Downloadable Excel template
Know your room before you make an offer.
A rolling weekly cash flow forecast, built in Excel. It shows what you will have in the bank at the end of every week, by account and currency, with your credit card and debt facility built in. Many founder-led companies run on a bank balance and a monthly P&L.
- See your tightest week before it arrives, and whether you stay above your minimum cash buffer.
- Track your liquidity headroom every week: cash above your buffer plus undrawn facility, before lender restrictions.
- Add a week by dragging one column. Charts and checks pick it up automatically.
What is inside
Five tabs. One question answered every week: how much room do we have?
Based on the forecast we build for clients, with a guide written for someone building their first.
- SetupStart here
Opening balance date, base and second currency, FX rate, minimum cash buffer, up to six accounts, credit card and debt facility terms.
- ModelThe forecast
List receipts, recurring payments and one-time payments once. Each lands in the right week and the right account, converted to your base currency at the FX rate you set.
- DashboardThe read-out
Opening cash, your lowest week and when it falls, cash and liquidity at the final week, and three charts that roll forward with the forecast.
- CoverThe checks
Six checks flag a negative bank balance, cash below your buffer, a card or facility over its limit, and transfers that do not net to zero.
- GuideStep by step
Eleven steps from blank workbook to finished forecast, plus the weekly roll-forward routine.
Consolidated cash vs. minimum buffer
Thirteen weeks, base currency
What it answers every Friday
Questions your board and your lender will ask.
How much room do we have?
Cash plus undrawn facility, week by week, after every payment you've scheduled. What your lender lets you use for a deal is a separate conversation, and this tells you when to have it.
When is the squeeze?
The week your cash bottoms out, and whether it dips under the buffer you set.
What does a deal payment do?
Add cash at close or a deferred payment as a one-time item and see which weeks it breaks.
Which levers do we have?
Move a payment, draw on the facility, sweep a processor balance, chase a receipt. Each one shows up in the right week.
The Buy-Side Readiness Engine
A template doesn't run itself.
One forecast will not transform your business into an elite level strategic acquirer. In the Buy-Side Readiness Engine, we build you a custom rolling weekly cash flow forecast, then build the three pieces that come next.
- Rolling weekly cash flow forecast
- Operational diagnosis
- Intrinsic valuation
- M&A roadmap
Or email info@sceptercapital.net