NUMBERS & JUDGMENT / UPGRADED EXCEL TOOL
Cash: see the pinch point.
A 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast that separates the original plan from actual results and the current outlook—and shows how a delay changes the picture.
7 workbook tabs · Weekly cash chart · Actual/forecast separation · Stress case
Free Excel download. No sign-in or email signup required. Open the Start Here tab before editing the inputs.
The decision
Will available cash meet the next 13 weeks of obligations, and when would a shortfall require action? Enter positive receipts and payments, a minimum cash floor, completed weeks, and realistic payment timing. Review base and stress cases together.
What is upgraded
Separate Forecast and Actuals schedules feed the Week Model and Dashboard. Inputs control receipt delays, collection realization, and payment stress for future weeks. The model shows the lowest cash balance, the first week below the cash floor, the peak funding gap, and weekly variances. Start Here and Methods explain the conventions.
The worked example: timing changes the answer
The fictional base case never falls below the $100,000 floor and ends week 13 with $376,365. Delayed receipts, lower collections, and higher future payments produce a stress-case breach in week 7 and a peak funding gap of $18,360. The model makes the timing of that gap visible.
Use it in three steps
- Enter cash available for the obligations being modeled, excluding restricted or unavailable balances where appropriate.
- Schedule receipts and payments in the week they are expected to clear. Enter actuals for completed weeks and set the completed-week cutoff.
- Test delayed or reduced receipts and higher payments. Use the first-breach and peak-gap outputs to plan action before a cash shortfall.
Important boundaries
Stress settings apply to future unclosed weeks, not historical actuals. Receipts deferred beyond week 13 are disclosed separately rather than silently treated as lost. The peak funding gap is the largest shortfall below the cash floor, not the sum of repeated weekly shortfalls. This is a fixed 13-week window; rolling it forward requires updating the input dates and schedules.
Related analysis: A Balanced Budget Can Still Hide a Cash Crisis →
Free educational model. No email signup is required for the download. All examples are fictional. Review assumptions, cash availability, and payment commitments before relying on the forecast.
