A Practical Weekly Cash-Flow Review Routine

Review timing, not just totals

A profitable business can still run short of cash when customers pay after supplier, payroll, tax, or loan obligations fall due. A weekly review makes that timing visible before the bank balance becomes the warning.

Keep the review separate from a profit-and-loss review. Cash flow asks when money is expected to enter or leave. Profit and loss asks whether revenue earned during a period exceeded the costs attributed to that period.

Start from cash you can verify

Use the cleared balance of the bank and cash accounts included in the forecast. Reconcile obvious transfers and transactions in transit so the opening figure is not a guess or a duplicated total.

Define which accounts are included and use the same scope each week. If restricted funds or an overdraft facility matter to the decision, show them separately rather than quietly adding them to available operating cash.

• Record the balance date and time.
• Separate usable operating cash from restricted money.
• Keep transfers between included accounts from appearing as business receipts or payments.

Update receipts by realistic timing

List the cash you genuinely expect to collect in each week. An issued invoice is not automatically a receipt for the next seven days. Use due dates, customer history, known disputes, and confirmed payment commitments to place amounts in the most realistic week.

Separate committed receipts from hopeful sales. When timing is uncertain, move the receipt later or show a cautious scenario instead of relying on the best possible outcome.

• Customer payments and deposits.
• Cash sales and card settlements after processing delays.
• Owner funding, loans, grants, or asset proceeds only when confirmed.
• Refunds and tax recoveries only when timing is supportable.

Refresh payments before deciding what is spare

Enter payments in the week they are expected to clear, not merely the month in which they belong. Include recurring obligations and less frequent items that are easy to overlook.

Classify payments by decision flexibility. Payroll and statutory obligations may be fixed in timing, while some purchases, projects, or owner withdrawals may be rescheduled. Classification helps the review produce responsible actions rather than across-the-board cuts.

• Payroll, rent, tax, debt service, and essential suppliers.
• Card settlements, subscriptions, insurance, and annual renewals.
• Planned purchases, capital spending, and owner withdrawals.
• A separate contingency rather than hiding uncertainty inside normal lines.

Find the lowest point, not only the final balance

Calculate the closing balance for every week and carry it forward as the next opening balance. The most important figure is often the lowest projected balance in the horizon, because a later recovery does not remove an earlier funding gap.

Compare that low point with the minimum operating buffer the business needs. The buffer is a management threshold, not extra income and not a substitute for forecasting known obligations.

• Which week first falls below the operating buffer?
• Which large receipt or payment creates the change?
• How much of the shortfall depends on uncertain collections?
• Would a delay of one week change the decision?

Finish with named actions and roll forward

Turn the review into a small number of dated actions. Examples include confirming a customer payment, agreeing a supplier schedule, delaying discretionary spending, correcting a missing forecast item, or preparing a funding discussion before the gap becomes urgent.

At the next review, replace estimates with actual cash movements, explain material differences, extend the horizon by one week, and revisit unresolved actions. A forecast becomes more useful through this repeated learning—not through false precision.

• Owner and due date for each action.
• The assumption or amount the action is meant to protect.
• Actual-versus-forecast differences worth learning from.
• A clear escalation point when the minimum buffer may be breached.