Profit tells you whether your business model works. Cash tells you whether you will still be operating next quarter. A rolling 13-week cash forecast is the simplest tool for seeing problems early enough to do something about them.
Why thirteen weeks?
Thirteen weeks is one quarter. It is long enough to capture payroll cycles, quarterly tax payments and seasonal swings, yet short enough that each week can be forecast from real, known commitments instead of broad assumptions.
Build it from receipts and disbursements
Unlike a budget, a cash forecast follows money in and money out, not revenue and expense. Structure it in three blocks:
- Opening cash across every operating account.
- Receipts: customer collections based on actual payment behaviour, not invoice due dates.
- Disbursements: payroll, rent, vendors, debt service and taxes, each on the date it will actually leave your account.
Closing cash for one week becomes opening cash for the next.
Model collections the way customers really pay
If your terms are net 30 but customers pay in 41 days on average, forecast 41. Segment by customer type where behaviour differs. This single adjustment is often the difference between a forecast that drifts and one that holds.
Compare forecast to actual every week
Each week, replace the forecast for the week just ended with actuals, note the variance and roll a new week onto the end. Over time, the variance log shows exactly where your assumptions are weak.
| Week | Forecast | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 36 | $1,920,000 | $1,884,500 | -1.8% |
| Week 37 | $1,868,000 | $1,879,200 | +0.6% |
| Week 38 | $1,812,000 | $1,806,900 | -0.3% |
Plan for scenarios, not a single number
Run at least three versions: a base case, a conservative case where collections slow down, and a growth case with planned hires. The conservative case is the one that tells you how much runway you truly have.
A forecast is not a promise. It is an early warning system, and its value comes from being updated every single week.
Automating the forecast
Veyra builds the 13-week view directly from your connected bank accounts, invoices and payroll, learns each customer's real payment pattern and refreshes the forecast daily. Scenario toggles let you compare cases side by side without copying spreadsheets.
