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Free tool · Cash flow forecast

Cash flow forecast: 13 weeks, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Put in what you expect to come in and go out over the next 13 weeks. The forecast runs three versions at once and shows the one number that matters: are you still okay if the worst happens? Download it as a template for Excel when you're done.

Strictly private. The figures you type stay on your device. They are never sent to us or kept on our servers. The only details we hold are your name and email.

1. Your starting point

£
£
Customer payments that actually land.
£
Wages, suppliers, rent, loans, you.

2. Your three versions

Your own assumptions. Change them to fit your business.

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%
weeks

3. The next 13 weeks

Change any week: a VAT bill, a quiet week, a big order landing. Then run the forecast to see the balances at the end of each week (in £k on a phone).

WeekCash inCash outGoodBadUgly
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13

How to use it

How do you do a cash flow forecast?

Start with today's bank balance. For each of the next 13 weeks, put in the cash you expect to land in the bank and the cash you expect to leave it, in the week it actually moves. The closing balance of one week is the opening balance of the next.

Closing balance = opening balance + cash in − cash out

Then run it three ways. Dr Lewis Haydon's method, from episode 128 of the Mentor Business Podcast:

  1. The good: what you expect to happen.
  2. The bad: sales come in lower than you hoped.
  3. The ugly: lower sales and customers paying late. Ask it one question: are we still okay if the worst happens?
“Run three versions. The good, the bad, the ugly.”
Dr Lewis Haydon, Mentor Business Podcast, episode 128

If the ugly version goes below zero, you've found the problem while there's still time to fix it: chase what's owed, move a payment, arrange a facility, or hold off a hire. If it stays positive, you can make the decision you've been putting off with your eyes open.

Make it a weekly habit, not a one-off

A forecast you build once and never open again is no use. Book a recurring slot in the diary, update last week's actual figures, and roll it forward a week. Fifteen minutes a week keeps the next quarter in front of you, so a quiet month or a big bill never arrives as a surprise.

Cash flow forecast example

The template opens with an example: £40,000 in the bank, about £15,000 coming in and £14,000 going out each week, and a £26,000 week 6 for a quarterly bill. In the good version the balance never drops below £34,000. In the bad version, with 15% less coming in, it stays above zero but slides to under £12,000 by week 13. In the ugly version, with 30% less coming in and customers paying two weeks late, it goes below zero in week 6, the week of the quarterly bill. That is the conversation to have now, not in week 6.

Questions people ask

Do you keep my figures?

No. The sums run on your own device: the figures you type are never sent to us or kept on our servers, and they stay strictly private. To see your result you enter your name and email, and those are the only details we hold.

What is a cash flow forecast?

A week-by-week (or month-by-month) prediction of the money coming into your bank account and the money going out, so you can see your bank balance before you get there. It is not the same as a profit forecast: a business can be profitable on paper and still run out of cash if customers pay late or a big bill lands in the wrong week.

Why 13 weeks?

Thirteen weeks is a quarter. It is far enough ahead to see a VAT bill, a quiet month or a big payment coming, and close enough that your numbers are realistic. Update it every week and roll it forward a week, so you always have the next quarter in front of you.

What are the good, bad and ugly versions?

Three versions of the same forecast. The good is what you expect. The bad is what happens if sales come in lower. The ugly is the worst realistic case: lower sales and customers paying late. The one question to ask the ugly version is whether you are still okay if it happens; if not, you know what to fix now, while you still have time.

What should go in the cash out rows?

Everything that actually leaves the bank in that week: wages and PAYE, supplier payments, rent, loan repayments, VAT and corporation tax when they are due, software, insurance, and what you pay yourself. Put each payment in the week it leaves the bank, not the week it was invoiced.

Can I use this in Excel or Google Sheets?

Yes. Fill it in here, then download it as a CSV file, which opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers with all three versions side by side.

Built by Dr Lewis Haydon, a business coach and mentor in Birmingham, UK, who owns and invests in businesses and runs this forecast in his own companies. Related: the profit margin calculator and the price increase calculator.

Next step

Ugly version looking ugly?

Bring your forecast to a 30-minute virtual coffee and leave with a straight answer on what to fix first.

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