Cash flow forecasting software

Cash flow forecasting is the process of understanding your current and future cash position, and planning for different scenarios; whether you are purchasing an asset or hiring new staff, cash flow forecasting shows you the financial impact of any new initiatives.  

Forecasting in this way allows you to predict inflows and outflows, gain business insights and ultimately give you confidence in your business finances.  

Using cash flow forecasting software such as the integrated solution available within Access Financials allows you to provide confidence to your stakeholders that your predictions are correct, real time and lets you to tell the story behind the numbers. 

Three-way cash flow forecasting is a comprehensive approach to cash flow forecasting that takes into account three main areas of a business’s cash flow: operating, investing, and financing activities. This approach helps businesses identify potential cash flow issues and investment opportunities, make better-informed financial decisions, and plan budgets and spending more effectively. 

A cash flow forecast is used to predict a business’s future cash position (inflows and outflows) and help businesses to manage their cash more effectively. This allows businesses to estimate how much cash they will have available in the future and plan their spending and investment accordingly. Cash flow forecasts can be used for budgeting, financial planning, cash management, and financial reporting purposes. 

Cash flow forecasting is important because it helps businesses to manage their cash flow, make informed strategic decisions, plan their budgets and spending, and meet their reporting and compliance obligations. By using cash flow forecasting, businesses can improve their financial performance, reduce their risk of cash flow problems, and achieve their long-term goals. 

Read other benefits of cash flow forecasting.

Measuring cash flow can be complex and challenging, many moving parts affect cash flow at any one time – stock levels, debtors, creditors along side day to day business decisions such as recruitment and asset purchases.  

A powerful cash flow forecasting tool, that integrates into your financial management software, allows you to accurately view and predict cash inflow and outflow based on real time financial views. In short – investing in a cash flow forecasting system is an effective, fast and accurate way to manage business finances.  

Read more on how to do a cash flow forecast.

The bigger your business gets, the harder it becomes to measure cash flow - which is when it starts to get complex.

Managing cashflow is often referred to as working capital management. Things that can affect cashflow:

• Changes in stock levels - if stock goes down cash goes up and vice versa
• Debtors – the quicker you get paid the more cash you have and conversely if you have long payment terms or clients go beyond those terms the less cash you have
• Creditors – not paying creditors until the invoice is due or if you are paying early negotiating discounts for early payments

Read our full article on How to do a cash flow forecast which covers what a cash flow forecast is, what the consequences are for not forecasting and what you can do to prevent this.

Every business obviously needs to have more cash flowing in rather than out of it in order to stay afloat, pay staff and bills, and hopefully make a profit. But cash flow can fluctuate and it’s important to know a range of ways to improve cash flow rather than simply relying on revenue growth. So, how do you improve cash flow? Here's a few tips.

1. Actively encourage customers to pay on time
2. Look for staff cost savings
3. Manage your stock and suppliers

Read the full list of 10 ways to improve your cash flow which also covers how to avoid cash flow problems and how to improve cash flow forecasting.

Cash flow forecasting software is a tool that helps businesses to predict their future cash inflows and outflows. The software uses financial data such as sales figures, expenses, and payment schedules to create cash flow projections. 

Check out the features of our cash flow forecasting software.

Businesses can achieve many benefits from cash flow forecasting. Predicting future cash flows accurately from your different business streams helps you manage cash more effectively; this can help to optimise your cash position and reduce the risk of cash flow issues. 

Cash flow forecasting software, such as that available in Access Financials, gives you access to real time data, giving you greater visibility into the cash flow and financial performance across the business, in one place. Access to integrated data in real time across your business helps to make more informed decisions and respond more quickly to changing circumstances. 

With cash flow forecasting software integrated into your financial management software, you can improve financial planning, simplify financial management processes, and improve accuracy and reliability of the data you are working with. You can make more informed decisions about your future financial positions helping to reduce the risk of errors and improve the overall accuracy of financial reporting. 

The ease of implementing cash flow forecasting software depends on several factors, including the complexity of your financial data and your current financial management processes. However, many cash flow forecasting software providers offer implementation support and training to help you get started quickly and easily. Additionally, some cash flow forecasting software can be integrated with your existing accounting software like Access Financials, making the implementation process even easier. 

Cash flow forecasting software can benefit businesses of all sizes and types, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large organisations. It can be used in any industries for any business that wants to manage its cash flow more effectively and improve its financial planning. It is particularly useful for businesses that have irregular cash flows or high levels of financial risk. 

We offer standalone cash flow forecasting software and integrated cash flow forecasting software so you have the option to choose from depending on the size and complexity of your business.

Our article Best cash flow forecasting software covers the leading players in the market and which type of business their software is for.

There's many providers in the market offering cash flow forecasting software such as The Access Group, Sage, Xero and more. But which is the best cash flow forecasting software for your business and what considerations do you need to make before choosing?

Read our article Best cash flow forecasting software UK in 2024 to help you choose the right provider.