River
Y CombinatorBacked by Y Combinator
Log InStart Free

Free template

Small Business Cash Flow Forecast Template

A 13-week cash flow forecast dated by when customers really pay, with sheets for spotting your first short week and pricing ways to cover it.

Edit with AIDownload (.docx + .csv)

Free download · No account needed

What you get

Pack of 10 files: 5 documents, 5 spreadsheets

Small Business Cash Flow Forecast Template
  • The Week It BreaksDocument
  • Assumptions in Plain LanguageDocument
  • How the Days to Pay Were MeasuredDocument
  • Action Options if the Forecast Turns NegativeDocument
  • The Weekly Roll ForwardDocument
  • Weekly Cash ForecastSpreadsheet
  • Collection Timing by CustomerSpreadsheet
  • Receivables and Payables TimingSpreadsheet
  • Scenario ViewSpreadsheet
  • Action OptionsSpreadsheet
RiverSmall Business Cash Flow Forecast Template

Weekly Cash Forecast

[Company]: thirteen weeks from [Monday]

One column a week. Every inflow sits on the date a deposit is expected to clear, which is the invoice date plus that customer’s measured days, and never the terms written on the contract.

LineBasisWk 1Wk 2Wk 3… Wk 13
Opening balanceBank— ——… —
Collections, measured deposit datesMeasured ——— …—
PayrollEvery other Friday— —…
Supplies and consumablesWeekly— ——… —
Rent, finance, subcontract, drawMonthly, by day ——… —
Insurance, tax filings, licensesQuarterly —…
Committed and ordered, not yet paidBy date —…
Closing balance, measured—— ——… —
Closing balance, on the written termsControl ——— …—
Cash floorYou set it— ——… —
Headroom over the floor—— ——… —

Every week gets two closing balances, one on measured deposit dates and one on the written terms. The terms row is the control, so the difference between the two readings is visible rather than argued about. And every week that closes under the floor points at the Action Options sheet, where each response carries the lead time it needs and the date after which it is no longer available.

How to make a cash flow forecast for a small business

A small business cash flow forecast lists the cash you expect to receive and pay out each week, starting from today's bank balance. A good one covers the next 13 weeks. It dates each customer payment by how long that customer really takes to pay, and puts payroll on its actual paydays. Then it shows the first week you'd fall below a minimum balance, while there's still time to act.

The amounts are the easy part. Timing is what empties a bank account: a big customer paying three weeks late, or a month with three paydays.

A fashion designer talks on the phone at her laptop, with sketches pinned on the wall and a rack of garments beside her
Chasing an overdue invoice by phone costs nothing and can cover a short week. Photo: Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Start with cash you can spend

Open week 1 with what's in your business accounts today, not the cash figure in your books. Leave out money that isn't yours to spend: sales tax you've collected, customer prepayments for work not yet done and payroll taxes withheld from paychecks. The IRS calls those withholdings trust fund taxes1, because you hold your employees' money in trust.

Use weekly columns, because cash cushions are thin. In 2016 the JPMorgan Chase Institute, the bank's research arm, reported on 597,000 small businesses' Chase accounts: the median one held enough cash for 27 days of typical outflows2. In the Federal Reserve Banks' 2024 survey of small employers, 51% named uneven cash flows as a financial challenge3.

Then set a floor, the lowest balance you'll allow. A sensible start is one payroll run plus two weeks of fixed bills, enough to last two weeks with nothing coming in.

Date cash in by how customers really pay

Payment terms say when a customer agreed to pay, and deposits show when they actually do. Rice University's OpenStax accounting textbook notes that because customers pay at varying rates, you need data to estimate collections4. Your bank history is that data.

  1. Export the history

    Pull 12 to 18 months of bank deposits and paid invoices. A bank statement to Excel converter turns PDF statements into sortable rows.

  2. Match and count

    Match each deposit to the invoice it paid, by amount, then reference. Split a lump payment oldest invoice first, then count the days from invoice to cleared deposit.

  3. Summarize each customer

    Record the average, the 90th percentile (the slowest payment in 10) and how many invoices sit behind them.

  4. Weight by dollars

    Average all customers by amount invoiced, so big accounts count most.

The template's made-up cleaning company has 41 contracts, all on 30-day terms. The four slowest take 57 to 71 days and carry 41.5% of the invoicing. Weighted by dollars, the company is paid in 46.9 days, but a simple average across contracts says about 39.

Forecast each invoice at its date plus that customer's average, and keep the 90th percentile for a downside run. A new customer has no history, so use the median of similar accounts and mark it as a guess.

Put every payment on its real date

Enter payroll on its paydays, never as a monthly average. A biweekly payroll runs 26 times a year, so most years two months carry three paydays. At the example's $46,000 a run, each of those months costs $138,000, against a monthly average of $99,667.

In the US, payroll taxes follow one of the IRS's two deposit schedules, monthly and semiweekly5, and you must know which is yours before each calendar year begins. Put each deposit in the week it's due.

Quarterly bills, such as insurance and estimated taxes, go in the week they land. A small business tax deadline calendar lists the tax dates. Add orders you haven't paid for, and count only income that's invoiced or under a signed contract.

New work costs cash before it brings any in. In the same example, a new $34,000-a-month contract starting May 1 needs $18,600 of equipment and three more cleaners. Its first invoice goes out June 1, and similar customers pay in about 65 days, so no cash arrives until August.

Find the first week under your floor

Scan the closing balance row for the first week below your floor. Note its date, the shortfall, the days until it arrives and what lands in it, largest first. That list shows what can move.

Then ask whether it's a timing problem or a profit problem. A business that made money last year but runs short one week has a timing problem. One that pays out more than it takes in, week after week, needs new prices or lower costs.

ExampleOne forecast, read two waysAn illustrative example written for this guide, from the template's made-up cleaning company.

Forecast run on April 6, from $61,200 in the bank, with a $40,000 floor.

On 30-day terms, the low point is $79,230 and no week breaks the floor.

On measured days to pay, it's $11,530 in the week of June 22: $28,470 short, 77 days out.

That week $65,440 goes out, led by a $52,400 payroll run and the owner's $8,000 draw. Just $17,900 comes in.

  • Same costs, same invoices. Only the payment dates differ between the two readings.
  • The slow case comes sooner. At every customer's 90th percentile, the first short week moves to April 27, 21 days away.

Price every way to cover the gap

Give every way to free up cash four numbers: what it frees, the days it takes, what it costs and that cost as a yearly rate. Its decide-by date is the first day of the short week, minus those days. For chasing old invoices, a late payment reminder drafts firm, polite emails.

Ways to cover a short week, cheapest first

OptionLead timeWhat it costs
Defer the owner's drawSame dayFree, if your own bills can wait
Hold a purchase you haven't paid forA day or twoFree, unless there's a cancellation fee
Chase the oldest unpaid invoicesAbout a weekFree
Ask suppliers for longer termsAbout a weekFree, unless they charge for it
Draw on an existing credit lineA few daysInterest at the line's rate
Offer an early payment discountTwo to three weeksOften 20% a year or more
Apply for new credit or sell invoicesSeveral weeksInterest and fees, if approved

Lead times vary, so check your agreements.

On 2/10, net 30 terms (2% off for paying within 10 days), OpenStax's finance textbook calculates that skipping the discount costs a buyer 36.73% a year6. Offering it costs you the same only if customers pay on day 30. If they really pay on day 47, the discount brings cash in 37 days sooner, not 20, so it costs about 20% a year.

Line up new credit before you need it: in the same Federal Reserve survey, only 41% of firms that applied for financing got all they sought3. A business loan application template covers the numbers lenders check.

Never delay payroll or payroll taxes

Wages are due on payday, and withheld taxes are your employees' money. If those taxes go unpaid, the IRS can make the people responsible pay them personally, and it counts paying other creditors instead as a sign of willfulness1. If either is at risk, call your accountant that day.

Update the cash flow forecast every Monday

Each Monday, compare last week's forecast with the bank and explain each gap by line. One deposit four days late is worth a call, but the same total spread over 11 small invoices is noise. Don't edit last week's numbers to match, because the misses are how you learn.

Update customers who paid late, add a new week 13 and check for decisions due within seven days. Once a month, measure everyone's days to pay again.

Before you rely on it

  • Week 1 starts from cash you can spend
  • Every collection date comes from that customer's payment history
  • Payroll and tax deposits sit on their real dates
  • The first week under your floor has a date, a shortfall and a cause
  • Every option has a cost and a decide-by date

The template at the top of this page has all five sheets filled in for the example. Edit with AI opens it in River and builds yours from your bank history.

How to use this template

Use the files as they are, or open them in River. River asks for a year or more of bank transactions, your open invoices and the payments you've already committed to. It measures how long each customer really takes to pay, builds the 13 weeks on those dates, and shows your first short week with every option priced and dated.

Each Monday after that, a low balance alert reads the forecast and tells you the lowest week, what lands in it and any decision due within seven days. It never moves money or edits your sheets.

  1. Download it or open it in River

    Download the five Word documents and five CSV sheets free, or open the template in River and send your bank history.

  2. Measure how fast customers pay

    Match a year or more of deposits to the invoices they paid, or let River do the matching from your bank history.

  3. Build the 13 weeks

    Put each invoice on its measured date and each payment on its real date, then set your cash floor.

  4. Act before each deadline

    Pick from the priced options before their decide-by dates, then roll the forecast forward every Monday.

What's in the template

One company, four sheets, and the week it breaksThe measured payment behavior, the grid read two ways, the composition of the breaching week, and the priced options against it.
Small Business Cash Flow Forecast Template
RiverWhen they pay

Thirty day terms, and what the bank actually says

Fenmark Commercial Cleaning, invented. Forty-one janitorial contracts across offices, medical suites and business parks. $163,000 invoiced a month, $1,956,000 a year, thirty day terms on every single contract. Eighteen months of bank credits matched to the invoices they settled.

CustomerInvoiced a monthInvoices matched Mean days to payp90Slip vs terms
Ambervale Corporate Centre$12,800 177189 +41
Halstead Business Park$18,90018 6581+35
Corlett Medical Group$21,40018 6074+30
Ridgeway Dental Partners$14,60018 5768+27
Smaller contracts, band E$10,000 844657 +16
Ferncastle Offices$7,90016 4152+11
Thackston Legal$9,70018 3339+3
Wrenbury Physiotherapy$4,80014 2731−3
Seven more rows, same shape$62,900 —29 to 41— —
Book, weighted by invoicing$163,000 71546.957.0 +16.9

Thirty-seven of the forty-one contracts pay inside 46 days, so an average across contracts lands close to the terms and is useless. The four slowest are $67,700 a month, 41.5 percent of everything invoiced, and they set the weighted figure almost on their own. At $5,359 of invoicing a day, that 16.9 day slip is $90,506 of cash a terms-based forecast books before it exists.

Brackenhill Retail Park, the new $34,000 a month site, has no payment history at all. The three comparable multi-tenant properties already on the book pay at 41, 65 and 71 days, so its row reads 65 and is flagged as an assumption rather than a measurement. That flag is carrying $34,000.

RiverThirteen weeks

The same thirteen weeks, read two ways

Forecast run on Monday 6 April. Opening balance $61,200 across the operating accounts. Cash floor $40,000, set by the owner at just under one payroll run. Identical costs and identical invoices in both columns. The only thing that differs is when the money is expected to arrive.

WeekWeek ofCollections inOut Closing, measuredClosing, on the terms
106 Apr$40,400$19,600 $82,000$104,650
213 Apr$58,600$52,200 $88,400$174,000
320 Apr$17,900$39,050 $67,250$134,950
427 Apr$46,100$60,740 $52,610$178,710
504 May$35,600$17,600 $70,610$161,110
611 May$42,200$62,600 $50,210$157,010
718 May$21,200$5,650 $65,760$151,360
825 May$59,700$65,440 $60,020$190,420
901 Jun$39,900$10,050 $89,870$180,370
1008 Jun$32,200$72,900 $49,170$165,970
1115 Jun$31,200$21,300 $59,070$144,670
1222 Jun$17,900$65,440 $11,530$79,230
1329 Jun$65,000$10,050 $66,480$207,680
Low point—— —$11,530 $79,230
First week under the $40,000 floor—— —week 12, 22 Junnever

Two more numbers make the third column arguable rather than obvious. Collections over the thirteen weeks are $507,900 on the deposit dates and $649,100 on the terms, and $126,100 of the ledger was already past its terms date on 6 April, which a grid filled in off the terms has nowhere to put but the first two weeks.

Run the same grid at every customer’s p90 instead and the first breach moves to week 4, the week of 27 April, with a low point of $14,430. Same costs again. The base case gives 77 days of warning; the downside gives 21.

RiverThe week it breaks

Week 12, and why a business making $2,791 a week runs out in June

The twelve months before the forecast invoiced $1,956,000 and produced $145,120 of surplus after the owner’s $8,000 monthly draw, which is 7.4 percent of revenue. Payroll was $1,196,000 of it, 61.1 percent. This is a healthy business with a timing problem.

What lands in the week of 22 JuneAmount On the options list?
Payroll run$52,400 Never. Not a lever
Owner draw$8,000 Yes, deferrable
Supplies, chemicals and fuel$4,450 Partly
Line of credit interest$590No
Total out$65,440—
Collections expected in$17,900—
Net for the week−$47,540 —
Brackenhill Retail Park, the new siteInside the thirteen weeks
Three cleaners, raising the biweekly run from $46,000 to $52,400 from 1 May $32,000
Supplies up $900 a week from 4 May$8,100
Scrubbers and a van fit-out, paid 24 April$18,600
Cash the contract consumes$58,700
First invoice raised, billed in arrears1 June
First deposit expected, at 65 days5 August
Cash the contract returns, measured$0
Cash it appears to return, read off the terms $34,000

Read off the terms, 1 June plus thirty days is 1 July, and 1 July sits inside week 13. That single row is the difference between a contract that looks more than half funded and one that funds none of itself for four months.

May also carried three payroll runs, because twenty-six runs a year does not divide by twelve. At the new headcount that is $157,200 against the $113,533 one twelfth of the payroll books, and the year nets to zero, which is exactly why a monthly forecast cannot see it.

RiverThe options

Eight responses, priced, with the date each one expires

The shortfall is $28,470 in the week of 22 June. Sorted by what the money costs per year on the amount it releases, because $410 of interest on $75,000 for three weeks and $1,086 of discount given up on $54,300 are not comparable as dollars.

OptionReleasesLeadCash costCost a year Decide byStill open at p90
Defer the owner draw one cycle$8,000 0 days$00.0% 22 JunYes
Hold the ordered van one quarter$14,200 2 days$00.0% 20 JunYes
Chase the past-60 tranche on the slow four$31,700 5 days$00.0% 17 JunYes
Hold trade payables to 45 days$22,600 7 days$00.0% 15 JunYes
Draw the line of credit already in place$75,000 3 days$4109.5% 19 JunYes
Offer 2 percent for payment inside 10 days$54,300 16 days$1,08619.7% 06 JunFive days to decide
Apply for a new line of credit$75,000 38 days$1,22528.4% 15 MayAlready gone
Factor the receivables ledger$231,300 24 days$5,78230.4% 29 MayAlready gone
The four that cost nothing$76,500 7 days$00.0% 15 JunYes

Four free options release $76,500 against a $28,470 shortfall, and the slowest of the four needs seven days, so the decision is due 15 June. That is seventy days after the forecast was run, and no financing is required at all.

Now the last column. At every customer’s p90 the breach moves to 27 April, twenty-one days out, and factoring needs twenty-four days of diligence while a new facility needs thirty-eight. Both had already expired on the morning the forecast was run. Every free option survived. The expensive options are the ones that expire first, because they take the longest to arrange.

  • Weekly Cash Forecast sheetCash in and out for 13 weeks, with closing balances on measured dates and written terms, against your floor.
  • Collection Timing by Customer sheetEach customer's median, average and 90th-percentile days to pay against their terms, with the invoice count.
  • Receivables and Payables Timing sheetEvery open invoice with the date its payment should arrive, and every committed payment by week.
  • Scenario View sheetThe same 13 weeks on written terms, on average days to pay, and at each customer's 90th percentile.
  • Action Options sheetEach way to cover a short week, with the cash it frees, lead time, yearly cost and decide-by date.
  • The Week It BreaksThe worked example, start to finish: a made-up, profitable cleaning company that runs short in June.
  • How the Days to Pay Were MeasuredHow to match deposits to invoices, handle part payments and spot a customer who has slowed down.
  • Assumptions in Plain LanguageWhich figures are measured and which are guesses, and what to leave out of your opening balance.
  • Action Options if the Forecast Turns NegativeThe reasoning and traps behind each option, and why payroll and tax deposits never appear on the list.
  • The Weekly Roll ForwardA 15-minute Monday routine, a longer monthly check, and the thresholds that should trigger action.

Common questions

What should a small business cash flow forecast include?

It should include your opening bank balance, the customer payments you expect each week, every bill on the date it leaves your account, and the closing balance. Add a minimum balance you won't go below. Payroll belongs on its paydays, and income only counts once it's invoiced or under contract.

How far ahead should a small business forecast cash?

A weekly cash forecast usually looks 13 weeks ahead, one quarter. That's near enough to know most of the invoices, bills and paydays involved, and far enough to fix a short week while the cheap options are still open. Plan beyond that with a monthly budget.

How do I forecast when customers will pay?

Measure it from your bank history instead of reading it off your payment terms. Match 12 to 18 months of bank deposits to the invoices they paid, count the days in between, and average them for each customer. Weight the overall figure by dollars invoiced, and use each customer's slowest payments for a downside run.

Why is my business profitable but short of cash?

Often it's timing, not losses. Customers may pay weeks after their terms, new work costs money before its first invoice is paid, and some months carry three biweekly paydays. Your profit report may count a sale when you invoice it, but your bank counts it when the money clears. A weekly forecast shows which gap is hitting you.

How often should I update my cash flow forecast?

Update it every week, ideally on the same morning. Compare last week's forecast with your bank statement, explain any big misses, add a new week at the end and check which decisions are coming due. Once a month, measure again how long each customer takes to pay, since habits change.

Is this cash flow forecast template free?

Yes. Download the five Word documents and five CSV sheets with no signup. The sheets come filled in for a made-up cleaning company, Fenmark, so you can see how each one works before you clear it. Edit with AI opens the same template in River.

What does Edit with AI do?

It opens the template in a free River workspace. River asks for your bank transactions, open invoices and committed payments, measures each customer's days to pay, then builds the 13 weeks on those dates. It finds your first week under the floor and prices the options, but leaves the choice, and any tax questions, to you and your accountant.

Sources

  1. IRS. “Employment taxes and the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP).” irs.gov (opens in a new tab)

  2. JPMorgan Chase Institute. “Cash is King: Flows, Balances, and Buffer Days.” jpmorganchase.com (opens in a new tab)

  3. Federal Reserve Banks. “2025 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey.” fedsmallbusiness.org (opens in a new tab)

  4. OpenStax. “7.3 Prepare Financial Budgets.” openstax.org (opens in a new tab)

  5. IRS. “Depositing and reporting employment taxes.” irs.gov (opens in a new tab)

  6. OpenStax. “19.2 What Is Trade Credit?” openstax.org (opens in a new tab)

Written by

Chandler Supple

Co-founder & CEO, River

Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.

LinkedInGitHubX

Reviewed by

Brian Joseff, Co-founder, River

LinkedInX

Related tools and templates

More free templates