Retail Store 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: In-store sales, Online sales, Layaway and gift cards, Supplier rebates
• Cash out lines ready to use: Stock purchases, Store payroll, Rent, POS and card fees
• 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 Retail Store example
• Excel (.xlsx) and Google Sheets versions

Who it’s for

For shops planning stock buys ahead of peak seasons and managing daily takings against supplier terms. The template is built for owners, managers and bookkeepers of retail store 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.
• Stock Purchases: stock has to be paid for before it sells. This tab pulls purchase payments forward by your lead time.
• Card & Shrinkage: costs that rise and fall with sales, worked out as a percentage of the sales lines on the 12-Month tab.
• 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 Stock Purchases tab works

The Stock Purchases tab calculates what you pay for stock each month: cost of goods at 52% of in-store sales and online sales, paid 2 months before it sells. Raise next season’s sales forecast and the stock payments move earlier and grow automatically.

The Card & Shrinkage tab calculates pos and card fees at 2.2% of in-store sales and online sales and shrinkage and markdowns at 1.5% of in-store sales. 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: in-store sales, online sales, layaway and gift cards and supplier rebates. Cash out: stock purchases, store payroll, rent, pos and card fees, utilities, shrinkage and markdowns, seasonal staff and marketing. 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 Stock Purchases 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 Retail Store cash flow guide or how to make a cash flow forecast.