Run the forecast
Open Reports, then Cash forecast. Set As of and the number of Weeks, 13 by default, and press Run. The forecast changes nothing in your books, so try what you like.
Choose a scenario
Under Scenario (1):
- Optimistic: every overdue invoice is collected this week, everything else on its due date.
- Expected: each invoice is collected on its due date plus the customer's average days late.
- Conservative: as expected, but invoices more than 60 days overdue are left out altogether.
If you are planning a big decision, go by the conservative one.
Read the four figures
- Opening cash: your bank and cash balances in the books now.
- Balance after 13 weeks: where you end up.
- Lowest point: the weakest moment and which week, usually the one that matters most.
- Runway: weeks before the balance goes below zero. If it never does, the ∞ sign shows.
The chart shows each week's closing balance. In the table below it, press a week to see what is behind it: invoices, cheques, recurring documents and payroll, each with its link.
Add what the books do not know
Press Manual items (2) to add a new hire, a tax payment or an expected loan drawdown. Enter the Description, Date, Amount and Repeat. A positive amount is cash in, a negative one is cash out.
At the bottom, What the forecast assumed explains the basis. Payroll comes from the last posted run; if there is none, add it as a manual item. Depreciation and prepaid releases do not appear because they move no cash, and drafts are left out.
The forecast is only as good as the books. An unreconciled bank or unrecorded bills give a misleading picture, so reconcile the bank first.
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