Small Business 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: Customer payments (cash and card), Invoice collections, Owner investment, Loan drawdowns
• Cash out lines ready to use: Payroll and payroll taxes, Rent and utilities, Supplier and inventory payments, Loan repayments
• 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 Small Business example
• Excel (.xlsx) and Google Sheets versions

Who it’s for

A general forecast for service and product businesses that want a clear view of the next 13 weeks and 12 months. The template is built for owners, managers and bookkeepers of small business 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.
• Collections: turns what you invoice each month into the cash you actually collect, based on how fast customers really pay.
• 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 Collections tab works

The Collections tab turns what you invoice into cash actually collected for “Invoice collections”. The example assumes 25% is paid in the month invoiced, 55% the following month and 17% 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.

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: customer payments (cash and card), invoice collections, owner investment, loan drawdowns, tax refunds and other income. Cash out: payroll and payroll taxes, rent and utilities, supplier and inventory payments, loan repayments, insurance, software subscriptions, sales tax / vat, income tax installments and owner drawings. 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 Collections 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 Small Business cash flow guide or how to make a cash flow forecast.