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Simple Cash Flow Forecast Template for Small Business (13 Weeks, Google Sheets)

Updated 2026-10-26 · AI Agent Starter Kit

Profit tells you whether the business works. Cash tells you whether you can pay next month's bills. Plenty of busy service businesses look healthy on paper and still get squeezed, because the work is done but the money hasn't arrived yet.

A cash flow forecast is the fix. It is a plain table of the money you expect in and out each week, with a running balance at the bottom. Fifteen minutes a week keeps it current, and it shows a tight week while you still have time to do something about it. This guide gives you a 13-week template, the formulas, and a routine to keep it honest.

This is a planning tool, not tax or accounting advice. Your bookkeeper or accountant is still the right person for the official numbers.

Why 13 weeks, and why weekly

Thirteen weeks is one quarter. It is far enough ahead to see a slow season or a big tax payment coming, and close enough that your guesses are still reasonable. Weekly columns matter because bills and payments don't line up neatly by month. A month can look fine overall and still have one week where rent, payroll and a supplier bill all land before a big invoice clears.

The template

Make a Google Sheet with weeks across the top and these rows down the side.

                         Wk 1     Wk 2     Wk 3   ...  Wk 13
Week starting            [date]   [date]   [date]
OPENING BALANCE          [ ]      =prev    =prev
MONEY IN
  Invoices due (sent)    [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Overdue being chased   [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Expected from pipeline [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Other income           [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
Total in                 =SUM     =SUM     =SUM
MONEY OUT
  Rent and utilities     [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Software and phone     [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Payroll or contractors [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Materials, suppliers   [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Loan or card payments  [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Tax set-aside          [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
  Owner pay              [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
Total out                =SUM     =SUM     =SUM
NET CASH FLOW            =in-out
CLOSING BALANCE          =open+net
Minimum cash line        [ ]      [ ]      [ ]
Below minimum?           =flag

The formulas

Put the labels in column A and the weeks across columns B to N, laid out row for row as above (row 1 is the week number, row 2 the start date):

Add conditional formatting so any "LOW" cell turns red. That one red cell is the whole point of the sheet.

How to fill in money coming in

This is where most forecasts go wrong, usually by being too hopeful. Use three levels of confidence and keep them on separate rows.

1. Invoices already sent. Put each one in the week it is due, then push it a week or two later if that customer usually pays late. Use what your customers actually do, not what your terms say.

2. Overdue invoices. Keep these on their own row so you can see how much of your forecast depends on chasing. If this row is large, your next job is sending reminders, not more marketing. The payment reminder email templates give you a schedule and seven polite emails for each stage.

3. Expected from your pipeline. Jobs you've quoted but haven't won yet. Don't count them at full value. Multiply by your close rate instead. If you have $10,000 in open quotes and you typically win about a third of them, put roughly $3,300 across the weeks you'd expect to be paid, not $10,000 next week. These are illustrative numbers. Use your own.

Don't know your close rate? How to calculate close rate explains it, and the free close rate and pipeline calculator works it out from your leads, quotes and wins in a minute.

How to fill in money going out

Money out is easier to predict, which makes it the most useful half of the sheet.

Set a minimum cash line

Pick a balance you never want to drop below. A common rule of thumb is enough to cover about one month of fixed costs, but the right number depends on how lumpy your income is. Put it in row 21. Any week where the closing balance falls under it is flagged.

A worked example (illustrative)

Here is a made-up week to show how the sheet reads. The numbers are invented for the example.

Three weeks out, that red cell gives you options: chase the overdue $1,000 now, move the materials order to the following week, ask for a deposit on the next job, or take a smaller owner draw that week. Seen on the day, it gives you none.

The 15-minute weekly update

Do this at the same time every week, ideally as part of your weekly review:

  1. Replace last week's forecast with actuals. Type in what really came in and went out. Note big misses.
  2. Update the opening balance to match your bank account today.
  3. Move unpaid invoices to the week you now expect them.
  4. Update the pipeline row with new quotes, wins and losses.
  5. Add a new week 13 at the end so you always see a full quarter ahead.
  6. Check for red cells and decide one action for each.

Once a month, compare forecast with actual for the whole month. If you keep overestimating money in, lower your pipeline percentage or push invoices later. The monthly business review template has a money check section that fits right alongside this.

Common mistakes

Where your pipeline numbers come from

The "expected from pipeline" row is only as good as your lead and quote tracking. If you track leads in a simple spreadsheet with statuses (quoted, won, lost), you can count open quotes and your win rate in seconds. The small business KPI dashboard shows how to put those numbers next to revenue so you can see the trend. Prefer a ready-made weekly summary? The free weekly business report generator turns your week's numbers into a short report you can paste anywhere.

Skip the counting

To be clear: our kits don't do your bookkeeping or build the cash forecast for you. What they handle is the pipeline side, which is the hardest part of the forecast to keep current.

The Solo Ops Command Center bundle runs in n8n. Speed-to-Lead logs every inquiry to a Google Sheet and drafts first replies and follow-ups, so your quote list stays complete. Every Monday at 7 AM, the Weekly CEO Report counts new, active, won and lost leads, compares them with last week, and saves a one-page report to your Drafts. The bundle's dashboard sheet shows your pipeline, win rate and an 8-week trend, which is exactly what you need for the pipeline row. Inbox Chief of Staff sorts the rest of your email and gives invoices and payment confirmations their own label. Nothing sends without you. Get the bundle

Only want the Monday numbers? The Weekly CEO Report Kit is available on its own.

Bundle: best value

Solo Ops Command Center

All three paid kits (Inbox Chief of Staff, Speed-to-Lead, Weekly CEO Report) plus a bundle-only dashboard sheet. $87 separately.

Get the bundle ($69)
Ready-made n8n kit

Weekly CEO Report Kit

Every Monday at 7 AM, one page in your Drafts: wins, pipeline numbers, stuck leads, overdue replies and your top 3 for the week.

Get the kit ($29)
Free weekly email

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Short, practical n8n and Gmail automations for one-person businesses. Drafts-only, human-in-the-loop, no hype. Unsubscribe anytime.

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