Free download
Free cash flow forecast template for Excel
What’s in it
A cash flow forecast example, worked through
These are the numbers on the Example sheet of the download, a sample cash flow projection in Excel. In Excel, change any of them and the weeks after it recalculate. Your own sheet has the same layout with the numbers left blank, and a few spare rows to rename.
Closing cash, week by week
Scroll the table sideways for all 13 weeks. The shaded weeks are below the cushion.
| Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening cash | $48,000 | $49,320 | $36,720 | $50,280 | $37,480 | $30,600 | $16,700 | $9,300 | $3,800 | $17,720 | $11,520 | $15,980 | $18,280 |
| + Customer payments | $14,500 | $9,000 | $21,000 | $8,500 | $6,000 | $7,500 | $5,000 | $16,000 | $19,500 | $22,000 | $12,000 | $24,000 | $20,500 |
| + Other income | $1,200 | $1,200 | $1,200 | ||||||||||
| - Payroll and payroll taxes | $18,400 | $18,400 | $18,400 | $18,400 | $18,400 | $18,400 | |||||||
| - Rent | $6,200 | $6,200 | $6,200 | ||||||||||
| - Vendors and bills | $5,800 | $3,200 | $4,100 | $2,900 | $5,500 | $3,000 | $4,800 | $3,100 | $4,400 | $3,600 | $4,200 | $3,300 | $4,700 |
| - Loan and card payments | $1,180 | $2,400 | $1,180 | $2,400 | $1,180 | $2,400 | |||||||
| - Taxes | $2,140 | $6,400 | $2,140 | ||||||||||
| Net cash flow | $1,320 | -$12,600 | $13,560 | -$12,800 | -$6,880 | -$13,900 | -$7,400 | -$5,500 | $13,920 | -$6,200 | $4,460 | $2,300 | $15,800 |
| Closing cash | $49,320 | $36,720 | $50,280 | $37,480 | $30,600 | $16,700 | $9,300 | $3,800 | $17,720 | $11,520 | $15,980 | $18,280 | $34,080 |
- 13 weekly columns, with the balance carried forward
- Totals, net cash flow and closing cash worked out for you
- Weeks below your cushion flagged in red in Excel
- A blank sheet and a worked example, in one Excel file
- 1
Enter your two numbers
At the top of the sheet: the cash in your bank today, and your cushion, the balance you never want to go under. Use the bank’s balance, not the one in your books.
- 2
Fill in the money coming in
One row for customer payments, one for anything else. Put each amount in the week you expect it to arrive. For a customer who pays late, use the week they really pay.
- 3
Fill in the money going out
Payroll on your real paydays, rent on its date, vendor bills in the week you’ll pay them, loan and card payments, and taxes. Rename the rows to fit your business.
- 4
Read the bottom two rows
Closing cash is worked out for you and carried into the next week. Any week that closes below your cushion turns red and says BELOW. Those are the weeks to do something about.
- 5
Roll it forward every week
Overwrite last week with what actually happened, shift everything one column left, and add a new week 13. Comparing what you forecast with what happened is how it gets better.
When the spreadsheet stops being opened
What a spreadsheet can’t do
A spreadsheet is the right place to start. It costs nothing and it teaches you what moves your cash. What it can’t do is keep itself current, and a forecast that’s three weeks old is worse than none, because it still looks like an answer.
Flocuity fills the same rows from your real data, using the payments and income that repeat in your bank history and the open invoices and bills in QuickBooks Online or Xero. It rolls the columns forward every day and opens with a sentence: you’re fine for the next 13 weeks, or you aren’t, and which week.
See how the software compares with a spreadsheet, or try it free. You can export the forecast back to Excel whenever you like.
Questions about the template
- Is it really free?
- Yes. It’s an ordinary Excel file with no macros. There’s nothing to sign up for, and we don’t ask for your email address. Use it, change it, share it with your accountant.
- Does it work in Google Sheets and Numbers?
- Yes. Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets, or open it in Apple Numbers. The formulas are plain SUM and IF, so they carry over. The red highlight on weeks below your cushion may need re-adding in Numbers.
- What does the example show?
- A sample cash flow forecast in Excel, for a made-up business of about ten people over 13 weeks: customer payments, payroll every two weeks, rent, vendors, a loan, and taxes. It starts with $48,000 in the bank and a $15,000 cushion, and falls $11,200 below that cushion in week 8.
- Why weekly and not monthly?
- Because a shortfall happens in one particular week. In a monthly total, the week payroll, rent and a tax payment all land together disappears. Weekly columns are what make a 13-week forecast useful.
- Can I add more rows?
- Yes. Insert rows between the first and last row of each block (money in, or money out) and the totals pick them up. If you add one below the last row of a block, extend the SUM in the total row to include it.
- What are the limits of a spreadsheet forecast?
- The math is easy. The upkeep isn’t. Every week someone has to find what changed at the bank, update the invoices that were or weren’t paid, and move the columns along. Most cash flow spreadsheets are accurate for two weeks and then quietly stop being opened.
- What is the difference between this and a cash flow statement?
- A cash flow statement is a report of the past, organized for accountants: operating, investing and financing. A cash flow forecast is a projection of your bank balance, organized by when money moves. This template is the second kind.
Rather not maintain a spreadsheet?
Flocuity builds this forecast from your bank data and keeps it up to date. See your own 13 weeks in about ten minutes.