Free tools · Every trade
13-week cash planner
Type cash in and cash out for the next 13 weeks. The planner runs the balance forward, marks your lowest week and gives you a CSV to keep.
- Every number is an estimate from your own inputs.
- Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
- General information, not advice.
Week 1 is this week. Put in what you expect to collect and what you must pay out: payroll, fuel, suppliers, insurance, payments, taxes.
| Week | Cash in | Cash out | Net | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1lowest | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 2 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 3 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 4 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 5 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 6 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 7 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 8 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 9 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 10 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 11 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 12 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| 13 | $0 | $20,000 | ||
| Total | $0 | $0 | $0 | $20,000 |
Lowest week
$20,000
Week 1. The plan stays above zero. That is your thinnest cushion.
Balance after 13 weeks
$20,000
An estimate from the numbers you typed. The CSV is built in your browser. Nothing you enter leaves it or is stored.
Reading the result
Keep reading on this topic: Paying for mobilization before the first draw.
How to read the result
Each row is one week. Cash in is what you expect to actually collect that week, not what you will invoice. Cash out is every payment that leaves the account: payroll, fuel, suppliers, insurance, truck or equipment payments, taxes and anything else with a due date. The balance column runs forward from the cash you have today, and the highlighted row is the week your balance is lowest. If that number is below zero, the plan does not work as written.
Thirteen weeks is a quarter. It is long enough to see a slow-paying customer or a retainage release land, and short enough that your guesses are still reasonable. The CSV download gives you the same table to keep in a spreadsheet and update every week.
What to do about it
Fix the lowest week first, and fix it early. Most moves take a few weeks to work: chasing an invoice, asking a supplier for terms, moving a payment date, delaying a purchase, or arranging funding before you need it rather than the week you do. Then be honest about cash in. Put collections in the week the money usually arrives, not the week the invoice says it is due. Owners who run this every Monday, replacing last week’s guess with what actually happened, stop being surprised by their own cash. If a big job or new contract is starting inside the window, read our guide on paying for mobilization before the first draw for the costs that land before the first payment does.
One tool like this, every Tuesday
The Float is a free weekly letter on cash flow for owners who get paid after the work is done. Each issue ends with one tool or habit you can put to work before Friday.