Thirteen-week cash forecast

Purpose

Create a weekly cash roll-forward for the next thirteen weeks. It reconciles opening cash to supported inflows and outflows, shows the lowest balance, and makes scenario assumptions and funding gaps visible.

Scope

Cover bank balances, AR receipt forecast, AP aging and payment plan, payroll calendar, fixed costs, taxes, financing drawdowns and repayments, capex, prior forecast, and scenario assumptions.

Excluded: initiating transfers, approving payments, drawing financing, posting journals, and giving tax or legal advice.

Data basis

• Bank balance by account and currency with as-of date and restricted-cash flag.
• AR receipts, AP payment schedule, payroll and benefits calendar, fixed-cost and capex schedules, tax calendar, and financing terms.
• Prior 13-week forecast and approved base, downside, and upside assumptions.

Result

A 13-week sheet with opening cash, inflow categories, outflow categories, net movement, closing cash, minimum balance, and scenario columns, plus a liquidity memo.

Quality criteria

• Week-one opening cash reconciles to the bank balance as of the forecast date.
• Closing cash equals opening cash plus inflows minus outflows for every week and scenario.
• Each cash item has timing, currency, category, and source or assumption basis.
• The memo identifies the lowest balance and any breach of the configured liquidity floor.

Instructions

Use a consistent week-ending convention and keep bank accounts and currencies separate until the supplied FX rule is applied. Include only cash movements expected within the thirteen-week window. Place AR and AP items by the documented receipt or payment date, not merely due date, when a schedule exists. Show payroll, taxes, financing, and capex as named categories. Apply base assumptions first, then change only the stated drivers for downside and upside. Do not hide restricted cash or a funding gap in a net total.

Adapt before use

• Map bank, AR, AP, payroll, fixed-cost, financing, tax, capex, and prior-forecast columns.
• Define week-ending convention, currency conversion, liquidity floor, and scenario drivers.
• Add payment timing policy and identify restricted cash and committed financing fields.

Process detail

Set the forecast calendar

Generate thirteen consecutive forecast weeks from the bank as-of date and record currencies, accounts, and scenario names.

Data basis: Bank balance dates, run input, calendar convention, and scenario assumptions.

Result: Week calendar with opening date, ending date, account, currency, and scenario.

Acceptance criterion: There are exactly thirteen ordered weeks and the first opening date matches the bank as-of rule.

Exception: Flag a non-business-day convention conflict instead of shifting dates silently.

Reconcile opening cash

Aggregate unrestricted bank balances and separately identify restricted cash, overdrafts, and unavailable accounts.

Data basis: Bank balance account, currency, amount, as-of date, and restriction fields.

Result: Opening-cash table by account and currency.

Acceptance criterion: Opening totals tie to the bank source and restricted amounts are not included in available cash.

Exception: Keep accounts with missing as-of dates unresolved.

Schedule operating inflows

Place customer receipts, financing inflows, refunds, and other supported cash receipts into the week of expected settlement.

Data basis: AR receipt forecast, financing schedule, refund register, currency, and receipt-date fields.

Result: Weekly inflow schedule with source, amount, category, and confidence.

Acceptance criterion: Inflows sum to the underlying schedules and every item has one forecast week or an explicit uncertainty bucket.

Exception: Do not count an AR amount twice when it appears in both a receipt forecast and a promise log.

Schedule operating and financing outflows

Place supplier payments, payroll, taxes, fixed costs, capex, debt service, and financing fees into their expected payment weeks.

Data basis: AP schedule, payroll calendar, tax calendar, fixed-cost plan, capex register, and financing terms.

Result: Weekly outflow schedule with committed, planned, and assumption-based labels.

Acceptance criterion: Each category total reconciles to its source schedule and timing basis.

Exception: Separate a missing payment date from a zero payment and flag it as unresolved.

Calculate scenarios and liquidity headroom

Roll opening cash, inflows, outflows, and closing cash under base, downside, and upside drivers and compare closing cash with the liquidity floor.

Data basis: Weekly schedules, scenario driver table, FX rule, and liquidity threshold.

Result: Forecast sheet with net movement, closing cash, minimum balance, headroom, and breach flag.

Acceptance criterion: Every closing balance reproduces as opening plus inflows minus outflows and scenario differences equal stated driver changes.

Exception: Keep a funding gap visible when closing cash falls below the floor; do not invent financing.

Document what could not be assessed

List missing bank balances, uncertain receipt or payment dates, absent scenario drivers, FX gaps, restricted-cash ambiguity, and unsupported funding assumptions.

Data basis: Calendar, schedule exceptions, scenario table, and reconciliation checks.

Result: Open-points section in the liquidity memo with week and amount.

Acceptance criterion: Every open point names the affected week, category, currency, and source gap where known.

Exception: State no open points only after every week and scenario has been checked.