Cashflow forecast in AccBooks AI

What the cashflow forecast shows

The cashflow forecast projects your expected bank balance over the coming days and weeks, based on:

• Outstanding invoices — money you expect to receive.
• Outstanding purchase bills — money you expect to pay.
• Recurring transactions — predictable inflows and outflows based on historical patterns (rent, salaries, subscriptions).
• Payroll runs — upcoming salary payments.
• VAT payments — based on current VAT liability and due date.
• Loan repayments — if you’ve entered loan details.

Generating the forecast

1. Go to Reports → Cashflow forecast.
2. Select the forecast period: 30, 60 or 90 days.
3. Choose the starting date (defaults to today).
4. Select which bank accounts to include.
5. Click Generate.

The chart shows a daily projected bank balance with a shaded uncertainty band that widens further into the future.

Scenarios

AccBooks offers two built-in scenarios:

Optimistic: Assumes all outstanding invoices are paid on their due date, and all expenses are paid as planned.

Conservative: Uses your actual average payment days (calculated from historical data). If customers typically pay 15 days late on average, the conservative forecast reflects this.

You can also create custom scenarios — for example, modelling what happens if your largest customer delays payment by 30 days, or if you hire two more employees next month.

Low balance alerts

Set a minimum balance threshold under Settings → Cashflow → Alert threshold. AccBooks sends an email or push notification when the forecast shows your balance dropping below this level in the next 30 days.

This gives you time to act — chase invoices, draw on a credit line or delay discretionary spending — before you actually hit the shortfall.

Adding manual items

Not all cashflows are in AccBooks yet. Add one-off items to the forecast:

1. Click Add item on the forecast chart.
2. Enter:
   • Description
   • Date
   • Amount (positive = inflow, negative = outflow)
   • Probability (0–100%) — the forecast weights the item by this probability.
3. Click Save.

Manual items are useful for large one-off receipts (e.g., a grant payment) or payments (e.g., a capital purchase) that haven’t been invoiced yet.

Integrating with your bank balance

The forecast anchors to your actual current bank balance (from live bank feeds), so it’s always based on reality rather than a theoretical starting point.

If you have multiple bank accounts, the forecast can show:

• Combined — total across all accounts.
• Per account — a separate chart for each.

Exporting the forecast

Download the forecast as:

• PDF — for board reporting or bank presentations.
• Excel — day-by-day balance table with formula breakdown.
• CSV — for integration with financial models.

Using the forecast for lender discussions

Many lenders and investors ask for a 13-week cashflow forecast (a weekly view for the next quarter). AccBooks generates a 13-week format automatically — go to Reports → Cashflow → 13-week format.

This format shows:

• Week-by-week opening and closing balance.
• Categorised inflows (invoices, other income).
• Categorised outflows (payroll, suppliers, HMRC, loan repayments).
• Net movement per week.