“Cash is king, and it’s the lifeblood of a business.”
Being able to accurately produce a cash forecast is an essential skill for business people to be able to predict how much money their business expects to receive and payout over a given period of time. This module explains cash flow forecasting and how to produce one for a business and for personal use.
Cashflow Forecast is a business tool that estimates how much money will be coming into the business (which is known as cash inflow) and what money will be going out of the business (which is known as cash outflows) over a set period of time.
Cash Flow = Cash Received – Cash Spent
Importance of Cash Flow Forecasting
- Helps business to prevent insolvency
- Helps businesses to obtain external finance
- Helps businesses to predict if they can pay employees and suppliers
- Helps businesses to set targets to compare their actual income and expenses against forecast over time
- Helps the business to plan for the future by assisting key decisions such as:
- Can we afford to employ more staff?
- Can we afford to expand and open a new store?
- Can we afford to pay a bonus?
Key Terminologies and Calculations
Cash Inflow
- Money coming into the business
Cash Outflows
- Money going out of the business
Net Cash flow
- The Difference between the cash inflows and cash outflows
Positive Net Cash flow
- Cash inflows are greater than cash outflows
Negative net cash flow
- Cash inflows are lower than cash outflows
Cash flow Calculations
Opening Balance
- Previous months closing balance
Total Inflows
- All cash inflows added up
Total Outflows
- All cash outflows added up
Net Cash flow
- Cash inflows – cash outflows
Closing Balance
- Opening balance + net cash flow
Example of Cash Flow Spreadsheet (Personal)
Cash Flow Forecasting Using Moolamore
- Moolamore is an accounting tool that specializes in cash flow – the lifeblood of business. It offers various useful features that would help your business in terms of cash flow analysis and forecasting.
- It is designed to make cash flow analysis a lot easier by replacing the tedious and traditional cash flow analysis with its graphical, yet comprehensive features.
Features
- Cash Flow Calendar
Understand your cash flow better by viewing it by day, week, or month
- Collaborate with your team
Invite your team members to help you manage or collaborate with your entity
- What-if Scenarios
Analyze your possible future cash flow through different scenarios
- Export your forecasts
Easily export your forecasts to PDF or Excel
