13-Week Cash Flow Forecast: The CFO System That Prevents Surprises
A monthly P&L tells you what happened. A 13-week cash forecast tells you what will happen — so you can prevent “sudden cash crunch” weeks before they hit.
You see negative weeks early — and fix them by pulling collections, rescheduling payables, or arranging limits.
What is a 13-week cash forecast?
It’s a rolling weekly view of cash, usually broken into:
- Opening cash (bank balances)
- Expected inflows (collections, advances, refunds)
- Expected outflows (payroll, rent, GST, vendor payments, EMIs)
- Closing cash each week
Why CFOs prefer 13 weeks
- It’s long enough to see seasonal cash cycles
- Short enough to update weekly without turning into “budgeting exercise”
- Matches reality: GST, payroll, EMIs, vendor cycles
Interactive: 13-Week Forecast Builder + Stress Test
Enter baseline weekly numbers. Apply scenarios to see negative weeks early.
We implement a weekly cash rhythm: collections pipeline + payment plan + 13-week forecast + alerts.
| Priority | Bucket | Examples | Decision rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | Statutory | GST/TDS/PF/ESI, critical compliance fees | Pay first (avoid penalties and blocks) |
| P2 | Payroll | Salaries, contractual labor commitments | Never miss (protect operations and morale) |
| P3 | Critical vendors | Key suppliers, logistics, utilities | Protect continuity (avoid stockouts) |
| P4 | Growth/discretionary | Marketing, expansions, non-critical purchases | Pay if buffer remains, else reschedule |
Weekly CFO Cadence (the habit that makes forecasting accurate)
A good forecast is not a spreadsheet — it’s a weekly operating rhythm. Here’s the cadence:
Monday: Cash review
- Update bank balances
- Confirm expected collections for 2 weeks
- Finalize payment plan for the week
Mid-week: Exception handling
- Chase stuck collections
- Reschedule non-critical payments
- Escalate vendor blocks and compliance deadlines
Friday: Next 2-week update
- Roll forecast forward
- Adjust for new orders, delays, surprises
- Re-check buffer and covenants
Monthly: MIS alignment
- Link cash movements to P&L drivers
- Working capital improvement actions
- Budget updates and scenario planning
Cashflow problems rarely arrive suddenly — they build quietly.
A 13-week forecast gives you early warning and time to act. If you want, we can implement the full cashflow system with your team.