13-week cash flow forecast
Forecast your cash week by week for a quarter, with the opening and closing balance and a warning for any week that runs short.
Businesses run out of cash between the monthly accounts. Enter your opening cash and the cash you expect in and out each week, and the forecast carries each closing balance into the next week, flags any week below your minimum cash and shows the lowest balance, so you can arrange funding or delay payments before a shortfall arrives.
Owners, finance managers and treasurers who manage cash closely, and businesses preparing a loan or overdraft request.
What is included
- Thirteen weeks of cash in and cash out
- Opening balance carried forward automatically
- OK, low or shortfall status for each week
- Lowest balance and number of shortfall weeks
- Chart of closing cash by week
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Screenshots
How to use it
- Type your opening cash and the minimum you want to keep.
- Enter the date each week starts.
- Enter the cash you expect to receive and to pay out each week.
- Read the closing balance and the status for each week.
Templates are tools to help with your own records. They are not tax or legal advice. Check the figures against official sources before filing or paying.
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What the 13-week cash flow forecast does
Businesses run out of cash between the monthly accounts. Enter your opening cash and the cash you expect in and out each week, and the forecast carries each closing balance into the next week, flags any week below your minimum cash and shows the lowest balance, so you can arrange funding or delay payments before a shortfall arrives.
Who it is for
Owners, finance managers and treasurers who manage cash closely, and businesses preparing a loan or overdraft request.
How to use the workbook
- Type your opening cash and the minimum you want to keep.
- Enter the date each week starts.
- Enter the cash you expect to receive and to pay out each week.
- Read the closing balance and the status for each week.
- Save a copy under a new name for each month or year, so earlier records stay as they were.
What is inside
- Thirteen weeks of cash in and cash out
- Opening balance carried forward automatically
- OK, low or shortfall status for each week
- Lowest balance and number of shortfall weeks
- Chart of closing cash by week
The workbook has these sheets: Instructions, Weeks, By status. The main table has the columns Week; Week starting; Opening cash; Cash in; Cash out; Net cash; Closing cash; Status. Yellow cells are for you to fill in and grey cells calculate by themselves, so leave the grey cells alone. The example rows show how it works; type over them with your own entries.
Tips for getting it right
- Be honest about when customers will really pay.
- Include tax, payroll and loan payments on their due dates.
- Update the forecast every week with actual figures.
- Plan a response to any shortfall weeks early.
Why keep this record
Accounting records let you answer three questions at any time: what came in, what went out and who owes whom. Kept consistently they also make tax returns, loan applications and the sale of a business much easier, because the evidence is already organised. Entering transactions the day they happen is far cheaper than reconstructing them at year end.
Questions people ask
Do I need to know Excel formulas? No. Type into the yellow cells and the rest is worked out for you. The formulas are visible if you want to see how a figure is reached.
Can I add rows or change the layout? You can add your own columns to the right and your own notes. If you insert rows inside a table, copy the grey formula cells down so the new rows calculate too.
Will it work on my phone or in Google Sheets? Yes for viewing and typing, but dropdown lists and the charts look best in desktop Excel or LibreOffice.
Keeping it safe and up to date
Good accounting records are a legal duty as well as a management tool: keep the supporting receipts and invoices with the workbook, and keep each year's copy for at least five years. Work on a copy, never on your only file, and back it up.
Read how to keep business records for KRA for the wider picture. Free calculators that go with it: Vat calculator. See more accounting templates or ask us for a custom one.
The workbook works in Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets. It is a tool to help you work out and record figures, not tax, legal or accounting advice, and it is not affiliated with the Kenya Revenue Authority. If something does not work as described, contact us and we will put it right.
Related guides, calculators and templates
- Free calculator: VAT Calculator
- Guide: How to set up an M-Pesa till or Paybill for your business and account for it
- Guide: How KRA uses data matching and what it means for you
- Guide: How to protect your business from fraud and theft
- Another template: Accounts receivable ledger (up to 1,000 invoices)
- Another template: Bank balance tracker
- Another template: Bookkeeping basics for small businesses
Need something different? Request a custom template, browse all guides or see every Excel template.
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