Every figure in the worked cases below is invented and labeled that way. A forecast shows when cash runs thin; which product, if any, fits that week is a question for a funding partner's review.
13-week cash flow forecast: a Brown County, TX example built on an electrical contractor's open invoices
A 13-week forecast lists, week by week, the cash a business expects to receive and pay, so a thin week shows up before it arrives. Electrical contractors in Brown County, TX numbered 10 employer establishments in 2023 (County Business Patterns, NAICS 238210). The format suits any contractor whose invoices go out as jobs finish while payroll keeps a fixed calendar.
In this invented forecast the contractor opens with $18,400, pays a $6,300 payroll in each odd-numbered week (7 paydays), pays rent of $2,150 every fourth week of the forecast and owes a $9,400 wire order in week 6. The invented closing balance bottoms out at $12,300 in week 7 and ends the 13 weeks at $25,200.
| Week | Opening cash | Customer receipts | Payroll | Rent and supplier bills | Closing cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $18,400 | $3,200 | $6,300 | $2,150 | $13,150 |
| 2 | $13,150 | $7,900 | $0 | $0 | $21,050 |
| 3 | $21,050 | $2,600 | $6,300 | $0 | $17,350 |
| 4 | $17,350 | $4,100 | $0 | $0 | $21,450 |
| 5 | $21,450 | $9,800 | $6,300 | $2,150 | $22,800 |
| 6 | $22,800 | $1,500 | $0 | $9,400 | $14,900 |
| 7 | $14,900 | $3,700 | $6,300 | $0 | $12,300 |
| 8 | $12,300 | $11,200 | $0 | $0 | $23,500 |
| 9 | $23,500 | $2,900 | $6,300 | $2,150 | $17,950 |
| 10 | $17,950 | $4,600 | $0 | $0 | $22,550 |
| 11 | $22,550 | $8,300 | $6,300 | $0 | $24,550 |
| 12 | $24,550 | $2,200 | $0 | $0 | $26,750 |
| 13 | $26,750 | $6,900 | $6,300 | $2,150 | $25,200 |
The low week in this invented table is the one to plan around. The owner could move the wire order, ask the supplier about its timing, or draw the $9,400 for it on a line of credit in week 6 and clear the draw with the invented $11,200 of receipts in week 8. The commercial line of credit article follows a metal shop's draws the same way, and the boring mill article sets machine payments against the first invoice.
How can a business improve cash flow? A tax bill in Brownwood, TX
A business's cash position gets better in three ways: customers pay it sooner, it pays its own bills later, or less of its money sits on shelves and in unbilled work. For a small business that can mean invoicing the day a job finishes, asking for a deposit on large orders, holding fewer weeks of slow-moving stock and agreeing payment dates with customers in writing.
Some bills still land at the wrong time. Illustration only, invented figures: a Brownwood, TX shop owes a $4,260 tax bill 23 days before two customer invoices are due to clear. A credit-line draw at a 14.05% annual rate, cleared the day those invoices are paid, carries $37.72 of simple interest on a 365-day year in this invented case. Paying the bill from a line of credit draw keeps the tax date and the invoice dates apart without touching payroll.
Whether a partner offers a line, and on what terms, depends on its own review of the business. A child care provider's loan paperwork and a restaurant's food truck each get a post of their own.
How to prepare a cash flow forecast: a worked case on a monthly equipment payment in Brown County, TX
- List the opening cash in the business accounts on the first day of the forecast
- Write down expected customer receipts by week, using invoice dates and how long each customer takes to pay
- Add fixed outflows on their real dates: payroll, rent, insurance and loan or equipment payments
- Add variable outflows such as materials and supplier bills, tied to the jobs that need them
- Carry each week's closing balance forward as the next week's opening cash
- Mark the weeks that fall below the cushion the owner wants to keep, then revisit the forecast every week
Illustration only, invented figures: a Brown County, TX shop is weighing a $23,600 machine financed over 48 months at an 11.45% annual rate. The invented monthly payment is $615.12, so the forecast gains a fixed $615.12 outflow on the payment date for each of the 48 months; across the term those payments come to $29,525.76, of which $5,925.76 is interest.
Seeing that payment in the weeks where it falls, next to payroll, shows whether the shop can carry it. The equipment financing page covers machines bought this way. Two more posts weigh equipment agreements: the end of a kiosk lease, and a track dumper from a dealer or another builder.
Planning for a group invoice in Brownwood, TX? A cash flow note for motels and hotels
A motel that puts a visiting work crew or a team on one invoice pays its front-desk and housekeeping wages and its breakfast-bar groceries now, and the invoice for the rooms can be paid weeks after checkout. Of the 14 traveler accommodation establishments with employees in Brown County, TX in 2023, 10 had fewer than five people on the payroll (County Business Patterns, NAICS 7211).
In a forecast, each open group invoice belongs on its own line with the date payment is expected, kept apart from stays paid at checkout. When several are open at once, the gap can be covered by a working capital loan or a line of credit; keycard locks and breakfast-bar appliances the motel keeps are an equipment question, noted on the industries page.
By Deltagrove Loans · Updated
