Cash flow management
Profit is an opinion. Cash is a fact. Most of the companies we meet in British Columbia are profitable on their year-end statements and still scramble for payroll twice a year, because nobody is watching the timing of money in and money out. Cash flow management replaces the bank balance with a forward view, usually thirteen weeks, so the owner knows what is coming and acts before it arrives.
What you leave with
You know your cash position thirteen weeks out, every week, and you have a plan for every dip before it happens.
Who it is for
- Owners who check the bank balance before approving a purchase or a hire
- Seasonal businesses in BC that carry a quiet quarter every year
- Companies that have grown into a line of credit and cannot get back out
What we deliver
- A 13-week cash flow forecast, updated weekly, built from your real receivables, payables and payroll
- A collections routine with owner-level escalation rules for late accounts
- A payment calendar that times suppliers, remittances and debt service to your inflows
- A cash buffer target and a plan to reach it
- Early-warning triggers for the weeks that will be tight
- A monthly cash review with Ali
How it runs
01Map the flows
We trace every regular inflow and outflow, including the ones that do not appear on the income statement, such as loan principal, GST and PST remittances and owner draws.
02Build the forecast
We build the 13-week model from live receivables and payables, not from averages, and reconcile it to the bank each week.
03Fix the timing
We change invoicing, deposits, payment terms and supplier timing so the forecast improves without new revenue.
04Run the rhythm
A weekly cash check becomes a standing habit, with a monthly review to reset assumptions.
Engagement and fees
Usually a Workshop of two to four weeks at $30K to $80K to build the model and the routine, followed by an Advisory Retainer at $8K to $25K per month if you want us to keep running it with you. Every engagement is scoped after a call and confirmed in writing. See consultations and fees.
Why profitable companies run out of cash
The income statement records revenue when it is earned and cost when it is incurred. The bank records money when it moves. In a company with 45-day customer terms, 30-day supplier terms, biweekly payroll and quarterly GST remittances, those two pictures can diverge by months.
Growth makes it worse. Every new job or order needs labour, materials and overhead paid before the customer pays. The faster you grow, the more cash the business absorbs. Owners read this as a mystery, because sales are up and the bank account is down. It is not a mystery. It is the cash conversion cycle, and it can be measured and shortened.
The 13-week cash flow
Thirteen weeks is a quarter. It is far enough out to act and close enough to be accurate. The model lists every expected receipt by customer and every planned payment by week, starting from the real bank balance. Each Monday it rolls forward one week and the previous week is reconciled to what actually happened.
The discipline is in the reconciliation. When a receipt slips, the owner sees it the same week and the collections call happens on Tuesday instead of at month end. When a tight week appears in week nine, there is time to delay a purchase, draw on the line or push a supplier, which is a very different conversation from asking for the same thing in week one.
Moves that improve cash without new revenue
Most companies can free cash in the first 90 days by changing how they bill and pay, without a single new customer. Deposits on orders, progress billing on long jobs, invoicing on the day of delivery instead of at month end, and card or pre-authorised debit for small accounts all move money in sooner.
On the outflow side, the work is matching payment timing to inflow timing and negotiating terms with suppliers who have never been asked. We also look at how inventory, equipment and owner draws are funded, because those decisions quietly set the cash buffer the business lives on.
- Aged receivables and aged payables as of today
- The last six months of bank statements
- Payroll dates, loan schedules and remittance due dates
Industries where we run this most
Questions about this service
How is a cash flow forecast different from a budget?
A budget sets targets for revenue and expenses over a year. A cash flow forecast predicts the actual money in the bank each week. A business can be on budget and out of cash, because budgets ignore timing. You need both, and the cash view is the one that keeps the lights on.
Can you build this in our existing accounting software?
Partly. QuickBooks Online, Xero and similar tools hold the receivables and payables the model draws from. The 13-week view itself usually lives in a spreadsheet or a connected forecasting tool, because it needs assumptions the accounting system does not store. We keep it simple enough that your team can maintain it.
We are seasonal. Does this still work?
It works better for seasonal companies than for anyone else. The forecast shows the trough months in advance, so you set a buffer target in the busy season, arrange a line of credit before you need it and time capital purchases to the right side of the slow period.
How quickly will we see a difference?
The forecast itself exists within the first two to three weeks. The improvement in the bank balance depends on how much slack there is in your billing and collections, which is usually more than owners expect. Most of the first-quarter gains come from invoicing sooner and collecting faster.
Start with a finance review.
Ninety minutes with Ali on your cash, margin and pricing. You leave with the four numbers to watch and the two or three moves that change them, whether or not we work together.