Start with available cash

Use a clearly defined opening balance and list expected receipts and payments by week. Separate confirmed items from estimates. Include known commitments even if they sit outside the team’s immediate marketing budget, so the view reflects the relevant operating scope.

Track timing assumptions

Record when customer payments, partner funds and supplier invoices are expected to settle. A signed order or investment discussion is not the same as cash received. Flag assumptions that depend on external decisions and avoid counting uncertain receipts as guaranteed resources.

Use the view for choices

Identify weeks with potential pressure and the decisions available before they arrive. Review discretionary spending, collection follow-up and timing options through appropriate commercial processes. Update the view regularly with actual outcomes so the team improves its understanding of timing. Keep a short explanation beside any large week-to-week movement. Management should be able to tell whether the change comes from an actual receipt, a rescheduled payment or a revised assumption, rather than treating every improved closing balance as new cash. Keep cash planning separate from profit reporting so a positive projected result does not conceal a near-term shortage of available operating funds.

Imagine this

Illustrative operating example

Hypothetically, opening cash is $100,000, expected receipts are $40,000 and scheduled payments are $90,000. The closing estimate is $50,000. If receipts slip to the next week, the same payment schedule leaves $10,000 instead.

Make it practical.

Use this checklist as you read. Checks are not stored.

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