Section 04 • 2 guides

Cash Flow & Forecasting

Profitable companies run out of money on a schedule the P&L never shows. Cash problems are timing problems — receivables landing after payroll, annual bills hitting in the same month, growth consuming working capital faster than margin replaces it.

This section covers the 13-week cash forecast, runway and burn math, and budget-versus-actual reporting that people actually read — the tools that turn cash from a monthly surprise into a managed number.

Benchmarks
13 weeks
The forecast horizon that catches problems in time
±5%
Forecast accuracy a good weekly cadence reaches in week one
2 hrs/wk
What maintaining the model costs once it is built

How cash gets managed

Habit 1
Forecast weekly

Thirteen weeks of expected receipts and disbursements, updated every Monday.

Habit 2
Know your runway

Months of cash at current net burn — the number every decision checks against.

Habit 3
Manage the cycle

Invoice terms, collections, and payables timed so the gap stays fundable.

Habit 4
Compare to plan

Budget versus actual, with commentary on the misses that matter.

Everything in this section

2 guides • ordered for reading start to finish
04.1Runway and Burn Rate Math That Holds Up6 min04.2The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast, Explained9 min
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Monthly Close & Reporting →

The close is the only deliverable in bookkeeping that matters — what it consists of, how long it should take, and where it goes wrong.

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