13-Week Cash Flow Forecast
Cash Flow & Treasury
Quick Answer
Enter your expected weekly cash receipts and disbursements for the next 13 weeks. Paste into Claude or ChatGPT. Get a structured forecast with running cash balance and shortfall warnings.
What You Get
A complete 13-week cash flow forecast covering weekly cash receipts by source, weekly disbursements by category, running cash balance, weeks with potential shortfall flagged, and specific actions to improve the forecast.
Who Is This For
CFOs managing short-term liquidity, finance teams in businesses with tight cash positions, turnaround professionals assessing business viability, and lenders requiring cash flow visibility.
About This Template
The 13-week cash flow forecast is the gold standard for short-term cash visibility. Used by CFOs, turnaround professionals, and lenders, it projects cash receipts and disbursements on a weekly basis for the next quarter — close enough to be actionable, far enough to provide planning lead time. This template guides finance teams through entering their expected receipts and payments by week, then uses AI to produce a structured 13-week forecast with cash position tracking, shortfall warnings, and specific actions to improve the cash position.
Fill In Your Details
Your company name
e.g. Week of July 7 2026
e.g. 850000
Describe your main cash inflows by week or average weekly amount e.g. $180K average weekly customer receipts with $240K spike in week 4 from large customer payment
List recurring and one-time payments by week e.g. payroll $95K weeks 1 and 3, rent $18K week 1, supplier payments $45K weekly average
Any unusually large receipts or payments in specific weeks e.g. tax payment $120K week 6, equipment purchase $85K week 9
e.g. must maintain $300K minimum at all times for operations
Gather these details then use them to fill in the prompt below.
AI Prompts
Generate 13-week cash flow forecast
Paste this prompt into Claude or ChatGPT with your inputs filled in.
You are a CFO preparing a 13-week cash flow forecast. Using the data below, produce a structured weekly cash flow projection. Company: [company_name] Forecast start: [forecast_start] Opening cash: [opening_cash] Weekly receipts: [weekly_receipts] Weekly disbursements: [weekly_disbursements] Large one-time items: [large_items] Minimum cash required: [minimum_cash] Produce: 1. Weekly Cash Flow Table — for each of 13 weeks show: opening cash, receipts, disbursements, net cash flow, closing cash 2. Cash Position Summary — lowest cash week, highest cash week, ending cash at week 13 3. Shortfall Warnings — flag any week where closing cash falls below the stated minimum 4. Cash Flow Patterns — identify any predictable patterns in the cash flow cycle 5. Improvement Actions — specific actions to improve the forecast if any weeks show shortfall 6. Lender Summary — a 3-sentence summary suitable for sharing with a bank or lender For the weekly table use a consistent format. Flag shortfall weeks clearly.
Sample Output
This is an example of what AI produces when you use this template.
Cash Position Summary
Opening cash: $850,000. Lowest cash week: Week 6 at $312,000 — driven by the $120,000 tax payment coinciding with a low-receipt week. This is above the $300,000 minimum but only by $12,000 — a thin margin that warrants attention. Highest cash week: Week 4 at $1,024,000 following the large customer payment of $240,000. Ending cash at week 13: $780,000, representing a net decrease of $70,000 over the 13-week period driven primarily by the tax and equipment payments totaling $205,000.
Improvement Actions
Week 6 shortfall risk ($12,000 above minimum): Request the $240,000 customer payment in week 4 be split with $80,000 paid in week 5 instead — this shifts cash forward by one week and adds $80,000 of buffer in week 6. Alternatively, defer the $18,000 rent payment from week 6 to week 7 if the lease allows — this alone resolves the week 6 constraint. Do not defer supplier payments — the $45,000 weekly supplier payments are already at terms and deferring would damage supplier relationships critical to operations.