The annual budget may show enough cash by the quarter end while the business faces a funding gap next Friday. A 13-week cash flow forecast helps a finance team see that timing problem and decide what to do while there is still time to act.
Its value comes from the decisions it changes. The finance director should be able to see which delayed receipt needs intervention, which spending decision remains open and when a funding discussion can no longer wait. The longer-term forecast keeps commitments beyond the next 13 weeks in view.
How much cash is available to meet the next payment?
The opening figure needs to agree to bank information at the forecast date. Restricted balances and cash held in another group company may not be available to the entity making the next payment.
Show available committed facilities separately, including relevant limits and conditions. An undrawn facility is a funding source, not cash already in the bank. Unagreed borrowing or hoped-for shareholder support should be clearly identified as an assumption.
For a group, retain visibility by entity and currency before producing the consolidated view. A comfortable total can conceal a shortfall in the company that must make the payment.
When will customers actually pay?
The debtor ledger and customer terms provide the starting point. The collection team’s information may tell a different story: a contractual due date is of little help if an unresolved invoice query will delay payment.
Avoid counting both an outstanding debtor and the sale that created it. For future trading, connect the expected receipt to the delivery and billing milestones that must happen first.
Identify receipts with a material uncertainty, such as an unresolved invoice query or customer acceptance condition. Show the effect of delay in a downside view rather than quietly moving the date to make the forecast balance.
Schedule payments when they are due
Include supplier settlements, employment costs, tax payments, debt servicing, capital expenditure and other committed outflows. Use actual due dates where known and make estimates visible.
Keep the treatment of VAT consistent. If customer and supplier cash flows include VAT, the forecast also needs the associated VAT settlement or recovery at the appropriate time. Do not mix gross receipts with net payments without a reconciliation.
Separate committed payments from expenditure management can still change. A planned saving is useful only if the decision can be made before the commitment becomes unavoidable.
Show the low point, not just the final week
Consider a simplified week starting with £120,000 of available cash, with £60,000 of receipts and £150,000 of payments. The closing balance is £30,000. If management has set a £40,000 operating buffer, the forecast identifies a £10,000 shortfall against that buffer.
The order of those movements also matters. If the payments fall due before the receipts arrive, the cash position could be worse during the week. Use a daily view where weekly totals would conceal a material low point.
The example excludes facilities and assumes the stated flows are complete. The buffer is a management policy, not a universal requirement.
The weekly meeting should explain what changed
Each weekly review should begin with what actually happened. Replacing the completed week with actual receipts and payments, reconciling closing cash and adding a new week keeps the forecast rolling. Explaining the differences is what makes it useful.
If a receipt has slipped, establish why before moving it into next week. A disputed invoice may need someone to resolve the query; a cancelled order needs a different forecast. Likewise, postponing a supplier payment without agreement does not establish that the revised date is achievable.
Use the meeting to settle who will act and when. Finance may need a collection update, operations may need to reconsider a purchase, or the finance director may need to speak to the lender. The following week, check whether those actions changed the cash position as expected.
Keep the longer-term commitments in view
A short-term forecast will not fully show a refinancing due in six months, a seasonal cash requirement later in the year or the long-term effect of investment. Keep those matters in the longer-range model and connect the assumptions between the two.
A 13-week forecast alone is also insufficient for a full going-concern assessment. Its immediate value is in the decisions made this week: which receipt needs attention, which commitment can still be changed and whether funding needs to be discussed now.
Reviewed 21 October 2026. General business guidance. Forecast frequency and detail should reflect the company’s cash risks and decision timetable.
Related reading
Accendo: The weekly question that makes a cash forecast useful