Monthly Cash Flow Calculator

A monthly cash flow forecast projects how much cash actually enters and leaves your business each month, and tracks the running bank balance that results. Unlike a profit and loss statement, it is built on the timing of real money movements, so it shows when you will be short of cash even in a year that is profitable overall. For seasonal hospitality businesses this is the single most important planning document.

Profit measures revenue minus costs over a period regardless of when the money moves. Cash flow measures the actual movement of money in and out of the bank. A restaurant can be profitable on paper for the year yet run out of cash in January because winter takings collapse while rent, payroll and supplier invoices still have to be paid. The forecast captures that timing mismatch; the P&L does not.

The peak cash requirement is the largest amount of cash you need to cover the lowest point your running balance reaches during the year. If your balance dips to minus 2,000 euros at its worst month, your peak cash requirement is 2,000 euros. This is the figure you should secure as a buffer, overdraft or working-capital facility before the low season arrives, not after.

Seasonality. A business that earns a healthy annual surplus can still hit months where outflows exceed inflows, driving the bank balance negative. The calculator adds each month's net flow to the previous balance, so it surfaces the deepest dip across the whole year. Knowing that number lets you arrange financing in advance instead of scrambling during the crunch.

Inflows are the cash you actually collect: card and cash takings, deposits, and any other receipts. Outflows are everything you actually pay: supplier invoices, payroll and contributions, rent, utilities, taxes and loan repayments. Use the timing of when money moves, not when the invoice is dated, because that timing is exactly what determines whether you run short.