Cash Flow Planner: 12-month cash flow forecast for a small business
Plan 12 months of cash in and out, see the month cash runs short and what would cover the gap.
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About the Cash Flow Planner
Type your bank balance, your usual monthly sales and how fast customers pay, your regular and one-off costs and any other money coming in, and see 12 months of cash in, cash out and the closing balance. The planner finds the first month the balance falls below zero or below your safety buffer, shows the gap in three scenarios (your plan, slow sales and late collections) and what would cover it: collecting sooner, moving a cost, a monthly saving or a loan sized with EMI maths. GST is paid in the month after the sale. Everything runs in your browser.
How it works
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Step 1
Type your bank balance, the safety buffer you want to keep, your usual monthly sales before GST with any growth or busy and slow months, and how much of each sale is paid straight away.
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Step 2
Add your stock and GST rates, regular costs such as rent, salaries and EMIs, one-off costs such as a deposit or equipment, tax payments your CA gives you and any other money coming in.
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Step 3
Read when the balance first drops below your buffer, compare the three scenarios, follow the steps that would cover the gap and download the month-by-month statement as a CSV file.
How the plan is worked out
Each month starts with the closing balance of the month before. Sales paid straight away count in the month of the sale; the rest arrive after the credit days you type, with months counted as 30 days, so 45 days puts half of a month's credit sales in the next month and half in the month after. Stock is bought as a share of sales and paid after your suppliers' credit days. For a running business, sales made before the plan still come in during the first months, so the plan does not start with a false dip. Regular costs repeat every month, every 3 months or once a year from the month you pick, and one-off costs fall in their month.
Why GST and credit sales catch businesses out
GST on a sale belongs to the month of the invoice, even when the customer pays later: under sections 12 and 13 of the CGST Act, the time of supply is the earlier of the invoice and the payment. So a business that sells on credit can owe GST before the customer has paid. The planner takes the GST on your sales, less the GST on the stock you buy, and pays it the next month: a monthly GSTR-3B is due by the 20th, and QRMP filers pay by the 25th for the first two months of a quarter and file by the 22nd or 24th, depending on the State, after the quarter. Input tax credit has conditions, such as holding the supplier's tax invoice, so your CA decides what you can claim.
What this tool cannot do
It works in whole months, so the balance can dip lower within a month, between paying salaries and collecting from customers; the buffer is there for that. It does not know your bank, your lenders' rates or your taxes: TDS, advance tax and GST rates are what you type. The loan it sizes uses an example rate unless you type your own, and the lender's Key Facts Statement decides the real cost. It is a planning aid, not financial or tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
How is cash flow different from profit?
Profit is sales less costs over a period; cash flow is the money that actually reaches and leaves your bank account, and when. A profitable business can still run short of cash if customers pay late, if stock or a deposit has to be paid before the sales come in, or if GST falls due before the customer pays. A 12-month plan shows the months where that happens, so you can act before it does.
How big should my safety buffer be?
There is no rule. Our suggestion is about one month of regular costs, such as rent, salaries and EMIs, so that a slow month or a late payment does not stop you paying them. The "Use one month of my monthly costs" link fills that in from the costs you typed. A business with seasonal sales may want more.
What do the slow sales and late collections scenarios show?
Slow sales lowers every month's sales by 20% from the first month of the plan, and late collections makes customers on credit pay 30 days later than usual. Both figures are our suggestions, and you can change them. If the plan holds with your figures but not in a bad case, keep the step that would cover the bad case ready.
How does the planner size a loan?
If the balance falls below your buffer, it finds the smallest loan, rounded up to ₹10,000, that keeps every month at or above the buffer when the money arrives in the first month below it, with EMIs from the next month. The EMI uses the standard reducing-balance formula from our Loan EMI Calculator, at the rate and tenure you type. For retail and MSME term loans, RBI requires lenders to give you a Key Facts Statement before you sign, with the APR, the yearly cost including all charges, so compare lenders on that.
My customers are businesses that take 60 or 90 days to pay. What can I do?
If you are a micro or small enterprise with Udyam registration, the MSMED Act limits the payment period you can agree with a business buyer to 45 days from acceptance, and a buyer who pays late owes compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate, whatever the agreement says. Manufacturers and service providers can file a delayed payment case through MSME Samadhaan; traders cannot. Our MSME Delayed Payment Interest Calculator works out what a late payer owes. In the planner, try fewer credit days or a larger advance to see how much your lowest balance rises.
Related reading
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