Nonprofit 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: Individual donations, Grant installments, Government contracts, Event income
• Cash out lines ready to use: Program staff payroll, Program delivery costs, Rent and facilities, Fundraising costs
• 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 Nonprofit example
• Excel (.xlsx) and Google Sheets versions

Who it’s for

Separates restricted and unrestricted funds and plans around grant timing, campaign seasons and reimbursement delays. The template is built for owners, managers and bookkeepers of nonprofit 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.
• Grant Schedule: grant installments with the month each payment is expected, so restricted money is never a surprise.
• 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 Grant Schedule tab works

The Grant Schedule tab lists large, irregular payments with the month each starts, how many payments there are and how often they repeat. The example includes community foundation grant and state program grant. Each one is routed to the right line of the forecast, and there are spare rows for your own.

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: individual donations, grant installments, government contracts, event income, membership dues and corporate sponsorship. Cash out: program staff payroll, program delivery costs, rent and facilities, fundraising costs, grant-funded expenses, insurance and audit fees. 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 Grant Schedule 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 Nonprofit cash flow guide or how to make a cash flow forecast.