Consulting & Agency Cash Flow Forecast Template

What’s inside

• 13-week weekly forecast linked to a 12-month monthly view and 3-year outlook
• Cash in lines ready to use: Monthly retainers, Project milestones, Hourly billing, Media pass-through
• Cash out lines ready to use: Staff salaries, Freelancer and contractor payments, Software stack, Office
• Best, expected and worst case scenarios with one switch
• Actual vs forecast tracker with variance highlighting
• Dashboard: lowest balance, runway, buffer alerts and charts
• Loan, tax and one-off payment schedules
• Start-here tab with a filled-in Consulting & Agency example
• Excel (.xlsx) and Google Sheets versions

Who it’s for

For agencies and consultancies with retainers, project milestones and clients who pay on 30 to 60 day terms. The template is built for owners, managers and bookkeepers of consulting & agency businesses who want a forecast that already speaks their language, rather than a generic spreadsheet they have to rebuild.

What’s inside

• Start Here: setup steps, colour key and a guide to every tab.
• Dashboard: cash today, the lowest balance in the next 13 weeks and 12 months, weeks below your buffer, runway, actual vs forecast and two charts.
• Settings: start date, bank balance, minimum buffer, currency, the expected / best / worst case switch and 3-year growth rates.
• Project Billing: turns what you invoice each month into the cash you actually collect, based on how fast customers really pay.
• Media Pass-Through: media you pay on clients’ behalf, as a share of what they reimburse.
• 13-Week: weekly receipts and payments for the next quarter, with automatic week dates and buffer warnings.
• 12-Month: the monthly forecast for the year, with a check row that compares it with the 13-week view.
• 3-Year: an annual outlook built from the 12-month forecast and your growth rates.
• Actuals: what really happened each month, typed in from your bank statement or accounts.
• Variance: actual minus forecast for every line, in green and red, with year-to-date totals.

How the Project Billing tab works

The Project Billing tab turns what you invoice into cash actually collected for “Project milestones”. The example assumes 10% is paid in the month invoiced, 60% the following month and 25% two months later. Invoices sent before the start date are entered separately so the first months are right, and anything never collected shows as bad debt, so you can see what slow payers cost you.

The Media Pass-Through tab calculates media paid for clients at 97% of media pass-through. Change a percentage once and every month of the forecast updates, so costs rise and fall with the sales that drive them.

Green numbers on the 12-Month tab come from these calculations. You can change the assumptions on the tab, or type over a green cell if you’d rather enter a figure yourself.

Cash lines already in place

Cash in: monthly retainers, project milestones, hourly billing, media pass-through and success fees. Cash out: staff salaries, freelancer and contractor payments, software stack, office, media spend paid on behalf of clients, travel and professional insurance. Rename any line, or insert a row inside a section and the totals include it.

Set up in about 20 minutes

1. On Settings, enter the start date, today’s bank balance and your minimum cash buffer.
2. On the Project Billing tab, replace the example assumptions with your own.
3. Enter the remaining cash in and cash out lines on the 12-Month and 13-Week tabs, in the period each amount actually moves.
4. Check the Dashboard for your lowest balance and any red weeks or months.
5. At each month end, type actual figures on the Actuals tab and review the Variance tab.

Excel, Google Sheets and delivery

The workbook is a standard .xlsx file with no macros or external links, tested in Excel and Google Sheets. After payment you get an instant download link on screen and by email, plus a quick-start PDF. For background on the method, read the Consulting & Agency cash flow guide or how to make a cash flow forecast.