What does the cash flow and treasury service include?
BrndTst's cash flow and treasury service has two parts. First, a 13-week cash flow forecast built from your own bank data, invoices and payment runs, with a minimum cash line. Second, treasury basics: a payment calendar, a sensible bank-account structure, approval limits and checks on bank-detail changes. It's a fixed-fee project that ends with a handover to your team.
What will your business receive?
You receive a working 13-week forecast in a spreadsheet your team can update, a short guide to the weekly routine, a payment-controls checklist matched to your banking set-up, and a summary of the cash risks and opportunities we found. The project ends with a handover session so the forecast keeps running without us.
How long does it take to build a 13-week cash flow forecast?
Building the forecast and the payment controls usually takes two to three weeks. Most of that time goes on gathering bank data, ledgers and payment runs, and on checking the first version against what actually happens. After the handover, keeping the forecast current is a weekly routine your team runs in a short session.
We confirm the timetable in the written proposal, together with what we need from your team and when.
Who needs a 13-week cash flow forecast?
Any business where cash is tight, irregular or about to change benefits from one. That includes businesses whose bank balance is their only cash report, those paid in a few large or late instalments, and those about to hire, expand or borrow. A weekly view shows a shortfall while there's still time to act.
- Your bank balance is the only cash report anyone looks at.
- Payroll, tax dates or quarterly bills regularly cause a scramble.
- A few large customers pay late or irregularly.
- You're about to hire, expand or borrow and want to know you can afford it.
Why a 13-week cash flow forecast?
Thirteen weeks is one quarter: long enough to show payroll cycles, tax dates and quarterly bills, and short enough to forecast week by week from real invoices and orders. Weekly detail shows gaps that a monthly budget hides, so you have time to act before a shortfall instead of after it.
A budget says what the year should look like. A cash forecast says whether there will be enough money in the bank on a given Friday. Most businesses need both, and the second is the one that prevents nasty surprises.
Our guide to the 13-week cash flow forecast explains the method step by step.
How do we build your forecast?
We build the forecast with your team from data you already have: bank balances, the sales ledger, the purchase ledger, payroll and tax dates, and loan schedules. Every line is placed in the week cash actually moves, not when an invoice is raised. Then we set a minimum cash line and a weekly routine to keep it current.
Opening position
We start from actual bank balances across all accounts, so the forecast begins with real numbers.
Receipts
Expected payments from customers, week by week, based on invoices, terms and how each customer really pays.
Payments
Payroll, suppliers, rent, tax and loan repayments, placed in the week they'll actually leave the account.
Minimum cash line
The lowest balance the business should hold, agreed with you, so any week that dips below it stands out.
Weekly roll-forward
Each week, actual figures replace the forecast and a new week is added. Comparing the two keeps the forecast honest.
Which payment controls protect your cash?
The controls that matter most are simple. Two people approve every payment above a set amount. Any change to a supplier's bank details is confirmed by phone on a number you already hold. Payment runs follow a fixed calendar. Bank access is limited to the people who need it, each with their own login.
- Dual approval for payments above an amount you choose.
- Bank-detail changes verified by calling a known contact on a known number, never the one in the email asking for the change.
- Payee name checks wherever your bank offers them.
- A payment calendar, so urgent, unplanned payments stand out and get questioned.
- Separate logins and limits for each person with bank access.
Invoice redirection and fake emails from 'the boss' are among the most common frauds against businesses. Our guide to invoice and payment fraud explains how they work and what to do in the first hour if a payment goes wrong.
How can a forecast free up cash?
A good forecast shows where cash is tied up. Customers who pay late, stock that sits for months and supplier terms shorter than your customers' terms all hold back money the business could use. Seeing it week by week makes the trade-offs concrete, so you can act on collections, timing and stock before you think about borrowing.
- Collections: chase the invoices that matter most to the forecast, not just the oldest ones.
- Payment timing: pay on the agreed date rather than early, unless there's a discount worth taking.
- Stock: spot items that tie up cash for longer than they earn.
- Borrowing: if a gap remains, you'll know its size and timing before you talk to a bank.
What's outside this service?
We don't make payments, hold bank access or run your accounts. We don't arrange loans or overdrafts, or take fees from lenders. If the forecast shows you'll need finance, we help you work out how much and when, and prepare the numbers a lender will ask for. The choice of lender is yours.
That preparation is part of our financial modelling and fundraising service.