💵 Cash Flow Calculator

The Cash Flow Calculator projects your business's monthly cash inflows and outflows over a 12-month horizon so you can see whether your bank balance is trending up or down before it becomes a problem. It's built for founders, bookkeepers, and small business owners who want a fast forward-looking view of liquidity rather than a backward-looking profit and loss statement.

How It Works

You enter a starting cash balance, a base monthly cash inflow (collections and revenue), a base monthly cash outflow (all operating expenses paid in cash), and optional monthly growth rates for each. The calculator compounds inflows and outflows forward month by month using those growth rates, computes net cash flow for each month, and rolls the balance forward from your starting point — the same running-balance logic a cash flow statement uses, just projected instead of historical.

Why It Matters

A business can be profitable on its income statement and still run out of cash if collections lag expenses or growth outpaces available cash. Projecting inflows and outflows month by month surfaces exactly when a cash crunch might hit, so you can arrange financing, delay a purchase, or accelerate collections before the balance turns negative.

Tips for Accurate Results

• Base your inflow and outflow figures on actual cash timing, not accrual-basis revenue and expenses — a sale booked this month may not be collected for 30-60 days.
• Keep growth rate assumptions conservative; overly optimistic inflow growth is the most common cause of an inaccurate cash flow forecast.
• Re-run the projection whenever a large one-time inflow or outflow (a loan, a tax payment, an equipment purchase) is expected — this simple model assumes steady monthly growth.
• Watch for any month where the ending balance dips near zero or negative — that's your signal to line up a credit line or delay non-essential spending.