Download the template
Twelve months, money in, money out, and the totals and closing cash work themselves out. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers, and nothing needs installing.
Download the template (CSV)How to fill it in
1. Put today’s bank balance in Month 1, opening cash. Each later month starts with the month before’s closing cash.
2. Under cash in, enter what customers will actually pay you each month, in the month the money lands, not the month you invoice. If customers take 30 days, an invoice in March is cash in April.
3. Under cash out, enter each bill in the month it leaves your account: stock, wages, super, rent, insurance, loan repayments, your BAS, and what you take out for yourself.
4. Read the closing cash row. Any month that dips below your comfort level is the one to plan for now.
5. Update it every month with what really happened, and roll it forward a month.
A worked example
A business with $20,000 in the bank, $30,000 coming in a month and $27,940 going out, plus a $6,000 BAS payment every third month:
| Opening cash | Cash out | Closing cash | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | $20,000 | $33,940 with BAS | $16,060 |
| Month 2 | $16,060 | $27,940 | $18,120 |
| Month 3 | $18,120 | $27,940 | $20,180 |
| Month 4 | $20,180 | $33,940 with BAS | $16,240 |
The business is ahead over the year, yet every BAS month takes a $3,940 bite and the balance never gets far from where it started. One slow month landing on a BAS month is where the trouble starts, and the forecast shows it months ahead.
Mistakes that make a forecast lie
Invoice dates instead of payment dates. Cash arrives when customers pay, and some pay late. Use what they actually do, not your terms.
Forgetting the lumpy bills. BAS, insurance, registrations and annual subscriptions don’t arrive every month, which is exactly why they catch people out. From 1 July 2026 super goes out with every pay under the ATO’s Payday Super rules, so it belongs in every pay month, not once a quarter.
Leaving yourself out. What you draw from the business is cash out too.
No buffer. A forecast is a best guess. Decide how much you want in the bank at the lowest point, and treat any month below it as the warning. Thinking about a hire? The hiring guide walks through the cash test.