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Cash Flow Planner

Look ahead at expected cash coming in and going out so you can identify possible cash pressure before it becomes a problem.

Plan your cash position

Estimate the cash you expect to have available, receive, and spend each month.

Currency note: Enter amounts using the currency you normally use. Examples use approximate US-dollar values for international readability; this tool does not convert currencies.

Think about a typical month and use your best reasonable estimates. The goal is not to predict the future perfectly. It is to make your cash assumptions visible and see whether available cash may be enough.

Start with cash

Enter the cash the business expects to have when the projection begins.

Cash coming in

Use cash you reasonably expect to actually receive, not just sales recorded on paper.

Cash going out

Include suppliers, payroll, overhead, taxes, owner withdrawals, debt, and other payments.

You do not need perfect numbers. If an amount varies, use a reasonable monthly average. If a category does not apply, enter $0.
Remember: cash flow is about timing. A sale is not necessarily cash in the bank yet if the customer pays later.

1. Starting cash

Begin with the cash you expect the business to have available when the projection starts.

What goes here?
Enter cash already available to the business, such as money in its bank account or cash on hand. If there is no starting cash, enter $0.

Example: If you expect to start with $1,750, enter 1750.

2. Cash coming in each month

Estimate money the business expects to actually receive during a typical month.

Important: Focus on cash received. If customers pay later, your cash received may be lower than the sales you record that month.
What goes here?
Enter money you expect customers to actually pay during the month.

Example: If you make $2,000 of sales but expect to collect $1,500 that month, enter $1,500.

If none, enter $0.
What goes here?
Enter regular cash received from sources other than customer sales, such as recurring grants or other business receipts. If none applies, enter $0.

Do not use this field for a one-time owner contribution or financing amount.
What goes here?
Enter additional cash you expect to put into the business during each projected month, including owner contributions or recurring external funding.

Important: This is cash supplied to the business, not operating revenue. If none applies, enter $0.

3. Cash going out each month

Estimate the cash payments the business expects to make during a typical month.

What goes here?
Enter cash actually paid to suppliers or for inventory, materials, ingredients, packaging, or products for resale. If none applies, enter $0.
What goes here?
Enter employee wages, salaries, or regular worker payments. If you operate alone and do not plan to make payroll payments, enter $0.

If you pay yourself separately, consider the owner withdrawals field and avoid counting the same payment twice.
What goes here?
Include recurring cash costs such as rent, electricity, water, internet, telephone, gas, or similar overhead. Use a reasonable monthly average when needed. If none applies, enter $0.
What goes here?
Estimate taxes or other government payments you expect to actually pay from the business. For irregular payments, use a reasonable monthly amount if you want to reserve cash for them. If none applies, enter $0.

This is not a tax calculator.
What goes here?
Enter money you expect to take out of the business for yourself during a typical month.

Important: This is included to show the cash the business needs to support you. It is not necessarily an operating expense in accounting terms.

If none applies, enter $0. Do not count the same owner payment twice if it is already included in payroll.
What goes here?
Enter regular cash payments toward business loans, equipment financing, or other debt. If there are no regular debt payments, enter $0.
What goes here?
Enter regular cash payments not already included elsewhere, such as software, insurance, advertising, professional services, maintenance, or bank fees. Avoid double-counting. If none applies, enter $0.

4. Projection period

Choose how far ahead you want to look.

What goes here?
Choose how many months to project. Example: Enter 6 for a six-month projection. A longer period can reveal whether a temporary cash shortage may become a larger problem.

What is cash flow?

Cash flow looks at money actually coming into and leaving the business. It helps answer a practical question: will the business have enough cash available when it needs to pay its bills?

This is different from simply looking at sales or profit. A business may record sales today but receive the customer's payment later, while rent, payroll, suppliers, and other bills may still need to be paid now.

Why plan cash flow?

A business can have sales and still experience a cash shortage. Looking ahead helps you identify periods where available cash may become too low before the problem happens.

Instead of asking only "Will this business make sales?" you can also ask "Will the business have enough cash when it needs to pay its expenses?"

How the calculation works

The tool starts with the cash available at the beginning of the projection. It then adds expected cash inflows and subtracts expected cash outflows each month.

Monthly cash inflow
Customer cash received + Other regular cash inflow + Owner contributions / external funding
Monthly cash outflow
Supplier payments + Payroll + Rent, utilities & overhead + Taxes + Owner withdrawals + Debt payments + Other outflows
Monthly net cash
Monthly cash inflow − Monthly cash outflow
Ending cash
Previous cash balance + Monthly net cash

The calculator repeats this process for each month and identifies the lowest projected cash balance.

What the result can tell you

A positive monthly net cash means more cash is expected to come in than go out during that month. A negative monthly net cash means the business is expected to spend more cash than it receives.

A negative monthly net cash does not automatically mean the business cannot operate. The opening cash balance may cover the difference for a period of time.

The lowest projected cash is especially useful because a business may end the projection with positive cash while still reaching a point where available cash becomes uncomfortably low.

Planning question: If the lowest projected cash balance is lower than you are comfortable with, which assumption could you realistically change — sales, spending, owner withdrawals, payment timing, or starting cash?

Test a simple sales scenario

The result includes a simple view of what ending cash could look like if customer cash received were 20% lower or 20% higher than your current estimate, while other assumptions remain unchanged.

These are not forecasts. They are scenarios designed to help you see how sensitive your cash position may be to changes in customer receipts.

Why this matters: If a relatively small change in customer receipts causes a large change in ending cash, the business may have limited room for slower sales or delayed customer payments.

Cash flow is not the same as profit

A Profit & Loss analysis asks whether the business appears profitable based on revenue and expenses. Cash flow asks whether enough cash is available to pay bills when they are due.

A business could record a sale today and receive the money next month. It may therefore appear profitable while temporarily having difficulty paying its bills.

Use both views: Profit helps you understand whether the business model appears financially sustainable. Cash flow helps you understand whether enough cash may be available through the timing of receipts and payments.

What can you change?

If projected cash becomes too low, do not treat the result as a fixed answer. Use it to identify which assumptions deserve another look.

Improve cash coming in

Examine expected customer receipts, collection timing, or other realistic inflows.

Reduce cash going out

Review suppliers, payroll, overhead, withdrawals, debt, taxes, and other spending.

Increase starting cash

Consider whether additional capital is needed to give the business enough room to operate.

Think in combinations. You may not need one dramatic change. More reliable collections, lower spending, and a reasonable cash reserve can work together.

What this projection does not include

This is a simple planning projection. It assumes the monthly amounts entered remain reasonably consistent throughout the selected period.

Actual cash flow may differ because of seasonal sales, delayed customer payments, one-time purchases, changing supplier terms, unexpected repairs, tax deadlines, financing changes, or other transactions not included here.

The tool does not model the exact timing of individual invoices, customer payment terms, inventory purchases, tax deadlines, or one-time transactions. If those differences are important to your business, a more detailed cash-flow schedule may be appropriate.

The projection should not be treated as a guarantee of future cash availability or as a complete financial statement.

This tool provides estimates based on the information entered. It is intended to support thinking and planning, not replace professional accounting, tax, legal, financial, or other advice.