Profit’s lovely, but cash pays wages, suppliers and HMRC. When cashflow tightens, stress rises fast — even in businesses that look healthy on paper. This playbook walks you through how to build a simple 13-week forecast, improve how quickly cash comes in, price properly, and secure the right support if you need it. No jargon. Just a practical 90-day plan to give you clarity and control.
Why cash is king
Most owner-managers don’t need reminding that cashflow matters. What they need is a clear way to make it predictable. The signs of cash strain will be familiar: regularly refreshing the bank balance, juggling which supplier gets paid this week, feeling anxious about VAT and payroll deadlines, or seeing most of your sales tied up in unpaid invoices. These signs don’t necessarily mean the business is failing — just that you lack visibility.
That’s where short-term forecasting comes in. You don’t need complicated models or finance expertise; you just need a clear view of what’s coming in and what’s going out. The easiest and most widely used way to do this is a 13-week cashflow forecast.
Why 13 weeks?
A 13-week forecast is essentially three months, but broken down weekly rather than monthly. That distinction matters. Cash moves weekly, not monthly. Payroll, VAT payments, loan costs, supplier terms and customer receipts rarely line up neatly to the calendar. A big outflow can hit in a single week even if the rest of the month looks fine on the surface. When you plot cash movements weekly, you see pressure points you would otherwise miss.
Thirteen weeks is the sweet spot: short enough to be accurate, long enough to give you warning time. Banks, funders and turnaround specialists use this format because it answers the real-world question: “Can this business pay its bills over the next quarter?” When updated weekly, it becomes your most useful management tool.
A 13-week forecast only needs four pieces of information: your opening bank balance, expected money in, expected money out, and the closing balance. That’s it. You update actuals at the end of each week and roll forward another week. Over time, your confidence grows because every decision is made with a clear view of how it affects liquidity.
Getting cash in sooner
Once you can see where the pressure is, the next step is improving how quickly cash arrives. Most small businesses don’t suffer from a sales problem — they suffer from a collection problem. You may be doing the work, but the money is stuck in the system.
The simplest place to start is payment terms. Many SMEs still default to 30-day terms because “that’s how it’s done,” even when there’s no real justification. Moving new work to 14-day terms or splitting project work into staged billing — for example, a deposit upfront, a milestone payment halfway, and the balance on completion — helps cash arrive earlier and more predictably. You don’t have to change historic clients immediately; start with new proposals and newly-won work.
Automation can also make an immediate difference. Sending invoices immediately rather than “when someone gets round to it” is a low-effort, high-impact habit. Automated reminders at set intervals keep customers aware without you having to chase manually. In many cases, a friendly phone call resolves more than another email ever will — especially with habitual late payers. A firm but polite reminder that late payment causes disruption is usually enough to move things along.
Consistency here is key; even small improvements in collection reduce the need to borrow or delay supplier payments. Every day shaved off payment time effectively increases the capital in your bank.
Pricing with intent
Pricing is one of the most powerful cash levers — and the most overlooked. If your prices don’t reflect the true cost of delivering a service, you’re effectively subsidising your customers. Many business owners set prices once, early on, and never revisit them. But materials, labour, and overheads change. So should pricing.
Understanding your cost-to-serve doesn’t require perfection — you simply need a sense of labour time, direct costs such as materials or subcontractors, and a fair share of overhead. If a service is consistently break-even or loss-making, you have a pricing issue. Small adjustments can have significant impact. Introducing a minimum order fee keeps tiny jobs from consuming disproportionate time. Value-based add-ons, such as fast-track turnaround or premium support, allow you to increase average order values without becoming noncompetitive. And tightening on discounting can transform margin without affecting customer relationships when positioned correctly.
This is about intention rather than guesswork — pricing decisions that support, rather than undermine, your cash position.
Stock and supplier terms
For businesses that hold stock, it’s common for large amounts of cash to sit dormant on shelves. Slow-moving stock ties up working capital that could be used elsewhere. Reviewing your inventory every few months helps you understand what is selling and what isn’t. Items that sit for three, six or twelve months should be considered for clearance or bundling. Recovering most of the cash now is often better than leaving products to age indefinitely.
Similarly, supplier terms can sometimes be adjusted. Asking for slightly longer terms, consolidating orders, or taking early-payment discounts (but only when the saving is genuinely worthwhile) helps smooth cash cycles. The goal isn’t to squeeze suppliers — strong partnerships matter — but to align payments with when revenue actually comes in.
Funding the gap
Even with better forecasting, faster collection and stronger pricing, there may still be times when short-term funding is required — especially during rapid growth. Choosing the right option makes all the difference.
Overdrafts offer flexibility and are ideal for short-term fluctuations, but they can be withdrawn without notice. Loans or revolving credit provide predictable repayments and are better suited to planned investment. Invoice finance can ease pressure when customers pay slowly by unlocking a percentage of invoice value early, though fees vary.
Before committing, it’s essential to understand total cost, not just headline rates. Setup fees, early repayment penalties and usage conditions all matter. Funding should support your plan rather than act as a sticking plaster.
A 90-day action plan
With all these levers available, the key is focus. Over 90 days, you can make meaningful progress. Review how work is billed and introduce staged payments or deposits for new projects. Automate invoicing and reminders, and monitor how collection performance changes. Revisit pricing — particularly your biggest products or services — and adjust where needed. Tidy slow-moving stock and speak with key suppliers to see whether terms can be improved. As you move into the second and third months, review whether funding options are appropriate and embed regular reviews.
Three months later, most businesses find they have better visibility, fewer surprises and more breathing room. Owners feel less reactive and more confident in decision-making.
Ready to take control?
You don’t need to do this alone. A short conversation could be the difference between guessing — and knowing. Contact us now!