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Guide to Using This Cash Flow Template
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To use this spreadsheet, go to File > Download
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Managing cash flow in your business is one of the most critical actions you can
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take to ensure smooth operations, efficient use of credit and to know whether there
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is a problem on the horizon in time to address it.
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This template will enable you to track the estimated cash coming into the buseinss
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(receipts) and flowing out of it (expenses) when they occur. The template is simple
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and straightforward. Use it, adapt it, expand it and make it your own powerful tool.
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There are three sheets:
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1. The Cash Flow sheet tracks your opening balance, receipts and expenses during
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a period and closing balance. The periods can been weekly or monthly, depending
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on your need. We recommend that organizations that have not done regular cash
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flow tracking use weekly periods for a rolling three months (13 weeks). At the top
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of the sheet summarizes the period cash flow and provides a watch line that
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indicates whether the company will be in a positive cash position or may exceed
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its cash and borrowing position.
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2. The Collections sheet allows you to estimate when you will receive payment for
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outstanding invoices and future receipts.
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3. The Payables sheet allows you to project the timing and amount of payments to
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major vendors, for example, for inventory.
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Getting started:
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Steps 1 to 10 refer to the Cash Flow worksheet.
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1. Decide whether you will use this as a weekly or monthly cash flow and replace
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the periods in line 4 on the Cash Flow sheet with relevant week or month. Also
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enter your company name and the date in the upper left-hand corner.
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2. If you have a line of credit, enter the limit in cell B8. If you do not have a line of
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credit, enter zero.
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3. Enter your opening bank account balance in cell B14. If you have multiple bank
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accounts you can enter them in B15 and add additional lines as needed.
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5. Enter projected cash receipts from sales on line 19.
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6. Note that line 20 pulls information from the Collections sheet. If you prefer, you
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may choose not to use the Collections sheet and enter your projected receipts
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from outstanding and future invoices here.
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7. If you have a line of credit, enter the opening balance in cell B21. If not, enter
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zero. Enter expected draws on the line of credit on this line.
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8. Enter other projected receipts, for example loans from shareholder or investment,
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on line 22.
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9. Enter your regular expenses in lines 26 to 34. Feel free to change the line
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headings and add or delete as appropriate to your business.
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10. Note that line 35 pulls information from the Payables sheet. If you prefer, you
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may choose not to use the Payables sheet and enter your projected spending on
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inventory or other regular purchases from vendors here. Feel free to add your
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major vendors by name and your estimated spending with them.
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Steps 11 to 14 refer to the Collections worksheet.
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11. On the Collections sheet replace the period headings with the same week
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or month that you used on the Cash Flow sheet. Also enter the company name
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and date in the upper left-hand corner.
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12. Enter projected receipts of outstanding invoices by period in the upper portion
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of the spreadsheet (lines 7-11). Add additional lines as needed. This can be done
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by individual invoice or batches of invoices. Some users link this to their AR Aging
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report, though that is only as useful as your customers stay within terms, so it may
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require moving some items around based on your experience.
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13. Enter future receipts based on anticipated sales/invoices in the section
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entitled Future Invoices (lines 14-18). Inputs for this can be from your orders in
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process or projected sales.
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14. The total for each period from line 21 will be carried over to the Cash Flow
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worksheet line 20.
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Steps 15 to 18 refer to the Payables worksheet.
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15. On the Payables sheet replace the period headings with the same week
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or month that you used on the Cash Flow sheet. Also enter the company name
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and date in the upper left-hand corner.
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16. Enter projected payment of outstanding payables by period in the upper portion
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of the spreadsheet (lines 7-11). Add additional lines as needed. This can be done
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by individual invoice or batches of invoices. Some users link this to their AP Aging
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report, though you may prefer to look at individual owing separately.
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17. Enter future payables based on anticipated purchase orders in the section
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entitled Vendor Commitments (lines 14-18). Inputs for this can be from your purchase
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order system or projected purchases.
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18. The total for each period from line 21 will be carried over to the Cash Flow
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worksheet line 35.
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The Cash Flow spreadsheet will automatically calculate your total receipts in