Help/Accounting/Cash flow and forecast
Cash flow and forecast
The money that actually came in and went out, week by week or month by month, and what the next few look like if they go like the last few. It is on every plan, the Free plan included, and there is nothing to set up.
Why it is not the same as profit
Your P&L counts a sale when you make it. Cash flow counts it when the money arrives. So they differ when:
- A customer has not paid an invoice yet. It is a sale, but not money yet.
- You received a supplier bill and have not paid it. It is a cost, but the money has not left yet.
- You bought stock or equipment. The money left today, but the cost reaches your P&L later.
- You put your own money in, took some out, or borrowed. That is money, but not a sale or a cost.
Read it
Open Cash Flow in the Back office menu, or the Cash Flow tab next to P&L Report. Choose Weekly or Monthly at the top.
- Money in, Money out, Left over: the totals for the weeks or months shown.
- The chart: one bar per week or month. Above the line, more came in than went out. The bar for this week or month is lighter, because it is not over yet.
- Week by week: tap a row to see where the money came from and went: sales, costs, stock, equipment, your own money, loans and GST.
- Already on your books, still to be paid: invoices your customers have not paid and bills you marked as paying later, with their due dates.
Everything comes from what is already in your books: sales you type, invoices and their payments, Online Shop and POS sales, bookings, payroll and receipts. The more you record, the truer it is.
The forecast
The forecast takes your average week over the last 12 full weeks (or your average month over the last 3 full months) and carries it forward for the next 8 weeks (or 3 months). It uses sales, costs, supplier bills and stock. One-offs are left out: equipment, your own money, loans and GST paid to IRAS.
It is simple arithmetic on your own numbers, not a promise. It needs 12 full weeks of entries first. Until then the page says when it will appear rather than guessing.
Seeing what is left in the bank (Pro 365)
On Pro 365, once your balance sheet is set up with what was in your bank and cash drawer on your start date, the page also shows:
- What is in the bank and cash today, and at the end of every week or month since your start date.
- Where the bank and cash would be at the end of each forecast week.
- A warning naming the week it would go below zero, if your usual weeks spend more than they bring in.
Questions
The forecast says it needs more history.
It waits for 12 full weeks of entries so it is not built on a handful of days. It appears by itself when you have them. The page says roughly when.
Is the forecast done by AI?
No. It is your own average carried forward. On Pro 365 you can ask the assistant about it in plain English, for example “can I afford a new oven next month?”, and it reads the same numbers as this page.
Why does my cash flow not match my P&L?
See why it is not the same as profit. Unpaid invoices, unpaid bills, stock, equipment and your own money are the usual reasons.
The bank figure looks wrong.
It starts from the bank and cash you typed on the balance sheet. Open the balance sheet and check it against your bank app.
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