How Cassence builds your 13-week cash forecast
Week by week, the cash you’ll have over the next quarter, built from your books by fixed rules. Here is every rule, and a template to build one yourself.
Cassence starts from a bank balance you confirmed, adds each unpaid invoice on the day that customer usually pays and new sales at the recent pace, and takes off salaries on their pay day, supplier bills on their due dates, loan repayments and each tax on its own date. Invoices more than 90 days late are left out. No AI makes the numbers.
Why 13 weeks, and why weeks
Thirteen weeks is a quarter: far enough ahead to act, near enough to be accurate. And weeks, not months, because cash runs out in a week, not a month. A month can look fine on average while one week in it can’t cover salaries.
Cassence’s forecast runs from tomorrow to the end of the third month, so every month’s salaries fall inside it. That is 13 weeks, with a short last week when the months don’t divide evenly.
It starts from a balance a person confirmed
The first number is your bank balance, confirmed against a statement. Not the balance in your books, which can drift, and never one Cass guessed. Every week after that is that balance plus what comes in, less what goes out.
Money in: three rules
- Each unpaid invoice, on the day that customer usually pays
Its invoice date plus that customer’s average days to pay over the last 3 months. With no history for them, the company’s average; with none at all, the due date. An invoice already later than usual is expected from the first week, and at most 4 weeks out.
- New sales at the recent pace
The last 3 months’ average collections. Until your usual days to collect have passed, the invoices already counted are part of that pace, so they aren’t counted twice.
- Money waiting at a payment gateway
What Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU or Stripe has collected but not yet sent, on the day it should reach your bank.
Money out: five rules
- Salaries, on the day you pay them
The latest month’s payroll, so recent hires count, on the day of the month you usually pay. With Keka connected, net pay on its pay day, and PF and ESI on the 15th.
- Supplier bills, on their due dates
Overdue ones in the first week. New bills at the recent pace after that.
- Loan repayments
The principal of each EMI, on its usual day. The interest is spending.
- Tax, each on its own day
GST on the 20th (or your quarterly dates), TDS on the 7th, PF and ESI on the 15th, advance tax on its instalment date: first the amounts your books already owe, then each tax’s recent level. See the GST and TDS calendar.
- Everything else, evenly
Rent, cards, fees and interest: the last 3 months of the rest of your spending, spread evenly across the weeks.
Build your own: a 13-week template
The same lines, with where each number comes from. Download it with the weeks and sums filled in, and add your figures.
| Line | Where the number comes from | 19 Oct | 26 Oct | 2 Nov | 9 Nov | … |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening cash | A balance you confirmed against the bank | ₹ | last week’s close | |||
| Money in | ||||||
| Customer invoices due | Each unpaid invoice, on the day that customer usually pays | |||||
| New sales | The last 3 months’ average collections, less invoices already counted | |||||
| Gateway settlements | Money Razorpay, Stripe and others have collected but not yet sent | |||||
| Money out | ||||||
| Salaries | The latest month’s payroll, on the day you usually pay | |||||
| PF and ESI | From the payroll, on the 15th | |||||
| Supplier bills | Unpaid bills on their due dates, then the recent pace | |||||
| Loan repayments | The principal of each EMI, on its usual day | |||||
| GST | What the books owe, on the 20th (or your quarterly dates) | |||||
| TDS | What the books owe, on the 7th | |||||
| Advance tax | The next instalment’s shortfall, on its date | |||||
| Everything else | Rent, cards, fees and interest: the last 3 months, evenly a week | |||||
| Net change | Money in less money out | = | ||||
| Closing cash | Opening cash plus the net change | = | ||||
How to read a forecast
- Find the lowest week first. It is the week most likely to need a decision. Cassence marks it and says why it’s low: salaries and GST in the same week, a big customer due after it.
- Check the line at one month of spending. If cash dips below a month of spending, you have little room if a customer pays late.
- Read the bridge. From today’s cash, through each kind of money in and out, to the closing cash. It shows which line moves the result most.
- Open the week. Each payment in it, so you can see what could move: chase this invoice, pay that bill a week later.
Keep it current
A forecast is only as good as its last update. Update yours every week, after the bank statement. Cassence rebuilds it every night from your latest books, so the first week is always this week.
See the forecast in the demoThe next 13 weeks for a sample company, built by these rules. No sign-up.Questions
What is a 13-week cash flow forecast?
A week-by-week plan of the cash you expect to come in and go out over the next quarter, starting from your bank balance. It shows the lowest week ahead, so you can act before cash runs short.
How is it different from a budget?
A budget plans income and costs by month, usually for a year, as they are earned and spent. A cash forecast follows the money itself, week by week, on the days it actually moves.
Which method does Cassence use?
The direct method: each receipt and payment on the day it is expected, from your books, with the rules on this page.
How often should a 13-week forecast be updated?
Every week, rolling forward so it always covers the next 13 weeks. Cassence rebuilds its forecast every night from your latest books.
What if a customer pays late?
An invoice already later than that customer usually pays is expected from the first week, at most 4 weeks out. One more than 90 days past due is left out as doubtful.
Let Cass build it every night
Cassence builds this forecast from your books every night, marks the lowest week and tells you what would lift it.