Resources:  Cash Flow & Cash Management

Are you struggling to understand cash flow?  Do you have a contingency plan in place if sales decline?  Did you know that mismanagement of cash can drastically impact your survival?

Cash management is ultimately about cash flow. Few small businesses are "swimming" in cash. Even growing companies are vulnerable to cash flow problems because they tend to add employees and inventory rapidly, depleting the company's cash reserves quickly.

Northern Illinois SCORE sponsors cash flow and funding your business workshops. Check the workshops page for the next workshop date.  The cash flow workshop teaches about cash flow, what it is, and how it differs from one business to another. A local bank representative is available at the workshop to answer questions. Workshops are participative; bring your problems and the facilitator and attendees can discuss your options.

A cash flow statement is a good tool to forecast your financial needs and helps you obtain an understanding of the ebb and flow of money into and out of your business.  The cash flow statement is a lot like your checkbook. It begins by showing how much money you have and then it lists the expenses you withdrew during that month.  At the end of each month, you can easily see how you have done.

Cash flow is critically important because many businesses need to spend money before providing a product or service and customers payments may not come in until 30-60 days later.  Often times, customers don't pay for 90 days, and even longer.

The cash flow forecast helps you determine how much money you need on hand to run your business and tells you when you will need it. Many loan providers may require a cash flow statement to prove you can pay back your loan.

If you need assistance in developing or reviewing your cash flow statement, schedule a small business counseling session with one of our volunteer counselors.  Select a volunteer with cash management expertise from our counselors page on this site.

For your convenience a cash flow example workshop can be downloaded here:  Cash Flow Example in Excel