Cash Flow Forecast

The app forecasts or predicts how much cash you will have on hand each and every day over the coming year, after allowing for the timing of your income pay dates and expenses due dates.

It does this by using the amounts, dates, and frequencies of your past expenses and income, to predict how they will balance in the future. A chart displays a line which rises and falls to display how your current “cash on hand” will be increased by your income, and decreased by your expenses, highlighting those times when expenses will coincide to leave you short on cash – well ahead of time – allowing you to prepare for that day.

First of all, you need to be aware that the app is only a guide, and while the more you tell the app the better it will work, it can never be a substitute for financial advice, so be aware of the “Terms of use” for the app:

“By using this app you agree that it is only a guide. It is not intended to be nor should it be relied on as a substitute for financial or other professional advice. We recommend that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to their use of this app, which is at your own risk as we do not make any warranties or representations regarding the quality, completeness, accuracy, reliability, currency, merchantability or fitness for purpose of any material on this app. We accept no liability for any interference with or damage to a user's equipment, software or data occurring in connection with or relating to this app.”

The app has a set of example expenses that someone might have. You must however, set up a password for your app before you can use, edit/change, or delete that income and expenses to match your own. The password is their as a privacy measure for your data.

In terms of amounts, there is no currency specified, so enter the amounts representing your own nominal value.

Dates, must be entered as historical. All this means that when you are entering a new expense, you put in its most recent date that it occurred. If you are trying to model a new expense, which has not occurred in the past, but will occur in the future, then you can either wait until the expense has occurred before putting it in, or you can “shortcut” the process, but estimating when it would have occurred in the past – based on when you are expecting it in the future – and put it in as a historical expense. While the shortcutting process will mean that you don’t have to remember when to put in the new expense, it will mean that the history is un-representative of the expenses that you actually incurred.

Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations

Cash on hand - The sum of money that you consider to be available to pay bills at short notice.

Expense - Generally, a bill or some other item, that is an outgoing of money, which will reduce your cash on hand when it occurs

Frequency - The duration of time between each occurrence of an item. I.e. rent is due with a frequency of one week, car registration is due with a year frequency.

Income - Generally some form of wages or salary, which is an incoming of money, which will increase the cash on hand when it occurs.

First due date The most recent date that an item was due. The works from historical information to predict the future, so income and expenses need to be entered past (not future) dates.

Items - Expenses or income, and all their associated details about amounts, timing, and category.

Outputs
Cash on hand - for the next 380 days - Cash on hand at day 1, adjusted for all the events that occur on that date.

Minimum cash on hand- It’s is the lowest value that you will have in your cash on hand over the next 380 days after allowing for all the events that occur on that day. This is the key measure to watch.

Maximum cash on hand - The highest value that you will have in your ash on hand over the next 380 days after allowing for all the events that occur on that day.