Thirteen Week Cash Check
By Spencer Garcia · Published · Updated
Lays out the next thirteen weeks of cash in and out for a small business and finds the week where the balance gets tight, with three levers to fix it.
Tags: Small Business, Finance, Planning
Prompt template
## Thirteen Week Cash Check I do not have a finance person. I have a bank balance and a rough idea of what is coming. Help me see the next thirteen weeks. - Cash in the bank today: [text: Amount] - Typical weekly sales: [text: Amount or a range for good and bad weeks] - Seasonality in the next three months: [dropdown: Flat, Picking up, Slowing down, One big spike coming] - Rent and fixed bills with the day of the month they go out: [textarea: List them] - Wages with pay day: [textarea: Staff cost per pay run and when it lands] - Supplier bills owed and due dates: [textarea: What I owe and when] - Money owed to me and when I expect it: [textarea: Invoices out and realistic dates] - One-off costs I know about: [textarea: Tax bill or equipment or deposit] - Overdraft or credit available: [text: Limit or none] Build it like this: 1. A week by week table: opening balance, money in, money out, closing balance. 2. Mark the lowest week. If the balance goes under zero, say in which week and by how much. 3. List the three levers that would move that number the most, in order of how easy they are to pull for a business like mine. Chasing an invoice a week earlier and delaying an equipment purchase count. Increase sales does not. 4. Tell me what to re-check with real numbers, because I will have guessed at some of these. State the assumptions in plain words at the top.