Cash Flow Forecast Template for a Business Loan

A cash flow forecast template puts expected receipts and payments into the periods when money reaches or leaves the business bank account. Use the workbook below to prepare a business client’s forecast, show funding gaps and assemble the evidence behind each assumption.

The file contains editable monthly and weekly schedules, a rolling 13-week view and a completed example with separate stress cases. It is a preparation aid for a finance application. The client’s accountant handles accounting and tax treatment.

Download the Cash Flow Forecast Template

Download the free Excel-compatible cash flow forecast workbook and save a separate copy for each client. The workbook version is 3 October 2026. It uses standard spreadsheet formulas and contains no macros.

Open Instructions first. Blue cells are inputs, grey cells contain protected formulas and green cells show calculated outputs. Formula protection has no password, so the accountant can adjust the structure when needed.

Tab	What you complete or review
Instructions	Cash-timing rules, cell colours, weekly updates and print guidance
Assumptions	Client details, tax basis, source records, assumption owners and review dates
Monthly	Twelve monthly receipt and payment columns for an annual forecast
Weekly	Fifty-two weekly columns for detailed cash scheduling
Rolling13	Thirteen consecutive weeks drawn from Weekly, selected through Assumptions B4
ExampleMonthly	A completed fictional small-business forecast
DelayStress, SalesStress, CostStress and DebtStress	Separate changes to the example’s receipts, costs or repayments

Before entering figures, gather the client’s bank balances, expected collections and payment schedule. Record the entity, start date and goods and services tax (GST) basis on Assumptions. The example uses Australian dollars and GST-inclusive cash amounts wherever GST applies.

Use Monthly for the annual forecast and Weekly for the detailed schedule. They are separate views with their own inputs. Adding their totals together would count the same business cash twice.

Enter Opening Cash, Receipts and Payments

Enter each amount on its expected bank receipt or payment date. An invoice issued in October and collected in November belongs in November’s cash forecast. Accounting profit can include income that has not yet reached the bank.

Follow this entry order in Monthly or Weekly.

1. Replace the period start and end dates in rows 2 and 3. Keep periods consecutive, with each date covered once.
2. Enter reconciled opening cash in B4. Include the cash accounts covered by the forecast and exclude undrawn borrowing facilities.
3. Put immediate sales receipts in row 6 and collections of credit invoices in row 7. Count each receipt on one line only.
4. Enter owner contributions in row 8 and expected loan drawdowns in row 9. Use row 10 for other receipts, including tax refunds.
5. Put operating payments in row 13, tax settlements in row 14 and capital purchases in row 15. Enter payments as positive amounts.
6. Add interest and finance fees in row 16, principal repayments in row 17 and owner drawings in row 18. Other payments go in row 19.
7. Review total receipts in row 11, total payments in row 20 and closing cash in row 23. Every reconciliation difference in row 24 must be zero.

The core cash flow forecast format is opening cash plus receipts less payments equals closing cash. Formula cells roll each closing balance into the next period’s opening balance. A negative closing balance shows the amount of a funding gap under the entered assumptions.

For GST-inclusive cash inputs, include the actual gross receipt or purchase payment. Enter the net tax settlement separately when it is paid. Adding another GST payment to each gross purchase would double-count that purchase’s tax component.

Record tax instalments, payroll obligations and superannuation payments on their expected payment dates. The accountant’s schedule supplies these amounts. The workbook does not calculate a tax return or determine which purchases attract GST.

Use the Monthly, Weekly and 13-Week Views

Use monthly columns to show the annual funding pattern and weekly columns to locate payment pressure within a month. The rolling 13-week view keeps the next quarter’s immediate cash needs visible. The application determines which period and forecast horizon the lender needs.

An annual cash flow forecast can look comfortable even when wages fall due before a large invoice clears. Split that month’s cash into Weekly to show the actual sequence. Preserve the same receipts and payments when comparing overlapping dates across views.

To update Rolling13, follow this sequence.

1. Enter actual cash movements for completed weeks in Weekly. Reconcile the resulting closing cash to the covered bank accounts.
2. Revise future collections and payments in Weekly using the latest information. Keep a dated copy of the previous forecast.
3. Increase the start week in Assumptions B4 by one. A start value of 2 displays Weekly’s second through fourteenth weeks.
4. Confirm the new first opening balance equals the preceding Weekly closing balance. Review the newly included final week before circulating the update.

The start-week selector accepts 1 to 40, within the 52-week source schedule. After that horizon, start a new workbook using the reconciled closing cash and new dates. Do not delete Weekly columns to roll the view forward.

Adapt the cash categories to the client’s business while keeping receipts separate from payments. Rename labels on a working copy after unprotecting the sheet, then restore protection. For extra categories, have the accountant extend the relevant total formulas and check every period.

Business	Receipt timing to model	Payments to capture
Restaurant	Card settlement delays, catering deposits and seasonal trading	Food purchases, wages, rent, utilities and equipment
Trade business	Deposits, invoice collections and final payments	Materials, subcontractors, vehicle costs and payroll
Construction project	Progress claims when expected to clear, including retention releases	Stage costs, subcontractor payments, site overheads and finance
Other small business	Cash sales, credit collections and recurring customer receipts	Stock, staff, overheads, tax and debt payments

A project cash flow forecast needs the project’s own opening funds and receipt dates. If the borrower has several projects, prepare a combined business view as well. Keep transfers between included accounts out of combined receipts and payments.

Review the Completed Example

ExampleMonthly shows fictional Harbour Maintenance’s October 2026 to September 2027 cash forecast. All figures are Australian dollars. Sales receipts and operating purchases include GST where applicable, and the tax line contains separate assumed net GST settlements.

The business starts with $10,000. October and April receipts fall to $22,000, while December and June rise to $44,000. Every other month receives $33,000, including $22,000 of delayed collections from the previous month’s invoices in November.

Harbour pays $28,000 in operating costs each month, plus $500 in finance costs and $1,000 in principal repayments. It pays assumed $3,000 tax settlements in October, January, April and July. These are fictional inputs, not tax calculations or a quoted loan offer.

November adds an assumed $20,000 loan drawdown and a $10,000 equipment purchase. Loan approval and the drawdown date are assumptions in this example. Neither is established by the forecast.

Cash movement	October	November	December
Opening cash	$10,000	-$500	$13,000
Sales receipts	$22,000	$11,000	$44,000
Debtor collections	$0	$22,000	$0
Loan proceeds	$0	$20,000	$0
Operating payments	$28,000	$28,000	$28,000
Tax settlement	$3,000	$0	$0
Equipment purchase	$0	$10,000	$0
Interest and finance fees	$500	$500	$500
Principal repayment	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000
Closing cash	-$500	$13,000	$27,500

Trace the November collection through C7, which receives the $22,000 October invoice payment. C6 contains $11,000 of immediate sales receipts. C11 adds both receipt lines to the $20,000 loan proceeds and gives $53,000 total receipts.

The equipment payment enters C15 at $10,000. C20 adds it to $28,000 operating payments, $500 finance costs and $1,000 principal, giving $39,500 total payments. C23 calculates -$500 plus $53,000 less $39,500, which equals $13,000.

October’s -$500 balance is a funding shortfall before the assumed November drawdown. Later receipts do not fund an earlier payment. Move the October inputs into Weekly to find when that shortfall occurs and arrange a documented response before payments fall due.

Reconcile and Stress the Forecast

Reconcile opening cash to the bank records, then trace receipts and payments to the schedules that support their dates. Match historical cash movements to the accounting records before replacing them with estimates. Explain unusual amounts in Assumptions.

The Australian Government’s cash flow guidance supports this basic roll-forward and requires a clear GST basis. Keep estimates identifiable so the client can compare them with actual cash later.

The four stress tabs preserve ExampleMonthly and calculate separate outcomes. Replace its fictional inputs with the client’s reviewed base case on a separate workbook copy. Adjust the factors on Assumptions only after saving the original.

Stress tab	Change from the example	October closing cash
DelayStress	Sales receipts and debtor collections arrive one month later	-$22,500
SalesStress	Sales receipts fall 10%, with other inputs unchanged	-$2,700
CostStress	Operating payments rise 10%	-$3,300
DebtStress	Principal repayments increase by $1,000 each month	-$1,500

DelayStress leaves the final month’s deferred receipts outside the displayed horizon. Extend the forecast when those receipts matter to the application. The other stress cases hold tax and operating assumptions constant unless their stated input changes.

For a client submission, have the accountant update tax settlements and costs where changed trading requires it. To combine stresses, save another workbook copy and change the base inputs there. Label the changes and retain the unchanged base case alongside it.

A three-way forecast links cash flow with a profit and loss forecast and a balance sheet forecast. The workbook here is a cash schedule. It does not reconcile stock, debtors, creditors and debt into those other statements.

BDO’s guidance on lender forecasts describes integrated modelling for complex business borrowing. When the application requires that model, give the workbook and its source schedules to the client’s accountant. Include opening balance-sheet records and the debt schedule so the accountant can link cash movements to the other statements.

Use the business-loan cash flow forecast guide for deeper assessment of assumptions and lender interpretation. If the client already uses a forecasting platform, use its equivalent cash schedule and evidence exports. The cash flow software guide covers that preparation route.

Prepare the Lender Evidence Pack

Send the completed forecast with the records that explain its opening balance, trading assumptions and payment dates. Include the base case, relevant stress cases and a dated assumptions register. The client’s signed-off explanation must identify who prepared the figures.

As at October 2026, National Australia Bank (NAB) says most business applicants need two years of annual financial statements and a current full tax portal report. Its business-finance document guidance also names projections and recent management financials for some start-ups or complex businesses. This is NAB’s guidance, not a universal document rule.

Build the supporting pack from the relevant records.

• Bank statements and bank reconciliations for every account included in opening cash.
• Business activity statements (BAS), tax account records and scheduled tax or superannuation payments.
• Management accounts and historical financial statements that explain trading levels and operating costs.
• Aged receivables and payables showing outstanding amounts, expected collections and supplier payment dates.
• Contracts, purchase orders and customer payment terms supporting forecast receipts.
• Debt statements, proposed finance terms and repayment schedules supporting principal, interest and fees.
• Equipment quotes, leases and owner-funding evidence supporting large cash movements.
• The assumptions register, with the client or accountant responsible for each estimate.

Before sending the pack, inspect each period for these failures.

Symptom	Check and correction
Opening cash disagrees with the bank	Reconcile the included accounts and resolve uncleared transactions before changing B4
A formula error or unexpected zero appears	Restore the formula from a clean workbook and check the affected inputs
Reconciliation difference is non-zero	Find an overwritten total or balance formula and restore the roll-forward
Growth appears without support	Tie it to contracts, trading evidence or a documented client assumption
Closing cash seems too high	Look for omitted tax, drawings, principal repayments and capital spending
Monthly and weekly figures conflict	Compare the same dates and transactions, then correct missing or duplicated cash

A zero reconciliation difference confirms the arithmetic, not the completeness of the entries. Read the forecast against the evidence pack as well. Export the chosen view to PDF after reviewing print preview, and send the editable workbook so the lender can inspect the assumptions and formulas.