthly, be sure to include them in your spreadsheet.
• Remember estimated tax payments. For most calendar-year businesses, estimated tax payments are due on April 15th, June 15th, September 15th, and January 15th.
• Don’t forget about savings. Try to allocate a portion of any cash surpluses to save for lean months.
• Identify seasonal fluctuations. If you’re expecting a period of time with lower sales, make sure your forecast reflects this so you can have enough cash on hand to ramp up when business picks up again.
• Don’t forecast too far out. Creating a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast that you update at the end of each month can help you identify issues before your business faces financial troubles, but don’t try to forecast more than 12 months out. The longer the reporting period you want to forecast, the more likely you’ll end up spending a lot of time creating a cash flow projection that doesn’t provide any useful information.

Your cash flow forecast is key to good cash flow management . Try to account for all cash sources and uses in your projection and maintain an emergency fund or backup plan to ensure you don’t get sidelined by slow-paying customers or unexpected expenses. When you do, this simple but valuable tool can help you keep an eye on cash and ensure you don’t compromise growth or put your business in jeopardy.

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How to Create a Cash Flow Projection

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Being a business owner carries its share of risks and rewards. One of the more prominent risks is running low on cash. Luckily, managing your cash flow properly can help mitigate that risk.

That’s why cash flow projections are so important. Completing a cash flow projection for your business allows you to make more informed decisions. For example, if you expect your expenses to be higher in the next month, you can cut down on unnecessary expenditures. Likewise, if you know that cash flow is expected to be higher next month, you may want to purchase a new laptop to replace the aging one that you’ve been using.

This detailed cash flow projection provides detailed information on incoming cash and outgoing expenses. Image source: Author

In this article, we’ll explain a cash flow projection and its benefits and give you step-by-step instructions on how to create a cash flow projection for your business.

Overview: What is a cash flow projection?

A cash flow projection estimates the amount of cash that you expect to come into and flow out of your business. Also known as a cash flow forecast, a cash flow projection can be created for any period, with some small businesses even creating a weekly cash flow projection. Twelve-month projections are also fairly common, though they will need to be adjusted throughout the year as revenues and expenses change.

A properly prepared cash flow projection provides business owners with a view of all expected funds that will be coming in and going out of the business. Knowing your projected cash flow can provide a solid basis for making business decisions and lets you know if a potential cash shortfall is on the horizon.

There are numerous benefits to creating a cash flow projection, with little in the way of downsides. Even prep time is minimal, with a basic cash flow projection often taking less than an hour to prepare once you get the hang of it.

Many small business accounting software applications can prepare a basic cash flow statement, which can be helpful, but that only provides historic information and doesn’t cover expected cash flow for future periods.

If you’re still unconvinced on the merits of creating a cash flow projection, check out some of the benefits.

4 benefits of creating a cash flow projection

Creating a cash flow projection can help business owners better plan for the future and make more informed business decisions. Here are a few more reasons why creating a cash flow projection can benefit your business.

1. Improves decision-making

Creating a cash flow projection provides business owners and managers with the financial data they need to make more informed business decisions. These decisions can include reducing expenses when a cash shortfall is expected or investing more in the business when cash is expected to increase.

2. Helps control spending

Spending money is part of owning a business. But there’s an optimal time to spend money and a time when you should keep your expenses to a minimum. A cash flow projection done right can pinpoint both of those times.

3. Points out potential problem areas

Creating a cash flow projection can show you exactly how much cash is not flowing into your business. It can show you months or categories where expenses may be higher than you expected. Having this information available in an easy-to-understand format helps pinpoint potential trouble spots before they become an issue. A cash flow projection also serves as a good basis for calculating the cash coverage ratio, if you typically calculate cash ratios, and free cash flow totals for your business.

4. Predicts cash shortages

On some level, you may know that sales are down, but looking at that number on a spreadsheet makes it much more real. Many small businesses can be caught off guard by an unexpected cash shortage. While you may not be able to prevent the shortage, knowing that it’s coming can help you manage it better.

How to create a cash flow projection

Creating a cash flow projection is very simple; a projection for the upcoming month can be completed in less than an hour, though quarterly or yearly projections can take a little longer. Use cash flow assumptions, which are the total incoming and outgoing cash transactions you assume will occur, and follow the steps detailed below.

1. Bring your ending cash total forward

If you’re creating a cash flow projection for the first time, you’ll want to use your reconciled cash balance. If you’ve already created a cash flow projection for the previous month, your beginning balance for the upcoming month will be the ending cash balance from the previous month.

For example, after you reconcile your bank statement, your ending cash balance is $2,000. That will be placed at the top of the cash flow projection.

2. Estimate sales

Next, you’ll want to estimate sales that you expect to be paid in the upcoming month. For example, if you have $10,000 in invoices due the following month, and you expect 80% of those invoices will be paid, you’ll put $8,000 in income for sales paid.

3. Estimate other revenue

If your only revenue source is sales, you can move to the next step. But if you have other sources of revenue, such as rental income or interest income, you can place it below the sales revenue. For example, if you currently rent office space that brings in $1,000, you’ll place that amount under rental income, making your total incoming cash for the following month $9,000.

4. Estimate regular expenses

The next step is to estimate your regular expenses for the month. Be sure to include all of your regular expenses. In this example, your monthly expenses would include rent of $1,100, utilities that average $250 a month, a part-time employee, whose salary is $2,000 monthly, and insurance of $150 a month.

5. Estimate seasonal or one-time expenses

If you have a one-time expense upcoming, you can include it in a separate line item. Just be sure not to include that expense each month. For example, you have a subscription to a professional newsletter that you pay $90 for quarterly. You would only include that expense in the months when it’s paid.

6. Subtract expenses from income

After all cash in and cash out has been estimated, you can subtract your total expenses from your total income to see your cash flow for the month. This number is important since it displays whether you had more incoming cash than expenses.

7. Add beginning balance to estimated cash flow

Once you have your total cash flow for the month, you can add your beginning balance to your current cash flow to arrive at your ending cash balance for the month. This is the balance that you’ll use as your beginning cash balance for the following month.

A cash flow projection example

The basic cash flow projection example below shows your beginning cash balance each month, with the prior month’s ending balance carried over as the beginning balance the following month. On this statement, cash in is limited to sales, with cash out split into three categories. Once those totals are in place, you can come up with your cash flow total for the month, as well as your ending balance.

Cash flow projections can be summarized like the one below, or you can choose to make the cash flow projection as detailed as you would like.

A projected cash flow statement allows you to project both incoming revenues as well as planned expenses. Image source: Author

Though in some cases you may be able to create a projected cash flow statement like the one above in your accounting software application, you’ll want to use a spreadsheet to create a more detailed cash flow projection.

3 best practices when forecasting cash flow

Remember that a cash flow projection is just a projection, and things can change quickly. Your customer’s check may be eaten by your dog, a flaming meteor may put a hole in your roof, or your personal assistant might win the lottery and quit. But for the most part, you should be able to predict your cash flow fairly accurately by following these guidelines.

1. Be conservative

When estimating your operating cash flow, always be conservative. While we like to think that all of our customers will pay us on time, the reality is usually different. Your projections will likely be more accurate if you don’t assume that all outstanding invoices will be paid when they’re supposed to be paid.

2. Update regularly

If you only do a cash flow projection for the upcoming month, you won’t have to update much. But if you take on a quarterly or yearly projection, chances are that things will change during that time. You’ll add customers, lose customers, take on more employees, and add more monthly expenses, so be sure that those changes are added to your projection.

3. Include seasonal or variable expenses

Some industries are busier at certain times. If you’re in retail, chances are your busier months are November and December, while a gardening store will likely be busier in the spring. Make sure that those fluctuations are included in your projections.

Cash flow projections are important for all businesses

Whether you’re a sole proprietor offering IT services or a small manufacturer selling hockey pucks, a cash flow projection can help you better manage your business, plan for expected cash shortfalls, and eliminate unnecessary expenses when cash is low. Isn’t it time to use a cash flow projection in your business?

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How To Create Financial Projections for Your Business Plan

Building a financial projection as you write out your business plan can help you forecast how much money your business will bring in.

Planning for the future, whether it’s with growth in mind or just staying the course, is central to being a business owner. Part of this planning effort is making financial projections of sales, expenses, and—if all goes well—profits.

Even if your business is a startup that has yet to open its doors, you can still make projections. Here’s how to prepare your business plan financial projections, so your company will thrive.

What are business plan financial projections?

Business plan financial projections are a company’s estimates, or forecasts, of its financial performance at some point in the future. For existing businesses, draw on historical data to detail how your company expects metrics like revenue, expenses, profit, and cash flow to change over time.

Companies can create financial projections for any span of time, but typically they’re for between one and five years. Many companies revisit and amend these projections at least annually. 

Creating financial projections is an important part of building a business plan . That’s because realistic estimates help company leaders set business goals, execute financial decisions, manage cash flow , identify areas for operational improvement, seek funding from investors, and more.

What are financial projections used for? 

Financial forecasting serves as a useful tool for key stakeholders, both within and outside of the business. They often are used for:

Business planning

Accurate financial projections can help a company establish growth targets and other goals . They’re also used to determine whether ideas like a new product line are financially feasible. Future financial estimates are helpful tools for business contingency planning, which involves considering the monetary impact of adverse events and worst-case scenarios. They also provide a benchmark: If revenue is falling short of projections, for example, the company may need changes to keep business operations on track.

Projections may reveal potential problems—say, unexpected operating expenses that exceed cash inflows. A negative cash flow projection may suggest the business needs to secure funding through outside investments or bank loans, increase sales, improve margins, or cut costs.

When potential investors consider putting their money into a venture, they want a return on that investment. Business projections are a key tool they will use to make that decision. The projections can figure in establishing the valuation of your business, equity stakes, plans for an exit, and more. Investors may also use your projections to ensure that the business is meeting goals and benchmarks.

Loans or lines of credit 

Lenders rely on financial projections to determine whether to extend a business loan to your company. They’ll want to see historical financial data like cash flow statements, your balance sheet , and other financial statements—but they’ll also look very closely at your multi-year financial projections. Good candidates can receive higher loan amounts with lower interest rates or more flexible payment plans.

Lenders may also use the estimated value of company assets to determine the collateral to secure the loan. Like investors, lenders typically refer to your projections over time to monitor progress and financial health.

What information is included in financial projections for a business?

Before sitting down to create projections, you’ll need to collect some data. Owners of an existing business can leverage three financial statements they likely already have: a balance sheet, an annual income statement , and a cash flow statement .

A new business, however, won’t have this historical data. So market research is crucial: Review competitors’ pricing strategies, scour research reports and market analysis , and scrutinize any other publicly available data that can help inform your projections. Beginning with conservative estimates and simple calculations can help you get started, and you can always add to the projections over time.

One business’s financial projections may be more detailed than another’s, but the forecasts typically rely on and include the following:

True to its name, a cash flow statement shows the money coming into and going out of the business over time: cash outflows and inflows. Cash flows fall into three main categories:

Income statement

Projected income statements, also known as projected profit and loss statements (P&Ls), forecast the company’s revenue and expenses for a given period.

Generally, this is a table with several line items for each category. Sales projections can include the sales forecast for each individual product or service (many companies break this down by month). Expenses are a similar setup: List your expected costs by category, including recurring expenses such as salaries and rent, as well as variable expenses for raw materials and transportation.

This exercise will also provide you with a net income projection, which is the difference between your revenue and expenses, including any taxes or interest payments. That number is a forecast of your profit or loss, hence why this document is often called a P&L.

Balance sheet

A balance sheet shows a snapshot of your company’s financial position at a specific point in time. Three important elements are included as balance sheet items:

• Assets. Assets are any tangible item of value that the company currently has on hand or will in the future, like cash, inventory, equipment, and accounts receivable. Intangible assets include copyrights, trademarks, patents and other intellectual property .
• Liabilities. Liabilities are anything that the company owes, including taxes, wages, accounts payable, dividends, and unearned revenue, such as customer payments for goods you haven’t yet delivered.
• Shareholder equity. The shareholder equity figure is derived by subtracting total liabilities from total assets. It reflects how much money, or capital, the company would have left over if the business paid all its liabilities at once or liquidated (this figure can be a negative number if liabilities exceed assets). Equity in business is the amount of capital that the owners and any other shareholders have tied up in the company.

They’re called balance sheets because assets always equal liabilities plus shareholder equity. 

5 steps for creating financial projections for your business

• Identify the purpose and timeframe for your projections
• Collect relevant historical financial data and market analysis
• Forecast expenses
• Forecast sales
• Build financial projections

The following five steps can help you break down the process of developing financial projections for your company:

1. Identify the purpose and timeframe for your projections

The details of your projections may vary depending on their purpose. Are they for internal planning, pitching investors, or monitoring performance over time? Setting the time frame—monthly, quarterly, annually, or multi-year—will also inform the rest of the steps.

2. Collect relevant historical financial data and market analysis

If available, gather historical financial statements, including balance sheets, cash flow statements, and annual income statements. New companies without this historical data may have to rely on market research, analyst reports, and industry benchmarks—all things that established companies also should use to support their assumptions.

3. Forecast expenses

Identify future spending based on direct costs of producing your goods and services ( cost of goods sold, or COGS) as well as operating expenses, including any recurring and one-time costs. Factor in expected changes in expenses, because this can evolve based on business growth, time in the market, and the launch of new products.

4. Forecast sales

Project sales for each revenue stream, broken down by month. These projections may be based on historical data or market research, and they should account for anticipated or likely changes in market demand and pricing.

5. Build financial projections

Now that you have projected expenses and revenue, you can plug that information into Shopify’s cash flow calculator and cash flow statement template . This information can also be used to forecast your income statement. In turn, these steps inform your calculations on the balance sheet, on which you’ll also account for any assets and liabilities .

Business plan financial projections FAQ

What are the main components of a financial projection in a business plan.

Generally speaking, most financial forecasts include projections for income, balance sheet, and cash flow.

What’s the difference between financial projection and financial forecast?

These two terms are often used interchangeably. Depending on the context, a financial forecast may refer to a more formal and detailed document—one that might include analysis and context for several financial metrics in a more complex financial model.

Do I need accounting or planning software for financial projections?

Not necessarily. Depending on factors like the age and size of your business, you may be able to prepare financial projections using a simple spreadsheet program. Large complicated businesses, however, usually use accounting software and other types of advanced data-management systems.

What are some limitations of financial projections?

Projections are by nature based on human assumptions and, of course, humans can’t truly predict the future—even with the aid of computers and software programs. Financial projections are, at best, estimates based on the information available at the time—not ironclad guarantees of future performance.

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Creating a cash flow projection

In less than an hour a month, you can identify potential cash shortfalls — and surpluses — in your business’s future.

Even businesses with healthy growth and strong sales run the risk of owing more than they can pay in a given month. Fortunately, spending less than an hour each month on a cash flow projection can help you identify potential cash shortfalls in the months ahead.

Before you create a cash flow projection for your business, it’s important to identify your key assumptions about how cash flows in and out of your business each month.

Identifying some key assumptions

For your cash flow projection, make assumptions in two key areas:

• Receivables: These assumptions should outline how quickly you receive payment from your customers. For example, if most of your customers pay you within 30 days, a key assumption could be: 90% of sales will be collected the month after the sale.
• Payables: These assumptions should outline when your payments are due. For example, if your vendors require payment within 2 weeks of delivery, a key assumption could be: Payables are due within 14 days of purchase.

Drafting your cash flow projection

With these realistic assumptions in hand, you can begin drafting your cash flow projection. To get started, create 12 columns across the top of a spreadsheet, representing the next 12 months. Then, in another column on the left-hand side, list the following cash flow categories and enter the appropriate amount in each column for each month (see descriptions below):

• Operating cash, beginning: The amount of money you’ll have at the beginning of each month.
• Sources of cash: All money coming in each month (receivable collections or direct sales, loans, etc.).
• Total sources of cash: Add the amounts in the “Operating cash, beginning” row to the amount in the “Sources of cash” for each month.
• Uses of cash: List every likely expense your business may incur, such as payroll, accounts payable to vendors, rent and loan payments, etc.
• Total uses of cash: Tally all your expenses so you can see exactly what will be going out the door each month.
• Excess (deficit) of cash: This is the number that counts. If you see positive numbers across the board, congratulations! You may have some extra dollars to invest back into your business. If you see a negative number for one of the months, don’t panic: You have time and options to prepare your business.

Sample cash flow projections

Here is an example of a cash flow projection that has been abbreviated to 4 months for the sake of simplicity:

XYZ Company, LLC Internal Cash Flow Projections August to November

Operating cash, beginning

Sources of cash

Uses of cash

*The company is projecting negative cash in November. What can you do today to prevent the negative cash flow?

Key assumptions :

• 75% of sales will be collected the month after the sale.
• 25% of sales will be collected the 2nd month after the sale.
• Payables are due in 25 days.
• 60% of eligible receivables can be used for the revolving line of credit.

Strategies to improve accuracy

As the months pass and you compare your monthly cash flow statements to your projections for each month, the numbers should match up. A 5% variance one way or the other can be okay, but if it starts being more than 5%, you should revisit your key assumptions to check for flaws in your logic. Even if your actual numbers come in higher than your projections, you should take a close look at your assumptions, because higher returns in the short term could lead to shortfalls later on. Keep in mind that lenders often use your cash flow and liquidity ratio to assess a company’s financial health.

To make sure your projection stays accurate throughout the year, be sure to consider these variable expenses.

• Months with three payrolls
• Months when insurance premiums are due
• Increased estimated taxes due to increased sales

Continue to refine your projection

To keep your cash flow projections on track, create a rolling 12-month plan that you update at the end of each month. If you add a new month to the end every time a month is completed, you’ll always have a long-term grasp of your business’s financial health.

However, don’t try to project more than 12 months into the future. It can be time consuming and variables can change. Prime rates could go up, for example.

Once you’ve gotten into the habit of using a cash flow projection, it should give you added control over your cash flow and a clearer picture of your company’s financial health. For additional support, make an appointment to talk to a banker.

You might also like

A business owner’s guide to balance sheets

Preparing balance sheets can help attract investors by providing a clear picture of your financials.

5 ways to improve your liquidity ratio

Find out how lenders and investors use this metric to assess a company's financial health.

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• Business Planning

Business Plan Financial Projections

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Financial projections are forecasted analyses of your business’ future that include income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements. We have found them to be an crucial part of your business plan for the following reasons:

• They can help prove or disprove the viability of your business idea. For example, if your initial projections show your company will never make a sizable profit, your venture might not be feasible. Or, in such a case, you might figure out ways to raise prices, enter new markets, or streamline operations to make it profitable. 
• Financial projections give investors and lenders an idea of how well your business is likely to do in the future. They can give lenders the confidence that you’ll be able to comfortably repay their loan with interest. And for equity investors, your projections can give them faith that you’ll earn them a solid return on investment. In both cases, your projections can help you secure the funding you need to launch or grow your business.
• Financial projections help you track your progress over time and ensure your business is on track to meet its goals. For example, if your financial projections show you should generate $500,000 in sales during the year, but you are not on track to accomplish that, you’ll know you need to take corrective action to achieve your goal.

Below you’ll learn more about the key components of financial projections and how to complete and include them in your business plan.

What Are Business Plan Financial Projections?

Financial projections are an estimate of your company’s future financial performance through financial forecasting. They are typically used by businesses to secure funding, but can also be useful for internal decision-making and planning purposes. There are three main financial statements that you will need to include in your business plan financial projections:

1. Income Statement Projection

The income statement projection is a forecast of your company’s future revenues and expenses. It should include line items for each type of income and expense, as well as a total at the end.

There are a few key items you will need to include in your projection:

• Revenue: Your revenue projection should break down your expected sales by product or service, as well as by month. It is important to be realistic in your projections, so make sure to account for any seasonal variations in your business.
• Expenses: Your expense projection should include a breakdown of your expected costs by category, such as marketing, salaries, and rent. Again, it is important to be realistic in your estimates.
• Net Income: The net income projection is the difference between your revenue and expenses. This number tells you how much profit your company is expected to make.

Sample Income Statement

2. Cash Flow Statement & Projection

The cash flow statement and projection are a forecast of your company’s future cash inflows and outflows. It is important to include a cash flow projection in your business plan, as it will give investors and lenders an idea of your company’s ability to generate cash.

There are a few key items you will need to include in your cash flow projection:

• The cash flow statement shows a breakdown of your expected cash inflows and outflows by month. It is important to be realistic in your projections, so make sure to account for any seasonal variations in your business.
• Cash inflows should include items such as sales revenue, interest income, and capital gains. Cash outflows should include items such as salaries, rent, and marketing expenses.
• It is important to track your company’s cash flow over time to ensure that it is healthy. A healthy cash flow is necessary for a successful business.

Sample Cash Flow Statements

3. Balance Sheet Projection

The balance sheet projection is a forecast of your company’s future financial position. It should include line items for each type of asset and liability, as well as a total at the end.

A projection should include a breakdown of your company’s assets and liabilities by category. It is important to be realistic in your projections, so make sure to account for any seasonal variations in your business.

It is important to track your company’s financial position over time to ensure that it is healthy. A healthy balance is necessary for a successful business.

Sample Balance Sheet

How to Create Financial Projections

Creating financial projections for your business plan can be a daunting task, but it’s important to put together accurate and realistic financial projections in order to give your business the best chance for success.  

Cost Assumptions

When you create financial projections, it is important to be realistic about the costs your business will incur, using historical financial data can help with this. You will need to make assumptions about the cost of goods sold, operational costs, and capital expenditures.

It is important to track your company’s expenses over time to ensure that it is staying within its budget. A healthy bottom line is necessary for a successful business.

Capital Expenditures, Funding, Tax, and Balance Sheet Items

You will also need to make assumptions about capital expenditures, funding, tax, and balance sheet items. These assumptions will help you to create a realistic financial picture of your business.

Capital Expenditures

When projecting your company’s capital expenditures, you will need to make a number of assumptions about the type of equipment or property your business will purchase. You will also need to estimate the cost of the purchase.

When projecting your company’s funding needs, you will need to make a number of assumptions about where the money will come from. This might include assumptions about bank loans, venture capital, or angel investors.

When projecting your company’s tax liability, you will need to make a number of assumptions about the tax rates that will apply to your business. You will also need to estimate the amount of taxes your company will owe.

Balance Sheet Items

When projecting your company’s balance, you will need to make a number of assumptions about the type and amount of debt your business will have. You will also need to estimate the value of your company’s assets and liabilities.

Financial Projection Scenarios

Write two financial scenarios when creating your financial projections, a best-case scenario, and a worst-case scenario. Use your list of assumptions to come up with realistic numbers for each scenario.

Presuming that you have already generated a list of assumptions, the creation of best and worst-case scenarios should be relatively simple. For each assumption, generate a high and low estimate. For example, if you are assuming that your company will have $100,000 in revenue, your high estimate might be $120,000 and your low estimate might be $80,000.

Once you have generated high and low estimates for all of your assumptions, you can create two scenarios: a best case scenario and a worst-case scenario. Simply plug the high estimates into your financial projections for the best-case scenario and the low estimates into your financial projections for the worst-case scenario.

Conduct a Ratio Analysis

A ratio analysis is a useful tool that can be used to evaluate a company’s financial health. Ratios can be used to compare a company’s performance to its industry average or to its own historical performance.

There are a number of different ratios that can be used in ratio analysis. Some of the more popular ones include the following:

• Gross margin ratio
• Operating margin ratio
• Return on assets (ROA)
• Return on equity (ROE)

To conduct a ratio analysis, you will need financial statements for your company and for its competitors. You will also need industry average ratios. These can be found in industry reports or on financial websites.

Once you have the necessary information, you can calculate the ratios for your company and compare them to the industry averages or to your own historical performance. If your company’s ratios are significantly different from the industry averages, it might be indicative of a problem.

Be Realistic

When creating your financial projections, it is important to be realistic. Your projections should be based on your list of assumptions and should reflect your best estimate of what your company’s future financial performance will be. This includes projected operating income, a projected income statement, and a profit and loss statement.

Your goal should be to create a realistic set of financial projections that can be used to guide your company’s future decision-making.

Sales Forecast

One of the most important aspects of your financial projections is your sales forecast. Your sales forecast should be based on your list of assumptions and should reflect your best estimate of what your company’s future sales will be.

Your sales forecast should be realistic and achievable. Do not try to “game” the system by creating an overly optimistic or pessimistic forecast. Your goal should be to create a realistic sales forecast that can be used to guide your company’s future decision-making.

Creating a sales forecast is not an exact science, but there are a number of methods that can be used to generate realistic estimates. Some common methods include market analysis, competitor analysis, and customer surveys.

Create Multi-Year Financial Projections

When creating financial projections, it is important to generate projections for multiple years. This will give you a better sense of how your company’s financial performance is likely to change over time.

It is also important to remember that your financial projections are just that: projections. They are based on a number of assumptions and are not guaranteed to be accurate. As such, you should review and update your projections on a regular basis to ensure that they remain relevant.

Creating financial projections is an important part of any business plan. However, it’s important to remember that these projections are just estimates. They are not guarantees of future success.

Business Plan Financial Projections FAQs

What is a business plan financial projection.

A business plan financial projection is a forecast of your company's future financial performance. It should include line items for each type of asset and liability, as well as a total at the end.

What are annual income statements? 

The Annual income statement is a financial document and a financial model that summarize a company's revenues and expenses over the course of a fiscal year. They provide a snapshot of a company's financial health and performance and can be used to track trends and make comparisons with other businesses.

What are the necessary financial statements?

The necessary financial statements for a business plan are an income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet.

How do I create financial projections?

You can create financial projections by making a list of assumptions, creating two scenarios (best case and worst case), conducting a ratio analysis, and being realistic.

How To Build A Cash Flow Forecast For Your Startup In 8 Steps

• November 17, 2023
• Forecast your business

Whether you want to understand what’s your breakeven , your valuation or simply create a budget for your business plan, preparing a cash flow forecast for your startup is key.

There are a number of options available to you : use a financial model template, a software, hire an expert or do it yourself. In this article we will discuss the latter option: how you can create a rock-solid cash flow forecast for your startup yourself. Let’s dive in!

What is a cash flow forecast?

A cash flow forecast is a document (often in the form of a spreadsheet such as Excel or Google Sheets) whereby one estimates the flow of cash (cash in and out) of a business over a specific period of time.

In other words, a cash flow forecast simply is the projection of a business’ cash flow statement .

What’s a cash flow statement?

The cash flow statement is one of the 3 financial statements of any business. As you might already know, they are: the profit-and-loss (“P&L”, also referred to as “income statement”), balance sheet and cash flow statement.

Whilst your P&L includes all your business’ revenues and expenses in a given period, the cash flow statement records all cash inflows and outflows over that same period.

Indeed, some revenues and expenses are not necessarily recorded in your P&L but should be included in your cash flow statement instead. Why is that?

There are 2 main reasons:

Your P&L only includes the expenses you incurred to generate revenues over the same time period

For example, if you sell $100 worth of products in July 2021 and incurred $50 cost to source them from your supplier, your P&L shows $100 revenues minus $50 expenses for that month.

But what about if you bought a $15,000 car to deliver these products to your customers?

The $15,000 should not be recorded as an expense in your P&L, but a cash outflow instead. Indeed, the car will help you generate revenues, say over the next 5 years, not just in July 2021. We call these expenses “ capital expenditures ” (or “capex”).

Some expenses in your P&L aren’t necessarily cash outflows

Think depreciation and amortization expenses for instance: they are pure artificial expenses and aren’t really “spent”.

Indeed, although your P&L might include a $100 depreciation expense, your cash flow remains the same. You didn’t really spend that $100: it’s purely an accounting adjustment to account for the decrease in asset value in your balance sheet.

Note: Depreciation and Amortization expenses are used in accounting to reflect the “loss” in value of an asset. For instance, the $15,000 car you just bought, like any other asset, will depreciate over time. Assuming a 5 years depreciation schedule, your car would be deemed worthless in 5 years time.

Why does your startup need a cash flow forecast?

Entrepreneurs and startup founders often create their first budget and cash flow forecast when pitching investors. Budgets later often end up somewhere idle in a folder, outdated, and are updated for the next funding round.

Yet, budgeting for your startup shouldn’t just be a matter of ticking the box for investors. Instead, your cash flow forecast should be on top of your ongoing management tasks: keeping an updated monthly cash flow budget is essential to make better decisions for your business.

A few examples for creating (or updating) a cash flow forecast are:

• Assess your breakeven point : when can you realistically expect to be profitable
• Estimate a valuation for your business , even if you are pre-revenue
• Include in your pitch deck or business plan
• Understand how much you need to raise for your fundraising

Expert-built financial model templates for tech startups

The 8 steps to create a cash flow forecast

Creating financial forecasts for your startup shouldn’t be overly complicated. Even if you have no previous finance experience, with some basic accounting and finance knowledge one can create great cash flow forecast for any startup. Follow the steps below to build your own.

The first thing you will need to do is to open a blank spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets is fine), you can check this Excel template for accounting and follow the 8 steps below.

Remember that your cash flow forecast will need to be as accurate as possible , to do so you can sources such as market research reports, competitors analysis or even your own financial performance (if any).

1. Start from your actuals (if any)

If you have any historical performance to date, start from this to build your startup cash flow forecast.

Historical performance can be financials (revenue for example) but not only. If you haven’t yet started to generate revenue and/or revenue is limited and you feel other metrics are more relevant, go from there. For instance, if you have started to build a user list, or email sign-ups, you can also use these numbers to forecast growth, and ultimately revenue.

Only include the key drivers to your business

You don’t necessarily need now to start from your entire profit-and-loss or cash flow statement you would have exported from Xero for instance.

Instead, identify what drives the most of your business’ performance: is this the number of customers you have? Is this the commission rate you are charging your customers?

The key drivers will help us estimate your financial forecasts later on. As such, they need to be clearly identified. A few examples of drivers for 3 illustrative businesses are:

• Retail : number of customers, average order value
• Ecommerce : number of visitors, conversion rate, average order value
• SaaS : number of users, churn, average revenue per user

Once you have identified your key drivers, include them as a start to your model. For instance, if you are generating $10,000 sales from 3,000 orders in a given month, your key drivers in that month can be:

• Orders per month: 2,000
• Average order value: $5.0

2. List all startup costs

For new businesses which don’t have yet historical performance, start by listing all the expenses you incur and the assets you need to buy before launching your business.

There are 2 types of startup expenses:

• Assets : one-time purchases of assets such as equipment, machinery, inventory, etc.
• Expenses : any expenses (usually fixed) you incur before you start your business. Do you need to pay for legal fees to incorporate multiple entities? Do you have to pay for a specific license for marketing your products to consumers? Maybe you will need to pay someone to build your website from which you will start acquiring customers later on?

3. Build your revenue model

Before we estimate revenue based on the drivers discussed earlier (step 1), we need to clearly identify what is your revenue model.

What is your revenue model?

A revenue model can be subscription, transactions, ads, commission revenue, etc. For a refresher, read our article on the 8 most popular revenue models .

Surprisingly enough, one business can have multiple revenue models.

For example, if you sell subscriptions to customers (e.g. gym membership) yet you also sell one-time services (e.g. private sessions with trainers), these should be listed as two separate revenue models.

Indeed, they work differently:

• The subscription is a function of the total number of users you have multiplied by a recurring monthly fee
• Private sessions are instead a function of a % of your users multiplied by a one-time fee

How to forecast revenue?

Once we have identified your revenue model(s), we need to build out revenue for each of them.

Using our gym membership above, subscription revenue will be a function of the number you have over time times the recurring fee. For private sessions instead, use a percentage of users who pay for a session each month (based on your historical if any) – for instance 5% of total users – and multiply it by the total number of users and the one-time session price.

Note: you might be wondering whether you should be taking into account VAT / sales tax for your revenues projections. VAT impacts your cash flow but doesn’t impact your profit-and-loss so you might not need to include it. For more information, read our article here .

4. Forecast variable costs

Variable costs are expenses that increase or decrease based on the level of sales and/or another factor (e.g. customers for instance). As such, they can’t just be flat over time, instead their amount will vary based on other parameters of your financial plan.

Common variable costs are:

• Raw materials
• Advertising spend (e.g. paid ads)
• Packaging and shipping costs (ecommerce)
• Transportation
• Corporate taxes

If you have historical performance, use your actuals to forecast variable costs. For example, if you pay $10 in shipping costs in average per order, use the same value for your projections.

Instead, new businesses will have to find information either with industry benchmarks , public sources (cost-per-click for paid ads spending can be found for any keyword on Google Planner for instance) or quotes from potential suppliers.

5. Forecast fixed costs

Fixed costs in comparison, are easier to estimate as they remain fixed over the projected period. Common examples are:

• Salaries and benefits (for each employee)
• Website hosting
• Rent and utilities

Salaries and other payroll expenses often constitute the bulk of fixed costs. In order to accurately forecast salaries you need to estimate the right amount of people you will need over time, and their salaries.

Average salaries for specific jobs and geographies can easily be found in industry benchmarks .

The number of people your business will need depends on their function: some teams will increase or decrease based on certain metrics such as revenue (sales and customer success teams often grow in line with revenue) whilst others will remain stable (administrative functions e.g. finance).

6. Putting it all together

Once you have projected revenue and expenses based on your key drivers, you can now consolidate it all under your profit-and-loss. Subtract all expenses (fixed and variable) as well as startup costs from revenue to get to net profit .

To calculate your cash flow statement, no need to do anything complicated at this stage: simply use your net profit, and subtract any other cash items (i.e. capital expenditures ), for instance the startup asset purchases discussed above (step 2).

Step 7. Review and adjust

After having built your projected profit-and-loss and (simplified) cash flow statement, take time to review your estimates. Do they make sense to you? Is there anything surprising in your projections?

The review of your financial forecast should help you determine 2 things:

• Are your projections error-free? It’s easy to get lost in spreadsheet and make mistakes in your calculations.
• Are your projections realistic? Now that you take a step back to look at the big picture (revenue, growth, margins, cash flow), it’s easier to assess whether your projections are unrealistic or not.

Step 8. Determine the amount you need to raise

If you are creating a cash flow forecast for your startup, chances are that your business will be loss making in the first few months or operations. No worries, that’s why startups often raise funding at the beginning before starting operations and/or product development.

If you are looking for funding for your startup, your cash flow forecast will help you assess how much you should raise.

Disclaimer: raising more is not necessarily better. Knowing exactly how much you need to raise will in fact dramatically increase your chances of raising funding.

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• Building Your Business

How To Create Financial Projections for Your Business

Learn how to anticipate your business’s financial performance

• Understanding Financial Projections & Forecasting

Why Forecasting Is Critical for Your Business

Key financial statements for forecasting, how to create your financial projections, frequently asked questions (faqs).

Maskot / Getty Images

Just like a weather forecast lets you know that wearing closed-toe shoes will be important for that afternoon downpour later, a good financial forecast allows you to better anticipate financial highs and lows for your business.

Neglecting to compile financial projections for your business may signal to investors that you’re unprepared for the future, which may cause you to lose out on funding opportunities.

Read on to learn more about financial projections, how to compile and use them in a business plan, and why they can be crucial for every business owner.

Key Takeaways

• Financial forecasting is a projection of your business's future revenues and expenses based on comparative data analysis, industry research, and more.
• Financial projections are a valuable tool for entrepreneurs as they offer insight into a business's ability to generate profit, increase cash flow, and repay debts, which can be attractive to investors.
• Some of the key components to include in a financial projection include a sales projection, break-even analysis, and pro forma balance sheet and income statement.
• A financial projection can not only attract investors, but helps business owners anticipate fixed costs, find a break-even point, and prepare for the unexpected.

Understanding Financial Projections and Forecasting

Financial forecasting is an educated estimate of future revenues and expenses that involves comparative analysis to get a snapshot of what could happen in your business’s future.

This process helps in making predictions about future business performance based on current financial information, industry trends, and economic conditions. Financial forecasting also helps businesses make decisions about investments, financing sources, inventory management, cost control strategies, and even whether to move into another market.

Developing both short- and mid-term projections is usually necessary to help you determine immediate production and personnel needs as well as future resource requirements for raw materials, equipment, and machinery.

Financial projections are a valuable tool for entrepreneurs as they offer insight into a business's ability to generate profit, increase cash flow, and repay debts. They can also be used to make informed decisions about the business’s plans. Creating an accurate, adaptive financial projection for your business offers many benefits, including:

• Attracting investors and convincing them to fund your business
• Anticipating problems before they arise
• Visualizing your small-business objectives and budgets
• Demonstrating how you will repay small-business loans
• Planning for more significant business expenses
• Showing business growth potential
• Helping with proper pricing and production planning

Financial forecasting is essentially predicting the revenue and expenses for a business venture. Whether your business is new or established, forecasting can play a vital role in helping you plan for the future and budget your funds.

Creating financial projections may be a necessary exercise for many businesses, particularly those that do not have sufficient cash flow or need to rely on customer credit to maintain operations. Compiling financial information, knowing your market, and understanding what your potential investors are looking for can enable you to make intelligent decisions about your assets and resources.

The income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flow are three key financial reports needed for forecasting that can also provide analysts with crucial information about a business's financial health. Here is a closer look at each.

Income Statement

An income statement, also known as a profit and loss statement or P&L, is a financial document that provides an overview of an organization's revenues, expenses, and net income.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a snapshot of the business's assets and liabilities at a certain point in time. Sometimes referred to as the “financial portrait” of a business, the balance sheet provides an overview of how much money the business has, what it owes, and its net worth.

The assets side of the balance sheet includes what the business owns as well as future ownership items. The other side of the sheet includes liabilities and equity, which represent what it owes or what others owe to the business.

A balance sheet that shows hypothetical calculations and future financial projections is also referred to as a “pro forma” balance sheet.

Cash Flow Statement

A cash flow statement monitors the business’s inflows and outflows—both cash and non-cash. Cash flow is the business’s projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ( EBITDA ) minus capital investments.

Here's how to compile your financial projections and fit the results into the three above statements.

A financial projections spreadsheet for your business should include these metrics and figures:

• Sales forecast
• Balance sheet
• Operating expenses
• Payroll expenses (if applicable)
• Amortization and depreciation
• Cash flow statement
• Income statement
• Cost of goods sold (COGS)
• Break-even analysis

Here are key steps to account for creating your financial projections.

Projecting Sales

The first step for a financial forecast starts with projecting your business’s sales, which are typically derived from past revenue as well as industry research. These projections allow businesses to understand what their risks are and how much they will need in terms of staffing, resources, and funding.

Sales forecasts also enable businesses to decide on important levels such as product variety, price points, and inventory capacity.

Income Statement Calculations

A projected income statement shows how much you expect in revenue and profit—as well as your estimated expenses and losses—over a specific time in the future. Like a standard income statement, elements on a projection include revenue, COGS, and expenses that you’ll calculate to determine figures such as the business’s gross profit margin and net income.

If you’re developing a hypothetical, or pro forma, income statement, you can use historical data from previous years’ income statements. You can also do a comparative analysis of two different income statement periods to come up with your figures.

Anticipate Fixed Costs

Fixed business costs are expenses that do not change based on the number of products sold. The best way to anticipate fixed business costs is to research your industry and prepare a budget using actual numbers from competitors in the industry. Anticipating fixed costs ensures your business doesn’t overpay for its needs and balances out its variable costs. A few examples of fixed business costs include:

• Rent or mortgage payments
• Operating expenses (also called selling, general and administrative expenses or SG&A)
• Utility bills
• Insurance premiums

Unfortunately, it might not be possible to predict accurately how much your fixed costs will change in a year due to variables such as inflation, property, and interest rates. It’s best to slightly overestimate fixed costs just in case you need to account for these potential fluctuations.

Find Your Break-Even Point

The break-even point (BEP) is the number at which a business has the same expenses as its revenue. In other words, it occurs when your operations generate enough revenue to cover all of your business’s costs and expenses. The BEP will differ depending on the type of business, market conditions, and other factors.

To find this number, you need to determine two things: your fixed costs and variable costs. Once you have these figures, you can find your BEP using this formula:

Break-even point = fixed expenses ➗ 1 – (variable expenses ➗ sales)

The BEP is an essential consideration for any projection because it is the point at which total revenue from a project equals total cost. This makes it the point of either profit or loss.

Plan for the Unexpected

It is necessary to have the proper financial safeguards in place to prepare for any unanticipated costs. A sudden vehicle repair, a leaky roof, or broken equipment can quickly derail your budget if you aren't prepared. Cash management is a financial management plan that ensures a business has enough cash on hand to maintain operations and meet short-term obligations.

To maintain cash reserves, you can apply for overdraft protection or an overdraft line of credit. Overdraft protection can be set up by a bank or credit card business and provides short-term loans if the account balance falls below zero. On the other hand, a line of credit is an agreement with a lending institution in which they provide you with an unsecured loan at any time until your balance reaches zero again.

How do you make financial projections for startups?

Financial projections for startups can be hard to complete. Historical financial data may not be available. Find someone with financial projections experience to give insight on risks and outcomes.

Consider business forecasting, too, which incorporates assumptions about the exponential growth of your business.

Startups can also benefit from using EBITDA to get a better look at potential cash flow.

What are the benefits associated with forecasting business finances?

Forecasting can be beneficial for businesses in many ways, including:

• Providing better understanding of your business cash flow
• Easing the process of planning and budgeting for the future based on income
• Improving decision-making
• Providing valuable insight into what's in their future
• Making decisions on how to best allocate resources for success

How many years should your financial forecast be?

Your financial forecast should either be projected over a specific time period or projected into perpetuity. There are various methods for determining how long a financial forecasting projection should go out, but many businesses use one to five years as a standard timeframe.

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Treasury Management

Even as treasury teams evolve to take on more strategic roles, their core responsibility remains the same: to know how much money a business has, where it’s held and how to maximize use of funds so the business gets the most out of its money.

To gain insights into liquidity , treasury needs a well-defined approach to cash positioning and cash forecasting. These processes—which are distinct but closely related—are essential to daily financial operations and decision-making for companies of all sizes and structural complexities.

At a high level, cash positioning and forecasting can help businesses maximize investments, minimize expenses, map out expansion plans and much more.

What is cash positioning?

Cash positioning is the practice of aggregating daily account balance and transaction information in a single place to ensure there are enough funds to cover daily operating needs. That may be an Excel spreadsheet or treasury management technology that includes tools for cash flow planning.

Why is it important? The value of cash positioning can be expressed on two levels:

• It helps to ensure the business has visibility across organizational cash levels and the funds to meet obligations.
• It provides a snapshot of liquidity that’s easy to digest and access, helping business leaders make informed decisions that get the most out of their funds.

What does the process entail? Many businesses use Excel for cash positioning, even billion-dollar companies. That means every business—regardless of its size—has the ability to conduct daily cash positioning.

To start, here are some things to consider:

Identify all accounts, including those used for payroll, domestic and international operations, or by specific business segments. Prominently showing key accounts with the most activity is best practice.  

Create a worksheet or template that reflects how your business manages your cash and funding. Determine the right level of detail necessary to create the position without making it an onerous process.

Aggregate critical data such as opening and available balances, expected inflows/collections and expected outflows/payments, potentially categorized by transaction type.

Leverage technology solutions to automate the data pulls from both your bank and your internal systems.

Title: Current Day Cash Position: Date

Bank Account # Account Name Currency 

Second Row:  Opening Balance

Third Row:  Collections:

Fourth Row: Checks / Lockbox

Fifth Row: Credit Card Settlement

Sixth Row:  Payments:

Seventh Row: AP ACH

Eighth Row: Wires

Ninth Row: Payroll

Tenth Row:  Ending Position (Excess / Shortage)

First Column: Account A

Second Column: Account B

Third Column: Account C

What are some of the key benefits of cash positioning?

The resulting current visibility into liquidity helps allow companies to:

• Make more informed decisions: Cash positioning eliminates guesswork. Business leaders can reference current data to know exactly what they’re working with, which leads to more efficient and informed decisions on their use of available cash.
• Reduce extraneous costs:  Even if businesses have money in a broad sense, if it’s not in the right account, there could be operational disruptions. Cash positioning can help mitigate the potential for overdraft fees, unnecessary borrowing or extra wires.
• Improve risk management: Knowing where your cash is held allows you to better manage your counterparty risk and ensure that as much of your cash as possible is held with trusted financial institutions, while also allowing you to adjust those exposures as necessary.

Refining cash positioning processes

Excel can be sufficient for cash positioning in some situations, but it can also be time-consuming. As your business grows or adds complexity or more accounts, you may want to explore ways to automate cash positioning and mitigate risk, save time and free up personnel to do more valuable tasks than manual data entry. Options may include:

• Bank-provided Excel API plugin : Some banks offer an API that automatically pulls daily balances and transactions for easy input. Tools like Access Insight from J.P. Morgan Access can save treasury teams time when aggregating data.
• Cash positioning software : Several enterprise resource platform (ERP) solutions and treasury management systems (TMS) come equipped with cash positioning tools. They can be used with Excel, or as a substitute.
• Multibank reporting : Cash positioning software may also offer multibank reporting, which consolidates data across banks and delivers it through a single portal—something Access can do. This service can save additional time in the positioning process.

What is cash forecasting?

It’s a way to estimate future cash levels over a specific and longer period of time using anticipated inflows and outflows.

These forecasts can be used for short- or mid-term planning, and assist with treasury objectives like debt management, funding, cash repatriation, investment and enablement of business growth.

There are two general approaches to cash forecasting:

• Bottom up starts with granular data (commonly gained from daily cash positioning) and extrapolates that into future performance. This generally requires relationships with other business units (e.g., human resources, legal and finance) to supply information.
• Top down leverages historical data and broader assumptions to work down to projected cash levels. Treasury teams can use cash flow statements, previous budgets and receipts to inform the forecast.

What are the benefits of cash forecasting?

Forward-looking cash flow projections can help companies accomplish a number of goals, including:

Short-term and mid-term strategic planning:  Planning on new market expansion? A new product line? Share buybacks? Cash forecasting can provide the liquidity baseline needed to carefully plan for these efforts.

Optimized cash usage:  Cash forecasting can help companies more accurately determine whether they have sufficient cash available. With this information, treasury can more efficiently deploy or pool funds so that cash is not sitting unused or trapped in complex structures.

Foreign exchange insights: Cash flow forecasts help companies examine their short-term foreign exchange exposure. This, in turn, allows them to prepare for FX volatility and mitigate "trapped cash" risks.

How we can help

Contact J.P. Morgan or your banking relationship team for more information about our treasury services and how they can help your cash positioning and forecasting efforts.

© 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Visit jpmorgan.com/cb-disclaimer for disclosures and disclaimers related to this content.

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More From Forbes

How To Create A Cash Flow Plan That Works For Your Business

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If you're a business owner, you know that cash flow is the lifeblood of your business. Without a solid cash flow plan, your business can quickly run into trouble, and it can be challenging to stay afloat.

Fortunately, creating a cash flow plan that works for your business is not as complicated as it may seem. Many accounting software programs will generate cash reports with accuracy. But you must understand the information to make it useful.

Let's go through the essential steps you need to take to create a cash flow plan that will help your business thrive:

1. set up a cash flow projection.

First, you need to understand your current cash flow situation and develop a projection for the next few months. You can do this by reviewing your previous financial statements, reviewing recent trends, and forecasting future revenue and expenses. Create a spreadsheet or use accounting software to create a cash flow projection that you can update regularly. Make sure to factor in all your regular expenses, such as payroll, rent, and inventory and factor in unexpected fees or variable costs.

2. Monitor your accounts receivable

Keeping track of your payments and collections is essential. Ensure to send out invoices promptly and follow up with clients who have yet to pay you on time. You can also consider offering incentives or discounts for clients who pay early or charge penalties for those who pay late. Consider also assigning someone to monitor and manage your accounts receivable actively.

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Best covid-19 travel insurance plans, 3. manage your accounts payable.

As a business owner, you likely have several expenses that you need to pay, such as rent, utilities, and inventory. Managing these expenses carefully is essential so you can handle cash flow problems. Review your expenses and prioritize them by their payment deadlines. Consider setting up recurring payments, negotiating payment terms or extending payment deadlines for bills that aren't urgent.

4. Use incentives to get customers to pay quickly

By offering something extra to customers who pay their bills quickly, you're more likely to motivate them to do so. This could be a discount on their next purchase, a free service, or even a small gift card. Not only does this help you get paid faster, but it can also enhance your relationship with your customers by showing them that you value their commitment and loyalty to your business. So, go ahead and try incentivizing your customers to pay quickly – it's a win-win situation for everyone.

5. Ensure your business is profitable

One of the biggest risks you'll face as a business owner is having cash flow issues that threaten the stability of your operations. But what's the root cause of these financial challenges? It's simple - running a business that isn't profitable. Without consistent profits , you'll struggle to pay your bills, meet payroll obligations, or invest in new opportunities that can drive growth. That's why focusing on profitability is critical as a core aspect of your business strategy. Doing so gives you the financial stability you need to weather any storm and reach your long-term goals.

The bottom line is that creating a cash flow plan that works for your business requires careful analysis, regular monitoring, and adjusting your priorities. Whether you're a start-up or an established business owner, developing a cash flow plan is crucial for keeping your business healthy and sustainable. You have multiple options, from using budgeting software to seeking support from financial advisors. Following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can develop a comprehensive cash flow plan that sets your business on the path to success.

Melissa Houston, CPA is the author of Cash Confident: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Profitable Business . She is the founder of She Means Profit, which is a podcast and blog . As a Finance Strategist for CEOs, Melissa helps successful business owners increase their profit margins so that they keep more money in their pocket and increase their net worth.

The opinions expressed in this article are not intended to replace any professional or expert accounting and/or tax advice whatsoever.

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• Cashflow management

User-friendly 3-year cash flow projection template for hassle-free forecasting

A cash flow projection is a crucial tool for businesses to forecast their future financial health. With a 3-year cash flow projection template , a financial forecast can be made that estimates the anticipated inflows and outflows of cash for a business over a three-year period.

Estimating the inflows and outflows of cash over a 3-year timeline provides insights into the expected cash position of the company and helps in assessing its financial health and sustainability. Businesses can make informed decisions, plan for growth, and identify potential cash shortages based on such financial forecasts.

What is a cash flow spreadsheet?

A cash flow spreadsheet, also called a cash flow statement projection, uses software like Excel or Google Sheets to track and analyse cash inflows and outflows.

The spreadsheet has columns for periods (e.g., months) and rows for cash flow categories. This tool allows input of actual and projected numbers, providing a visual representation of trends and aiding cash flow monitoring. It helps identify shortages/surpluses and informs financial decisions. Formulas automate calculations, generating summaries, charts, and graphs. Crucial for financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting, this spreadsheet streamlines the analysis and interpretation of cash flow data.

What is a projected 3-year cash flow?

A projected 3-year cash flow is a financial statement that outlines the anticipated cash inflows and outflows for a business over a specific three-year timeframe. It takes into account factors such as sales revenue, expenses, investments, loan repayments, and other sources. It uses cash to determine the net cash position at the end of each period.

Using a 3-year cash flow projection template, a projection is made, which serves as a tool for businesses to plan and make informed financial decisions.

Purpose of a projected 3-year cash flow for businesses

The primary purpose of a projected 3-year cash flow is to provide a forward-looking view of a company's cash position. Estimating future cash flows helps businesses to :

Forecast financial health: A projected cash flow allows businesses to assess their financial health and solvency by identifying potential cash shortfalls or surpluses in advance.

Plan for growth: The forecasting helps in evaluating the financial feasibility of growth strategies, such as expanding operations, entering new markets, or investing in new products or services.

Identify financing needs: It enables businesses to determine if additional financings, such as loans or equity investments, will be required to cover anticipated cash deficits or support growth initiatives.

Make informed decisions: With a clear understanding of future cash flows, businesses can make informed decisions about expenditures, pricing strategies, cost management, and investment opportunities.

How to do yearly cash flow projection?

To create a yearly cash flow projection, follow these steps:

• Set up spreadsheet: Organise categories, ensure systematic data entry and calculations.
• Identify and estimate cash inflows: Consider sales revenue, receivables, interest income, etc.
• Identify and estimate cash outflows: Categorise and estimate expenses like rent, payroll, and loans.
• Calculate net cash flow: Subtract total outflows from inflows for surplus/deficit.
• Calculate opening and closing balances: Consider the previous period's closing balance, and add net cash flow.
• Review and adjust: Compare projection to actual data, and update for accuracy.
• Monitor and update: Stay informed of changes in revenue, expenses, and market conditions.
• Analyse and make decisions: Compare projections to goals, assess financial health, and make informed choices for cost management, investments, and strategies.

By forecasting future cash flows, businesses can proactively address potential financial challenges, plan for growth, and make informed decisions.

How to do triennial cash flow projections?

The process of creating a yearly cash flow projection is similar to that of a three-year cash flow projection. To create a projected 3-year cash flow, businesses gather historical financial data and use it as a basis for estimating future cash flows.

By analysing past trends and considering factors such as market conditions, sales forecasts, expense projections, and capital expenditure plans, businesses can build a comprehensive and realistic cash flow projection.

Step 1: Gather historical data

To begin, collect your company's historical financial statements, including balance sheets, income statements, and c ash flow statements for the past three years. This data will serve as a foundation for building your cash flow forecast.

Step 2: Identify cash inflows

List all potential sources of cash inflows , such as sales revenue, loans, investments, and other income streams. Analyse your historical data to determine the average amounts and timing of these inflows. Consider factors like seasonality, market trends, and any upcoming changes in your business operations that may affect cash inflows.

Step 3: Estimate cash outflows

Next, identify and categorise your expected cash outflows. This includes costs such as employee salaries, rent, utilities, raw materials, marketing expenses, loan repayments, and taxes. Again, refer to your historical financial data and account for any anticipated changes in costs, such as upcoming investments or cost-saving measures.

Step 4: Calculate net cash flow

By deducting the total cash outflows from the total cash inflows, you can calculate your net cash flow for each period. A cash flow positive indicates a surplus, while a negative value indicates a cash deficit. Be realistic and conservative in your estimations to ensure accuracy in your projection.

Step 5: Consider cash reserves and financing options

Assess your current cash reserves and determine if they are sufficient to cover any projected cash deficits .

Explore financing options such as bank loans, lines of credit, or equity investments to bridge the gap, if any. Incorporate these additional funds into your projection, including the associated costs and repayment terms.

Step 6: Review and refine

Regularly review and refine your cash flow projection as new information becomes available or circumstances change. Update your projection at least on a quarterly basis, comparing the actual results with your projections to identify any discrepancies or adjustments required.

What is a cash flow statement template?

A cash flow statement template is a tool used to present a business's cash inflows & outflows over a specific period. The template provides a structured format to organise and analyse cash flow information, allowing businesses and individuals to assess their liquidity, financial health, and cash management capabilities. It helps track the movement of cash throughout different activities, such as operating, investing, and financing activities.

A typical cash flow statement template consists of the following:

Opening Cash Balance: It represents the cash balance at the beginning of the period.

Cash Inflows: These include the sources of cash during the period, such as cash received from sales, interest income, dividends, or any other cash receipts.

Cash Outflows: These accounts for the cash payments made during the period, including expenses, purchases of assets, interest payments, taxes, and other operating costs.

Operating Activities: It summarises the cash flows related to the core operations of the business, such as revenue incurred from sales, payments made to suppliers, salaries & wages, and other operating expenses.

Investing Activities: It captures cash flows from investing activities, such as purchases or sales of property, plant, and equipment, investments in other businesses, or proceeds from the sale of investments.

Financing Activities: It records cash flows from financing activities, including proceeds from loans, issuance of stock, repayment of debt, or payment of dividends.

Net Cash Flow: It calculates the net increase or decrease in cash during the period by deducting the total cash outflows from the total cash inflows.

Closing Cash Balance: It shows the cash balance at the end of the period, which is calculated by adding the net cash flow to the opening cash balance.

Free 3-year Cash flow projection template for easy use

Benefits of using a 3-year cash flow projection template.

The benefits of using a 3-year cash flow projection template are:

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of how future projects affect your business's financial performance.
• Anticipate and plan for any potential cash shortfalls, allowing you to effectively strategise and manage your resources.
• Proactively adjust and adapt to changes by utilising the insights from the 3-year projections.
• Utilise the projections to outline and formulate growth and expansion strategies.
• Perform variance analysis to compare and assess the variance between budgeted and actual cash flows.
• Enhance your chances of securing bank loans and external financing by presenting a solid cash flow and forecast and demonstrating a strong repayment capacity.
• Conduct accurate analysis of detailed scenarios, enabling you to make informed decisions.
• Evaluate the impact of cost-saving measures on future cash flows and overall business valuations.

Creating a 3-year cash flow projection is an essential financial planning exercise for businesses. It is a valuable financial planning tool that helps businesses anticipate and manage their cash position.

By analysing historical data, estimating cash inflows and outflows, and considering potential financing options, you can gain valuable insights into your company's financial future.

Regularly updating and revising the projection based on actual results and changing circumstances allows businesses to stay on top of their financial situation and ensure long-term sustainability.

A 3-year cash flow forecast is crucial for long-term cash planning. How can you manage your cash flow better? Agicap is a cash management software that allows you to manage your business effectively. Try it out for free!

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Financial modeling spreadsheets and templates in Excel & Google Sheets

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How to Excel With Business Plan Cash Flow Projection Example: Tips & Tricks

To excel with a business plan cash flow projection example, start by accurately estimating future sales and expenses. Ensure you update projections regularly to reflect business changes.

Creating a reliable cash flow projection is crucial for steering your business towards financial stability and growth. A well-crafted business plan not only outlines the financial expectations but also attracts potential investors by showcasing realistic and strategic financial planning. It serves as a navigational tool that helps entrepreneurs steer through fiscal challenges by anticipating cash shortages and enabling proactive solutions.

By mastering cash flow projection techniques, business owners can ensure that they maintain sufficient liquidity to cover day-to-day operations and make informed decisions for long-term financial health. Key aspects include understanding the nuances of your revenue streams, closely monitoring expenditure, and preparing for unpredictability with a well-thought buffer. Expert tips can transform your projection into a dynamic part of your overall strategy, identifying potential pitfalls before they arise and pivot your business plan accordingly.

Introduction To Cash Flow Projections

Welcome to the world of savvy business planning, where cash flow projections become the lighthouse guiding your venture through the foggy seas of financial uncertainty. This journey explores the essentials of mapping out your business’s financial future. Let’s dive into the nuts and bolts of preparing effective cash flow forecasts that can propel your business strategy forward.

The Importance Of Business Plan Cash Flow

The lifeblood of any business is its cash flow. A robust business plan hinges on understanding where your revenue comes from and where your money goes. Solid cash flow projections spotlight potential shortfalls and surpluses. They help you make informed decisions about managing debt, investments, and operational costs. In short, it’s a financial compass for sustainable growth.

• Spot Financial Trends: Identify positive and negative financial flows early.
• Strategic Planning: Align cash flow insights with business strategies.
• Investor Confidence: Show investors your business is steady at the helm.
• Loan Assessment: Lenders favor businesses with clear financial forecasts.

Basic Concepts In Cash Flow Forecasting

Grasping the underlying principles of cash flow forecasting is like understanding the rules of the road before driving a car. Start by distinguishing between different types of cash flow: operational, investing, and financing .

Projecting your cash flow encompasses estimating these components over a set period. Craft a meticulous schedule, typically on a monthly basis, to predict the cash entering and leaving your business. Balance accuracy with pragmatism to create a functional and dynamic tool.

• Estimate Sales: Foresee future sales based on market analysis.
• Monitor Costs: Include all operational costs and incidentals.
• Analyze Profitability: Match revenue against expenses to find net flow.

Remember, cash flow forecasting is an ongoing process. Regularly update your projections with real-time data for best results.

Setting The Stage For A Strong Projection

Cash flow projection paints a picture of your business finances in the future. It is a vital map guiding your company’s journey through the financial landscape. A strong projection can mean the difference between navigating success and getting lost in a sea of numbers. Let’s set the stage for a cash flow projection that stands out.

Identifying Key Components For Projection

Every projection starts with key building blocks . These include:

• Income sources: Sales, investments, loans.
• Expense categories: Raw materials, salaries, utilities.
• Capital expenditures: New equipment, property.
• Debt financing: Loan repayments, interest costs.

Recognizing these elements forms the basis of a realistic cash flow projection .

Gathering Financial Data

Accurate financial data is essential for creating a solid projection. Begin by collecting:

With this information, your projection will have a solid foundation .

Creating Your Cash Flow Template

Crafting a precise cash flow template is a cornerstone to mastering your business finances. This roadmap represents the bloodline of your company’s monetary health. Let’s dive into structuring your very own template with practicality and foresight.

Essential Elements Of A Cash Flow Template

Every business must monitor its liquidity. A cash flow template captures this. The essential elements include:

• Starting Balance: Capture your cash balance at the period’s beginning.
• Cash Incoming: Record all sources of cash influx, like sales or loans.
• Cash Outgoing: List all expenses, from rent to utilities.
• Net Cash Flow: It’s incoming minus outgoing cash.
• Ending Balance: This is your starting balance plus net cash flow.

A streamlined template integrates these elements beautifully. A glance lets business owners see their liquidity state.

The Role Of Spreadsheet Software

Digitized templates harness the power of spreadsheet software. These tools offer:

• Flexibility in modifying templates
• Formulas that automate calculations
• Real-time data update and analysis
• Accessible summaries through charts

Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets are prime picks. They offer an array of features:

With these software solutions, your template becomes a dynamic tool. You don’t just track but also predict future cash flow scenarios.

Remember to keep your cash flow projection accurate. Bold assertions in your planning could transform your business trajectory. Let this template be your guide to financial clarity and strategic foresight!

Inputting Your Numbers

Guiding your business through the financial unknown starts with accurately inputting your numbers into a cash flow projection. This is your road map for future financial health. Plunging into this task without delay will pave a path for sustainable growth. Here, we’ll cover the essentials of sales projections and expense mapping.

Starting With Sales Projections

A sales forecast is the backbone of your cash flow projection. It demands precision and attention to detail. Kick off by reflecting on past sales data, market research, and current trends. Let’s break down this journey:

• Review historical data: Look at past sales to set a realistic benchmark .
• Consider market conditions: Align expectations with industry trends and economic forecasts .
• Analyze competitive landscape: Understand your competitors’ impact on your sales.
• Seasonal fluctuations: Account for peaks and troughs with monthly or quarterly breakdowns.

Project confident sales figures by combining these factors for an informed prediction.

Mapping Out Expenses And Outlays

Business success flows from a thorough understanding of every penny it spends. Let’s chart the territory of expense tracking:

• Fixed costs: These are consistent expenses such as rent, salaries, and utilities.
• Variable costs: Costs that change, like materials and shipping.
• One-off expenses: Plan for irregular spends such as equipment or business travel.

Detailing each category ensures no expense goes unnoticed . Use this framework to develop a comprehensive ledger of your cash outflows.

Presenting data in a clear table format like above provides a quick visual reference and ensures accuracy in your projections.

Factoring In Seasonality And Trends

Understanding the impact of seasonality and trends plays a vital role in the precision of a business plan cash flow projection. Recognizing how these factors influence revenue and expenses can transform an average financial forecast into a powerful tool for decision-making. It becomes crucial to adjust for business cycles and analyze historical data to ensure accuracy in projections.

Adjusting For Business Cycles

Business cycles refer to the highs and lows in demand that occur throughout the year. Factoring in these fluctuations ensures that your cash flow projection reflects the reality of your business operations.

• Identify peak seasons: When do sales skyrocket? Adjust your cash inflows accordingly.
• Note slow periods: Recognize when your sales may dip to anticipate potential cash outflow concerns.
• Plan for variance: Include a buffer in your forecasts to safeguard against unexpected changes.

Analyzing Historical Data For Accuracy

To make well-informed projections, detailed analysis of past financial data is essential. This helps in understanding how previous trends could shape future cash flows.

Repeat rows for each season of each year

• Look for patterns: Examine the table to identify trends over multiple years.
• Consider anomalies: Separate unusual events from regular trends to avoid skewing the data.
• Use precise numbers: Rely on exact figures rather than rough estimates to bolster your projection’s reliability.

The Power Of Conservative Estimating

In the business world, ‘The Power of Conservative Estimating’ is a game-changer. It’s not about underselling your potential. It’s about grounding your cash flow projections in a reality that can weather storms.

Envision the pathway to success with a mindset that respects potential bumps. Being cautiously optimistic in your cash flow forecast ignites trust. It shows stakeholders your business can thrive, even when challenges appear.

Why Erring On The Side Of Caution Pays Off

• Stress test your finances . This identifies weak spots early.
• A realistic approach secures investor confidence .
• Prepare for sudden costs, ensuring flexibility in your plan .
• Boost your resilience against market volatilities.

Scenario Planning For Best And Worst Cases

Map out various outcomes and their impacts on cash flow . Tackle unpredictability head-on.

Prepare for each scenario with a tailored strategy. This ensures readiness for any financial climate .

Regular Reviews And Updates

Mastering the art of managing your business’ cash flow begins with regular reviews and updates of your projections. Like a garden that needs consistent care, your business plan’s cash flow projection is a living document. It requires frequent attention to thrive and adapt to real-world changes. Staying on top of these reviews helps to ensure financial health and can alert you to potential risks before they grow into problems.

Scheduling Periodic Check-ins

Embedding a rhythm of periodic check-ins into your routine is crucial. These moments are your chance to review the numbers and adjust plans as needed. Consider setting up a regular schedule, perhaps monthly or quarterly, to reassess your cash flow projections. Use calendar reminders or project management tools to keep these appointments on track.

• Monthly Reviews: Ideal for catching deviations early and adjusting quickly.
• Quarterly Assessments: Beneficial for broader trends and seasonal changes.
• Annual Summaries: Perfect for long-term planning and major strategic shifts.

Refining Your Projections With Real Data

Using actual financial data brings life to your projections. It fine-tunes your predictions with accuracy that only reality can provide. Gather data from income statements, cash flow statements, and other financial reports. Update your projections with these real numbers to reflect the true state of your business finances. Doing so will help pinpoint where your business is outperforming or underperforming expectations.

Add more rows as needed

Navigating Potential Pitfalls

Creating a robust business plan is crucial for your company’s success. One key component? A cash flow projection. This forecast lays a foundation for financial health. Yet, it’s easy to slip on unseen hurdles. Let’s explore common mistakes and avoid pitfalls to keep your business on solid footing.

Common Cash Flow Projection Mistakes

Errors in cash flow projections can derail your business. Look out for these traps:

• Incomplete Data: Skipping details may lead to understated expenses or overstated income.
• Mismatched Timing: When cash inflows and outflows aren’t synced, it can skew your projection.
• Forgotten Expenses: Every penny counts. Overlooking small costs adds up to big miscalculations.

Avoiding Overoptimism In Your Forecasts

Staying grounded in reality is crucial. To prevent overoptimism:

• Be Conservative: Plan for the worst, and you’ll be prepared for anything.
• Use Past Data: Historical trends are guiding lights. Base your projections on them.
• Include Contingencies: Unexpected events happen. Set aside a buffer to safeguard your forecast.

Using Projections To Make Strategic Decisions

Business success often hinges on the wise decisions you make. A cash flow projection is a valuable roadmap. It can guide your strategic choices. Let’s explore how to use these projections effectively.

Driving Business Strategy With Cash Flow Insights

Good leaders steer companies to profitability. They use cash flow analyses . With accurate forecasts, clear decisions are within reach. These insights create a strategy that aligns with financial health.

• Identify peak cash periods : Use these times for strategic investments.
• Spot cash dips early : Prepare with saving or credit options.
• Adjust pricing or sales strategies : Do this based on cash flow trends.

Identifying Investment Opportunities And Risks

Vigilant businesses thrive. Use cash flow projections for spotting opportunities and risks . Wise investments are often the result.

To make strategic decisions:

• Review projections monthly.
• Match investment size to cash flow comfort.
• Consider risk management strategies.

Leveraging Technology For Accurate Projections

In today’s fast-paced business environment, leveraging technology for accurate cash flow projections is vital. Gone are the days of manual calculations and guesswork. With the right tools, businesses can secure a clearer financial future. Now, let’s dive into how cutting-edge financial software and automation elevate cash flow analysis.

The Role Of Financial Software In Projection Accuracy

Financial software acts as a compass in the sea of financial planning. It guides businesses with precision and reliability . Here is how:

• Uses historical data for trend analysis.
• Reduces human errors in calculations.
• Provides real-time insights into financial health.
• Allows for scenario planning and forecasting.

Implementing top-tier financial software means making decisions based on solid data , not hunches.

Automating Cash Flow Analysis

Automation streamlines cash flow management . The benefits include:

• Time-saving through automated report generation.
• Consistent tracking of income and expenses.
• Minimizes the risk of missed or late payments.
• Keeps a finger on the pulse of your business’s liquidity.

With automation, you get a clear, up-to-date picture of your cash flow, empowering you to make informed decisions quickly.

Conclusion: Integrating Projections Into Overall Strategy

Successful business management hinges on foresight. A well-crafted cash flow projection is essential. It guides leaders to make informed decisions. Let’s explore key steps to ensure cash flow projections boost your business strategy.

The Big Picture: Cash Flow Projections And Business Success

A robust projection aligns with your business’s objectives and goals. Seeing the big picture is crucial. Here’s how:

• Match projections with short-term and long-term plans.
• Analyze different scenarios, including best and worst cases.
• Balance ambition with realistic financial capabilities.

Integrating projections supports strategic adjustments. It allows for dynamic business growth.

Continual Learning And Adaptation In Financial Management

The business environment never stands still. Neither should your financial management. Always be ready to learn and adapt.

• Regularly review your cash flow projections.
• Stay up-to-date with market trends and economic shifts .
• Use new insights to refine financial strategies.

With ongoing learning and flexibility, your business stays resilient. Use cash flow projections to navigate to success.

Frequently Asked

How to do cash flow projection for a business plan.

Estimate your business’s future sales and expenses. Record these projections monthly for the first year. Also, factor in expected cash payments and receipts. Update your forecast regularly to reflect actual performance and market changes. Use this model to predict future cash flow.

How Do I Create A Cash Flow Forecast In Excel?

Open Excel and set up your columns with headings like “Income,” “Expenses,” and “Net Cash Flow. ” Estimate monthly incomes and expenses, entering these under appropriate headings. Subtract expenses from income to calculate net cash flow for each month. Summarize to project future cash balances.

What Is The Formula For The Cash Flow Projection?

The cash flow projection formula is: Beginning Cash + Projected Inflows – Projected Outflows = Ending Cash. This estimates your business’s cash position over a given period.

How Do You Present Cash Flow In Excel?

To present cash flow in Excel, create a worksheet with separate sections for operating, investing, and financing activities. Record cash inflows and outflows under each category, then calculate the net cash flow. Use formulas for automatic updates when inputting new data.

Crafting a robust business plan cash flow projection isn’t just a skill—it’s an essential business compass. With the strategies outlined, you’ll navigate financial forecasts more effectively. Remember to revisit and adjust your projections regularly, ensuring they serve as a dynamic tool for business growth.

Embrace the process, and let these projections illuminate the path to your company’s success.

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Preparing a cash flow forecast: Simple steps for vital insight

One of the questions we’re often asked by small business owners is, “how do I prepare a cash flow forecast?” It’s an important part of financial planning for any business. But, if you’re an entrepreneur or founder, you may not have an accounting or finance background.

It’s really simple to create your own forecast. And once you know how, it will become one of the most important pieces of insight into your business you have.

Why is a cash flow forecast important?

Cash flow planning is essential: you need cash in the bank to pay your bills. Staying on top of your cash flow will help you see if you’re going to run out of money - and when - so you can prepare ahead of time. Perhaps it will show you that you need to cut overheads, find new investment, or spend time generating sales.

On the flip side, you might be doing well, and you’re considering expanding into new markets, investing in new products, taking on bigger premises, or recruiting new staff. Having accurate cash flow projections will help you see if you can afford to take the plunge.

Four steps to a simple cash flow forecast

One option is to use free financial forecasting software online, which can help you plan ahead for the next week, 30 days, or six weeks. Or you can follow the four steps below to build your own cash flow forecast.

1. Decide how far out you want to plan for

Cash flow planning can cover anything from a few weeks to many months. Plan as far ahead as you can accurately predict. If you’re well-established, you might have a predictable sales pipeline and data from previous years. If you’re a new business, you might not have a huge amount of data - so the further out you go, the less accurate your predictions will be.

Don’t worry too much if you can’t plan far ahead. Your cash flow forecast can change over time. In fact, it should. As things change, or you get more exact estimates, you can update your plan.

2. List all your income

For each week or month in your cash flow forecast, list all the cash you’ve got coming in. Have one column for each week or month, and one row for each type of income.

Start with your sales, adding them to the appropriate week or month. You might be able to predict this from previous years’ figures, if you have them. Remember though, this is about when the cash is actually in your bank account. Put the figures in for when you know clients will pay invoices, or bank payments will clear.

Also remember to include all non-sales income, for example:

• Tax refunds
• Investment from shareholders or owners
• Royalties or licence fees

Add up the total for each column to get your net income.

3. List all your outgoings

Now you know what’s coming in, work out what you’ve got going out. For each week or month, make a list of all the money you’ll be spending, for example:

• Raw material
• Bank loans, fees and charges
• Marketing and advertising spend

Once you’ve listed everything you spend, add up the total for each column to get your net outgoings.

4. Work out your running cash flow

For each week or month column, take away your net outgoings from your net income. That will give you either a positive cash flow figure (you’ve got more cash coming in than you’re spending) or a negative cash flow figure (you’re spending more than you’ve got coming in).

You can then keep a running total, from week to week, or month to month, to get a picture of your cash flow forecast over time. Too many negative weeks might spell trouble, and you’ll need to do some forward-planning to make sure you can meet your commitments - e.g. paying salaries, loan payments, and rent. Equally a few positive months might signal that you’ve got money to expand or invest.

Jenni Chance

Senior Manager, Entrepreneurial & Private Business, PwC United Kingdom

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Free Financial Projection and Forecasting Templates

By Andy Marker | January 3, 2024

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We’ve collected the top free financial projection and forecasting templates. These templates enable business owners, CFOs, accountants, and financial analysts to plan future growth, manage cash flow, attract investors, and make informed decisions.  On this page, you'll find many helpful, free, customizable financial projection and forecasting templates, including a  1 2-month financial projection template , a  startup financial projection template , a  3-year financial projection template , and a  small business financial forecast template , among others. You’ll also find details on the  elements in a financial projection template ,  types of financial projection and forecasting templates , and  related financial templates .

Simple Financial Projection Template

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Excel | Google Sheets  

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Excel | Google Sheets    

Small business owners and new entrepreneurs are the ideal users for this simple financial projection template. Just input your expected revenues and expenses. This template stands out due to its ease of use and focus on basic, straightforward financial planning, making it perfect for small-scale or early-stage businesses. Available with or without sample text, this tool offers clear financial oversight, better budget management, and informed decision-making regarding future business growth. 

Looking for help with your business plan? Check out these  free financial templates for a business plan to streamline the process of organizing your business's financial information and presenting it effectively to stakeholders.

Financial Forecast Template

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This template is perfect for businesses that require a detailed and all-encompassing forecast. Users can input various financial data, such as projected revenues, costs, and market trends, to generate a complete financial outlook. Available with or without example text, this template gives you a deeper understanding of your business's financial trajectory, aiding in strategic decision-making and long-term financial stability. 

These  free cash-flow forecast templates help you predict your business’s future cash inflows and outflows, allowing you to manage liquidity and optimize financial planning.

12-Month Financial Projection Template

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Use this 12-month financial projection template for better cash-flow management, more accurate budgeting, and enhanced readiness for short-term financial challenges and opportunities. Input estimated monthly revenues and expenses, tracking financial performance over the course of a year. Available with or without sample text, this template is ideal for business owners who need to focus on short-term financial planning. This tool allows you to respond quickly to market shifts and plan effectively for the business's crucial first year. 

Download  free sales forecasting templates to help your business predict future sales, enabling better inventory management, resource planning, and decision-making.

Startup Financial Projection Template

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This dynamic startup financial projection template is ideal for startup founders and entrepreneurs, as it's designed specifically for the unique needs of startups. Available with or without example text, this template focuses on clearly outlining a startup's initial financial trajectory, an essential component for attracting investors. Users can input projected revenues, startup costs, and funding sources to create a comprehensive financial forecast.

3-Year Financial Projection Template

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This three-year financial projection template is particularly useful for business strategists and financial planners who are looking for a medium-term financial planning tool. Input data such as projected revenues, expenses, and growth rates for the next three years. Available with or without sample text, this template lets you anticipate financial challenges and opportunities in the medium term, aiding in strategic decision-making and ensuring sustained business growth.

5-Year Financial Forecasting Template

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CFOs and long-term business planners can use this five-year financial forecasting template to get a clear, long-range financial vision. Available with or without example text, this template allows you to plan strategically and invest wisely, preparing your business for future market developments and opportunities. This unique tool offers an extensive outlook for your business’s financial strategy. Simply input detailed financial data spanning five years, including revenue projections, investment plans, and expected market growth. Visually engaging bar charts of key metrics help turn data into engaging narratives.

Small Business Financial Forecast Template

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The small business financial forecast template is tailored specifically for the scale and specific requirements of small enterprises. Business owners and financial managers can simply input data such as projected sales or expenses. Available with or without sample text, this tool offers the ability to do the following: envision straightforward financial planning; anticipate future financial needs and challenges; make informed decisions; and steer the business toward steady growth.

Elements in a Financial Projection Template

The elements in a financial projection template include future sales, costs, profits, and cash flow. This template illustrates expected receivables, payables, and break-even dates. This tool helps you plan for your business's financial future and growth.   

Here are the standard elements in a financial projection template:   

• Revenue Projection: This estimates future income from various sources over a specific period.
• Expense Forecast: This predicts future costs, including both fixed and variable expenses.
• Profit and Loss Forecast:  This projects the profit or loss by subtracting projected expenses from projected revenues.
• Cash-Flow Projection: This assesses the inflows and outflows of cash, indicating liquidity over time.
• Balance Sheet Projection: This predicts the future financial position, showing assets, liabilities, and equity.
• Break-Even Analysis: This calculates the point at which total revenues equal total costs.
• Capital Expenditure Forecast: This estimates future spending on fixed assets such as equipment or property.
• Debt Repayment Plan: This outlines the schedule for paying back any borrowed funds.
• Sales Forecast:  This predicts future sales volume, often broken down by product or service.
• Gross Margin Analysis:  This looks at the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold.

Types of Financial Projection and Forecasting Templates

There are many types of financial projection and forecasting templates: basic templates for small businesses; detailed ones for big companies; special ones for startup businesses; and others. There are also sales forecasts, cash-flow estimates, and profit and loss projections. 

In addition, financial projection and forecasting templates include long-term planning templates, break-even analyses, budget forecasts, and templates made for specific industries such as retail or manufacturing. 

Each template serves different financial planning needs. Determine which one best suits your requirements based on the scale of your business, the complexity of its financial structure, and the specific department that you want to analyze.

Here's a list of the top types of financial projection and forecasting templates:  

• Basic Financial Projection Template: Ideal for small businesses or startups, this template provides a straightforward approach to forecasting revenue, expenses, and cash flow.
• Detailed Financial Projection Template: Best for larger businesses or those with complex financial structures, this template offers in-depth projections, including balance sheets, income statements, and cash-flow statements.
• Startup Financial Projection Template: Tailored for startups, this template focuses on funding requirements and early-stage revenue forecasts, both crucial for attracting investors and planning initial operations. 
• Sales Forecasting Template:  Used by sales and marketing teams to predict future sales, this template helps you set targets and plan marketing strategies. 
• Cash-Flow Forecast Template: Essential for financial managers who need to monitor the liquidity of the business, this template projects cash inflows and outflows over a period. 
• Profit and Loss Forecast Template (P&L):  Useful for business owners and financial officers who need to anticipate profit margins, this template enables you to forecast revenues and expenses.  
• Three-Year / Five-Year Financial Projection Template: Suitable for long-term business planning, these templates provide a broader view of your company’s financial future, improving your development strategy and investor presentations. 
• Break-Even Analysis Template:  Used by business strategists and financial analysts, this template helps you determine when your business will become profitable. 
• Budget Forecasting Template:  Designed for budget managers, this template uses historical financial data to help you plan your future spending. 
• Sector-Specific Financial Projection Template:  Designed for specific industries (such as retail or manufacturing), these templates take into account industry-specific factors and benchmarks.

Related Financial Templates

Check out this list of free financial templates related to financial projections and forecasting. You'll find templates for budgeting, tracking profits and losses, planning your finances, and more. These tools help keep your company’s money matters organized and clear.

Free Project Budget Templates

Use one of these  project budget templates to maintain control over project finances, ensuring costs stay aligned with the allocated budget and improving overall financial management.

Free Monthly Budget Templates

Use one of these  monthly budget templates to effectively track and manage your business’s income and expenses, helping you plan financially and save money.

Free Expense Report Templates

Use one of these  expense report templates to systematically track and document all business-related expenditures, ensuring accurate reimbursement and efficient financial record-keeping.

Free Balance Sheet Templates

Use one of these  balance sheet templates to summarize your company's financial position at a given time.

Free Cash-Flow Forecast Templates

Use one of these  cash-flow forecast templates to predict future cash inflows and outflows, helping you manage liquidity and make informed financial decisions.

Free Cash-Flow Statement Templates

Use one of these  cash-flow statement templates to track the movement of cash in and out of your business, so you can assess your company’s level of liquidity and financial stability.

Free Discounted Cash-Flow (DCF) Templates

Use one of these  discounted cash-flow (DCF) templates to evaluate the profitability of investments or projects by calculating their present value based on future cash flows.

Free Financial Dashboard Templates

Use one of these  financial dashboard templates to get an at-a-glance view of key financial metrics, so you can make decisions quickly and manage finances effectively.

Related Customer Stories

Free financial planning templates.

Use one of these  financial planning templates to strategically organize and forecast future finances, helping you set realistic financial goals and ensure long-term business growth.

Free Profit and Loss (P&L) Templates

Use one of these  profit and loss (P&L) templates to systematically track income and expenses, giving you a clear picture of your company's profitability over a specific period.

Free Billing and Invoice Templates

Use one of these  billing and invoice templates to streamline the invoicing process and ensure that you bill clients accurately and professionally for services or products.

Plan and Manage Your Company’s Financial Future with Financial Projection and Forecasting Templates from Smartsheet

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Cash Flow Forecasting: A Guide with Examples & How To’s

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Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. The ability to accurately forecast cash flow is crucial for maintaining financial stability, making informed decisions, and ensuring your business’s long-term success.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore cash flow forecasting in detail, including what it is, its benefits, types of forecasts, components, step-by-step instructions on how to forecast cash flow, real-world examples, common challenges, and tips for improvement.

What is Cash Flow Forecasting?

Cash flow forecasting is a financial management practice that involves estimating the future cash inflows and outflows of a business over a specified period. It helps businesses predict how much cash they will have on hand in the coming weeks, months, or years. Cash flow forecasts provide critical insights into a company’s ability to meet its financial obligations, fund operations, and make strategic decisions.

What Are the Benefits of Cash Flow Forecasting?

Cash flow forecasting offers numerous advantages for businesses, such as:

1.     Financial Planning:

It enables businesses to plan for their financial future, set goals, and allocate resources effectively.

2.     Improved Decision-Making:

Cash flow forecasts help in making informed decisions about investments, expenses, and debt management.

3.     Risk Management:

Forecasting allows businesses to identify and mitigate potential cash shortages or surpluses, reducing financial risk.

4.     Performance Evaluation:

Regularly comparing actual cash flow to forecasts helps assess a company’s financial performance and adjust strategies accordingly.

Types of Cash Flow Forecasts

Cash flow forecasts can be categorized based on their time horizon:

1.   Short-Term Cash Flow Forecast:

Short-term forecasts typically cover the immediate future, ranging from a few days to a few months. They are crucial for managing day-to-day cash needs, such as payroll and operational expenses.

2.   Medium-Term Cash Flow Forecast:

Medium-term forecasts extend for several months to a few years. They are often used for capital expenditure planning, budgeting, and assessing working capital needs.

3.   Long-Term Cash Flow Forecast:

Long-term forecasts look beyond a few years and are essential for strategic planning, such as expanding operations, launching new products, or securing long-term financing.

4.   Mixed Period Cash Flow Forecast:

Mixed period forecasts combine elements of short, medium, and long-term forecasts to cater to various financial planning needs.

What Are the Components of Cash Flow Forecasting?

A comprehensive cash flow forecast includes the following components:

1.   Cash Inflows:

This section outlines all the sources of cash coming into the business, including sales revenue, investments, loans, and any other sources of income.

2.   Cash Outflows:

Here, businesses list all the expenses and payments they expect to make during the forecast period, including operating costs, loan repayments, taxes, and other expenditures.

3.   Opening Cash Balance:

The opening cash balance represents the amount of cash on hand at the beginning of the forecasting period.

4.   Closing Cash Balance:

The closing cash balance is the projected cash balance at the end of the forecasting period, taking into account all inflows and outflows.

How Do I Forecast Cash Flow?

Effective cash flow forecasting requires a structured approach. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to forecast cash flow:

1.   Determine Your Forecasting Objective(s):

Before you start, decide why you need a cash flow forecast. Are you creating it for short-term operational planning, long-term growth strategies, or debt management?

2.   Choose Your Forecasting Period:

Select the appropriate forecasting period based on your objectives. Short-term forecasts are best for daily operations, while long-term forecasts are ideal for strategic planning.

3.   Choose a Forecasting Method:

There are various methods to forecast cash flow, including direct cash flow forecasting, indirect forecasting, and the use of financial software or tools. Choose the method that suits your business’s complexity and data availability.

4.   Source the Data You Need for Your Cash Flow Forecast:

Gather accurate and up-to-date financial data, including historical cash flow statements, sales records, expense reports, and any other relevant financial information.

Cash Flow Forecast Example

To illustrate how a cash flow forecast works, let’s consider a simplified example for a small retail business.

This business wants to create a short-term cash flow forecast for the next three months to ensure it has enough cash to cover expenses and meet supplier payments. Here’s the forecast:

• Opening Cash Balance: $10,000 (cash on hand at the beginning of the month)
• Sales Revenue: $30,000 (expected monthly sales)
• Loan Proceeds: $5,000 (loan received)
• Rent: $2,000
• Payroll: $8,000
• Inventory Purchase: $10,000
• Utilities: $500
• Loan Repayment: $1,000
• Closing Cash Balance: $13,500 (calculated as opening balance + inflows – outflows)

This simplified example demonstrates how a business can project its cash position over a short period by estimating cash inflows and outflows.

What Challenges Can Businesses Face When Forecasting Cash Flow?

Forecasting cash flow can be challenging due to several factors, including:

1. Uncertainty:

Economic conditions, unexpected expenses, and fluctuating sales can introduce uncertainty into forecasts.

2. Data Accuracy:

Relying on inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to inaccurate forecasts.

3. Complexity:

Businesses with multiple income streams, expenses, and financial products may face more complex forecasting challenges.

4. Market Changes:

Rapid changes in the market can disrupt forecasts, making it difficult to anticipate future cash flows accurately.

Frequently Asked Questions:FAQs

1. how often should a business update its cash flow forecast.

The frequency of cash flow forecasting depends on the business’s needs and industry. Some businesses update their forecasts weekly, while others do it monthly or quarterly. During periods of significant change, more frequent updates may be necessary.

2. Can cash flow forecasting help with managing debt and loans?

Yes, cash flow forecasting is a valuable tool for managing debt and loans. It helps businesses plan for loan repayments, assess their ability to take on additional debt, and avoid cash flow crises that could lead to default.

3. How can businesses improve their cash flow forecasting accuracy?

To enhance accuracy, businesses can:

• Use historical data and real-time information.
• Consider various scenarios and sensitivity analysis.
• Continuously monitor and adjust forecasts as new data becomes available.
• Seek professional guidance from financial experts or consultants.

4. How can businesses adjust their operations based on cash flow forecasts?

Cash flow forecasts can inform decisions such as delaying non-essential expenditures, negotiating extended payment terms with suppliers, or pursuing short-term financing options during cash flow shortages. Conversely, surpluses can be invested or used to pay down debt.

What Is EcomBalance?

EcomBalance is a monthly bookkeeping service specialized for eCommerce companies selling on Amazon, Shopify, Ebay, Etsy, WooCommerce, & other eCommerce channels.

We take monthly bookkeeping off your plate and deliver you your financial statements by the 15th or 20th of each month.

You’ll have your Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement ready for analysis each month so you and your business partners can make better business decisions.

Interested in learning more? Schedule a call with our CEO, Nathan Hirsch.

And here’s some free resources:

• Monthly Finance Meeting Agenda
• 9 Steps to Master Your Ecommerce Bookkeeping Checklist
• The Ultimate Guide on Finding an Ecommerce Virtual Bookkeeping Service
• What Is a Profit and Loss Statement?
• How to Read & Interpret a Cash Flow Statement
• How to Read a Balance Sheet & Truly Understand It

Conclusion:

Cash flow forecasting is a vital financial management practice that empowers businesses to plan for their financial future, make informed decisions, and navigate economic challenges with confidence.

Whether it’s for short-term operational planning or long-term strategic growth, the ability to forecast cash flow accurately is essential for financial stability and business success. By following the steps outlined in this guide and addressing common challenges, businesses can master the art of cash flow forecasting and secure their financial well-being.

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