Free template · Excel and in-browser
13-week cash flow forecast templatefor small business.
Build a week-by-week cash forecast for the next quarter here, or download the free Excel template. It shows the week cash runs short, before it arrives, so there is still time to collect, delay or arrange financing.
helcyon — 13-week cash forecast
Example figures
Lowest closing cash
$28,500
in week 9Cash stays above your minimum all 13 weeks.
Week 13 cash
$32,000
Below minimum
0 wks
Net 13 weeks
−$16,000
Closing cash by week
Dashed line: minimum $15,000. Amber: below minimum. Red: overdrawn.
Your 13-week forecast
Week 1 is the current week.
| Line | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | 13 wks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening cash | $48,000 | $39,500 | $57,000 | $48,500 | $51,500 | $43,000 | $60,500 | $34,000 | $37,000 | $28,500 | $46,000 | $37,500 | $55,000 | |
| Customer collections | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $312,000 |
| Other cash in | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | $0 |
| Total cash in | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $24,000 | $312,000 |
| Payroll | $26,000 | – | $26,000 | – | $26,000 | – | $26,000 | – | $26,000 | – | $26,000 | – | $26,000 | $182,000 |
| Monthly bills | – | – | – | $14,500 | – | – | – | $14,500 | – | – | – | – | $14,500 | $43,500 |
| Weekly costs | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $6,500 | $84,500 |
| Other cash out | – | – | – | – | – | – | $18,000 | – | – | – | – | – | – | $18,000 |
| Total cash out | $32,500 | $6,500 | $32,500 | $21,000 | $32,500 | $6,500 | $50,500 | $21,000 | $32,500 | $6,500 | $32,500 | $6,500 | $47,000 | $328,000 |
| Net cash flow | −$8,500 | $17,500 | −$8,500 | $3,000 | −$8,500 | $17,500 | −$26,500 | $3,000 | −$8,500 | $17,500 | −$8,500 | $17,500 | −$23,000 | −$16,000 |
| Closing cash | $39,500 | $57,000 | $48,500 | $51,500 | $43,000 | $60,500 | $34,000 | $37,000 | $28,500 | $46,000 | $37,500 | $55,000 | $32,000 |
Next step
Have Helcyon read this from your books
This tool works from the numbers you typed today. Helcyon reads them from your accounting system, rechecks them as new transactions land, and tells you in plain English when one starts to move. Leave your details and we will set up a walkthrough on your own figures. We reply within one business day.
The definition
What is a 13-week cash flow forecast?
A 13-week cash flow forecast is a week-by-week projection of the cash a business expects to receive and pay out over the next quarter. Each week starts with the cash on hand, adds expected receipts, subtracts expected payments and carries the closing balance forward. It uses cash that will actually move, not revenue or expenses as they are booked.
What a 13-week cash flow forecast looks like
- Opening cash
- Week 1 is today's cleared bank balance. Every later week starts with the week before's closing cash.
- Cash in
- Customer payments in the week they are likely to clear, plus loan draws, owner money and any other receipts.
- Cash out
- Payroll on its pay dates, rent and loan payments on their due dates, suppliers, tax and one-off payments.
- Net cash flow
- Cash in minus cash out for the week.
- Closing cash
- Opening cash plus net cash flow. Compared each week against the minimum balance you want to keep.
Thirteen of those weekly columns sit side by side. The template below has every row and formula in place.
Why 13 weeks
Thirteen weeks is one quarter. It covers a full cycle of payroll runs, monthly bills, quarterly tax and the customers who pay late, and it is short enough to project each week from known invoices, bills and schedules.
The weekly view matters because a month can look fine in total and still hold one week where payroll, rent and a tax payment all land before the customers pay. A monthly report averages that week away.
The method
How to build a 13-week cash flow forecast.
Six steps, in the order the template is laid out. The arithmetic is simple. The work is in putting each payment in the week it will really move.
Start with the cleared balance
Use the balance in the operating accounts this morning, after any payments that have not cleared. Every week builds on it, so an estimate here carries through all 13.
Place each customer payment in its real week
Go through open invoices and put each one in the week that customer usually pays, not the week the terms say. A customer who pays 12 days late every time goes 12 days late in the forecast.
Put payroll on its pay dates
Weekly, every two weeks or twice a month, payroll is the largest fixed outflow for most small businesses. Use the full cost: wages, payroll taxes and benefits.
Add bills on their due dates
Rent, loan payments, insurance and subscriptions go in the week they are paid. Suppliers and materials go in as a weekly figure, or invoice by invoice for the big ones.
Add the one-off items
Quarterly estimated tax, an equipment purchase, a balloon payment, a loan draw. These are the items that most often cause a short week, because nobody has them on the calendar.
Roll it forward and mark the low weeks
Closing cash each week becomes the next week's opening cash. Set a minimum balance and mark any week below it. Those weeks are where the decisions are: collect, delay, cut or arrange financing.
Worked example
A business opens with $48,000 and wants to keep at least $15,000. Customers pay about $24,000 a week. Payroll of $26,000 runs every two weeks, $14,500 of rent, loan and insurance payments go out on the 1st, other costs run $6,500 a week, and an $18,000 quarterly tax payment is due in week 7. In a week with no payroll and no bills, cash rises by $17,500. In a week where payroll and the monthly bills land together, it falls by $23,000, and in the tax week it falls by $26,500. Over the quarter cash drifts down a little, which a monthly report shows as a mild decline. The weekly view shows the two or three weeks where the balance comes close to the floor, and they are the weeks to plan for.
Those are the example figures loaded in the builder above. For the full method, with customer-by-customer timing, read how to create a 13-week cash flow forecast.
Keeping it current
A 13-week forecast only works if it rolls.
Built once and left alone, a forecast stops matching the bank within a few weeks. The weekly update is what turns it from a spreadsheet into an early warning.
Every week
Replace and compare
Swap the week that just ended for what actually happened, and compare it with what you projected. The gaps show which assumptions are wrong.
Every week
Add a new week 13
Drop the finished week and add one at the end, so the forecast always looks a full quarter ahead. That is what makes it a rolling forecast.
When it moves
Act on the low weeks
A week below the minimum is a decision with a date on it: chase a payment, move a supplier bill, delay a purchase or draw on credit before the week arrives.
Where a spreadsheet stops
The template is the method.
Keeping it true is the work.
The structure takes ten minutes to understand. What makes a 13-week forecast hard is that every number in it moves every week.
01
It knows what you type
The forecast is only as good as the timing you give each payment. Most owners place receipts on invoice terms, and customers do not pay on terms.
02
It needs an hour a week
Rolling it forward, reconciling last week and re-timing invoices is a weekly job. When a busy week skips it, the forecast quietly goes stale.
03
It cannot see what it was not told
A supplier price change, a customer starting to pay later, a subscription that renewed at a higher rate. None of it appears until someone types it in.
Cash Foresight · Helcyon technology
The same 13 weeks, read from the transactions.
Cash Foresight shows the current cash position and the 13-week path ahead from the business's own transactions, known obligations and stated assumptions. It times receipts from invoice-linked payment history and observed timing, keeps assumptions labelled as assumptions, and reconciles every week to its evidence instead of to a number typed in by hand.
Connects with the tools you already use
Questions
The 13-week forecast, answered plainly.
What is a 13-week cash flow forecast?
A 13-week cash flow forecast is a week-by-week projection of the cash a business expects to receive and pay out over the next quarter. Each week starts with the cash on hand, adds expected receipts, subtracts expected payments and carries the closing balance into the next week. It uses cash that will actually move, not revenue or expenses as booked.
Why is a cash flow forecast 13 weeks?
Thirteen weeks is one quarter. It is long enough to show a full cycle of payroll runs, monthly bills, quarterly tax and the slow-paying customers, and short enough that each week can be projected from known invoices, bills and schedules rather than guesses. Beyond about a quarter, the weekly detail stops being reliable.
What does a 13-week cash flow forecast look like?
Thirteen weekly columns and a short list of rows: opening cash, cash in by source (customer collections, other receipts), cash out by type (payroll, rent and loan payments, suppliers, tax, one-off payments), net cash flow for the week, and closing cash. The closing cash of one week is the opening cash of the next. A minimum cash line shows any week that drops below the balance you want to keep.
How do you build a 13-week cash flow forecast?
Start with the cleared bank balance today. Place each expected customer payment in the week it is likely to arrive, based on how that customer actually pays. Place payroll on its real pay dates, monthly bills on their due dates and weekly spend in every week. Add one-off items such as quarterly tax. Then roll the balance forward week by week and mark any week below your minimum.
What is the difference between a 13-week cash flow forecast and a 12-month projection?
A 12-month projection works in months and is built for planning: budgets, hiring and financing. A 13-week forecast works in weeks and is built for managing cash now. A month can look fine in total and still contain a week where payroll, rent and a tax payment land together before customers pay. Only the weekly view shows that week.
Is a 13-week cash flow forecast direct or indirect method?
Direct. It lists the actual receipts and payments expected each week, rather than starting from net income and adjusting for non-cash items as the indirect method does. That is what makes it useful for spotting a short week before it arrives.
How often should a 13-week cash flow forecast be updated?
Every week. Replace the week that just ended with what actually happened, compare it with what you projected, add a new week 13 at the end and adjust the weeks in between. A forecast that is built once and left alone stops matching the bank within a few weeks.
Is the template free, and does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. The template is a free Excel file with the formulas already in place and no sign-up to download it. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers. The forecast builder on this page also exports your figures as a CSV file.
Does this tool save or send my numbers?
No. The forecast runs in your browser, and the figures you type are never stored or sent. If you ask for a walkthrough at the bottom of the tool, Helcyon receives your name, email and role, plus your one-line result only if you tick the box to include it.
How does Helcyon handle the 13-week view?
Cash Foresight, part of Helcyon's technology, shows the current cash position and the 13-week path ahead from the business's own transactions, known obligations and stated assumptions, instead of figures typed in by hand.
Stop rebuilding it every Monday.
The template gives you the 13 weeks once. Helcyon reads them from your books as new transactions land and tells you in plain English when a week starts to look short.