Making financial decisions without a cash flow forecast? In this episode, Chartered Accountant Paul Sweeney shows you the exact 5-step process to build a simple cash flow forecast for your small business, no accounting background required.

If you don't know what your cash position looks like four weeks from now, every decision you make between now and then is a guess, not a plan. Most small business owners run their entire operation this way, reacting to whatever the bank balance says today, with no idea what it's going to say next week.

Paul walks through five practical steps to build a working cash flow forecast: starting with your real cash position, listing committed outgoings, listing realistic incomings, mapping the gap week by week instead of month by month, and building in a buffer with a fixed weekly review day. This weekly forecast check isn't a separate habit to remember, it's one part of Paul's Business Planning Operating System, the weekly rhythm that connects your cash position to your priorities and your plan in the same sitting.

👉 Download the free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course and find out which of these four drains is costing your business the most: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow

In this episode:

• Why most small business owners never build a cash flow forecast, and why that's a visibility problem, not a complexity problem
• The 5-step process to build a working forecast in under 20 minutes
• Why mapping your cash position weekly, not just monthly, catches problems before they become a crisis
• How the weekly forecast check fits inside the Business Planning Operating System, rather than being one more thing to remember
• A simple diagnostic question for each step, to apply to your own business today

Resources Mentioned

📧 Free 5-Day Cash Flow Email Course: https://courses.paulsweeneyaccountant.au/5-days-to-cleaner-cash-flow

🌐 Paul Sweeney Accountant: https://paulsweeneyaccountant.au/

🌐 Pretium Solutions: https://pretiumsolutions.com.au/

📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulsweeneyaccountant

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgDcYMjHVQ9uEdZgGpvdBw

About the Host

Paul Sweeney is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Pretium Solutions, with over 25 years advising small and medium businesses. He's the host of Grow Your Business and The Business Behind Your Business podcast.