Free Excel template
13-week cash flow forecast template, in Excel
A week-by-week forecast of cash in and out for the next quarter, with a minimum buffer that turns any tight week red while there is still time to act. Free to download, no sign-up.
What’s inside
4 worksheets, every total a live formula.
13-week forecast
Thirteen weekly columns of receipts and payments by type, with opening and closing balances that roll forward on their own and week-start dates set from a single cell.
Buffer and headroom
Set the minimum cash you never want to go below. Every week’s headroom over that buffer is calculated, and any week that breaches it turns red, with the lowest point shown on the right.
Actuals and forecast error
As each week closes, enter the real closing balance. The sheet shows how far out the forecast was, which is how the next thirteen weeks get more accurate.
Read me
How to set it up, how to roll it forward each week, and what each line should and shouldn’t contain.
| Row | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | |
| 2 | Opening balance | 11,31,000 | 13,91,000 | 13,66,000 | 14,06,000 | 3,81,000 |
| 3 | Receipts | |||||
| 4 | Collections from customers | 8,30,000 | 7,40,000 | 6,20,000 | 4,90,000 | 7,80,000 |
| 5 | Other receipts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,00,000 |
| 6 | Payments | |||||
| 7 | Suppliers | 5,10,000 | 4,90,000 | 5,20,000 | 5,60,000 | 5,40,000 |
| 8 | Salaries, rent and EMI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,95,000 | 0 |
| 9 | GST and TDS | 0 | 2,15,000 | 0 | 0 | 52,000 |
| 10 | Other payments | 60,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
| 11 | Closing balance | 13,91,000 | 13,66,000 | 14,06,000 | 3,81,000 | 8,09,000 |
| 12 | Headroom over buffer | 8,91,000 | 8,66,000 | 9,06,000 | (1,19,000) | 3,09,000 |
How to use it
From download to a finished report
- 01 Enter the Monday your first week starts, your opening bank balance and your minimum cash buffer. Every week’s dates and opening balance follow from those three cells.
- 02 Forecast collections from your debtor ageing and each customer’s actual payment habits, not from invoice due dates. This is the line that decides whether the forecast is any use.
- 03 Put fixed payments in the weeks they really leave the bank: salaries and rent at the start of the month, TDS by the 7th, GST by the 20th, EMIs on their debit date.
- 04 Look for the red weeks. A breach five weeks out is a decision you still have time to make: chase a customer, move a supplier payment, or draw on a limit early.
- 05 Every week, enter the actual closing balance, note the forecast error, then roll the sheet forward: drop the finished week and add a new week 13.
What the example is showing you
Look at week 10. Collections have been sliding for three weeks because one large customer is paying late, and then the 1st of the month arrives with salaries, rent and a loan EMI together. The balance drops to ₹3.81 lakh, ₹1.19 lakh below the buffer.
Nothing about the monthly P&L would have warned you. The forecast shows it five weeks out, which is enough time to chase that customer, bring the planned drawdown forward from week 11, or move a supplier payment. That early warning is the whole point of a 13-week forecast. The step-by-step guide covers how to build each line.
Read with it
13-Week Cash Flow Forecast Template — questions
What is a 13-week cash flow forecast?
A rolling forecast of cash in and cash out for the next thirteen weeks — one quarter — updated every week. It is short enough to forecast accurately from known receivables and payables, and long enough to see a shortfall coming while there is still time to act on it.
Is this cash flow template free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no email gate. Download it and adapt it for your business.
Why weekly and not monthly?
Because cash problems are weekly. Salaries go out at the start of the month, GST on the 20th, and a monthly forecast averages them together. A business can end every month with cash in the bank and still be unable to pay salaries on the 1st.
How do I forecast customer collections?
Start from your receivables ageing, invoice by invoice for the larger customers, and apply each customer’s actual payment pattern rather than the due date on the invoice. Then add expected new sales that will be collected within the thirteen weeks. The forecast error row will tell you within a few weeks whether you are too optimistic.
Can you run the forecast for us?
Yes. A rolling 13-week cash flow is part of our virtual CFO service, built on books we close ourselves and reviewed with you every month.
Serving businesses across India
Want someone watching your cash every week?
We build and run the 13-week forecast as part of a virtual CFO engagement. A 30-minute call, no cost, to see whether it fits.
Delivered within 24 working hours, or next month is on us. 24 working hours from the moment we have your complete data. The clock runs Monday to Saturday and pauses on Sundays and public holidays. Terms