Start with available cash, not booked revenue
The SBA’s financial-management guidance distinguishes recording a sale from receiving its payment and recommends keeping track of receivables, payables, available cash, and bank reconciliation. [1] Those are useful foundations for this forecast. The weekly method below is GoodToGo Capital’s practical planning approach, not an SBA-required format or a prediction of financing eligibility.
Start with reconciled cash available for operations. Account for pending withdrawals and separate any restricted funds. Do not treat an undrawn credit line, an unpaid invoice, or an unapproved funding application as cash already in the bank. Put possible financing in a separate scenario until its availability and terms are confirmed.
Set up 13 weekly columns and four core rows
Use one column per week for roughly the next quarter. Record opening cash, expected cash receipts, expected cash payments, and ending cash. The calculation is opening cash plus receipts minus payments equals ending cash. Carry each ending balance into the following week’s opening balance.
Break receipts into customer collections and other identifiable inflows. Place each payment in the week cash should arrive, using the customer’s actual payment pattern where possible. For outflows, include payroll, rent, suppliers, taxes, insurance, owner withdrawals, and existing financing obligations. Add irregular bills and scheduled equipment deposits. Avoid counting a pending payment twice if you already deducted it from opening cash.
Find the lowest balance with a simple example
Suppose a hypothetical business opens week one with $12,000, expects $8,000 in receipts, and must pay $15,000. It ends that week with $5,000. Week two brings $6,000 in receipts and $14,000 in payments, producing a projected negative balance of $3,000. These invented numbers illustrate the method; they are not business results or a funding quote.
That negative balance identifies a shortfall under the assumptions. It does not automatically mean the business should borrow $3,000. Review all 13 weeks for a deeper gap and choose an operating cushion appropriate to the business. Also inspect daily timing around large payments: a positive Friday balance can hide a Wednesday shortage if collections arrive Thursday.
Test a late-payment scenario before seeking funding
Now move $4,000 of the example’s week-one receipts to week three. Week one ends with $1,000, and week two ends with negative $7,000. The customer still owes the same amount; changing its arrival date has increased the interim gap by $4,000. Keep the later collection in week three rather than removing it permanently.
Use this second version to discuss specific options: collecting an overdue invoice, requesting a customer deposit, agreeing on different supplier terms, or delaying a discretionary purchase. Change payment dates only when the other party agrees. If balances remain negative after the expected collections arrive, investigate the underlying operating gap rather than assuming one new advance will solve it.
Add a proposed funding offer as its own scenario
Enter the net proceeds on the expected availability date, then add every scheduled payment or remittance and any separate charges. For invoice factoring, replace the original customer receipt with the proposed advance and later reserve release under the written terms; counting both the full invoice collection and its advance would overstate cash.
For equipment financing, include deposits, delivery or installation payments not financed, and the proposed payment schedule. For a merchant cash advance, model the agreement’s collection schedule and ask how sales-based adjustments work. Compare the forecast with and without funding. A larger starting balance alone does not show whether the ongoing obligation fits.
Refresh the forecast every week
Replace the completed week’s estimates with actual transactions, explain the differences, and add another week at the far end. Assign someone to confirm large customer receipts and upcoming bills. Keep uncertain receipts visibly separate from dependable ones so optimism does not become the default assumption.
Bring the forecast, recent bank statements, current obligations, and the purpose of the funding to your next conversation. GoodToGo Capital can help you explore funding options. Availability, pricing, and terms depend on provider review; a forecast helps you ask better questions and does not guarantee approval.
Sources
General educational information. Consider your business’s circumstances and the written terms of any offer.