Cash Flow Management and Working Capital Services

Profit and cash are not the same thing. Profit is an accounting concept — revenue earned minus costs incurred. It can exist in receivables, WIP, or unbilled work. Cash is a bank-account reality — money you can spend today on payroll, rent, vendors, or growth.

A profitable business runs short on cash when receivables are slow, inventory is high, WIP is unbilled, or vendor payment terms are shorter than customer payment terms. A 13-week cash flow model identifies which of these is the root cause. The first question to settle is whether the gap is a timing problem or a structural one — financing the first is sensible, financing the second deepens the hole. Temporary or structural? → Read the full guide →

A 13-week cash flow forecast is a rolling weekly model showing exactly when cash will come in and go out over the next quarter. It maps receivables collections, vendor payments, payroll runs, loan repayments, and tax obligations week by week, so you see cash pressure points 6 to 13 weeks before they arrive. EasePro builds 13-week models as a standalone project, or maintains them weekly as part of any retainer. On why the horizon is thirteen weeks: it is the furthest out you can still name real transactions instead of dividing annual figures by 52. Try the Weekly Cash Decision Calculator first →

Worth knowing that this is a different instrument from the cash flow statement in your accounting software. That one starts at profit and works back to cash; a 13-week forecast lists the money itself, on the dates it moves. Direct vs indirect cash flow →

Less than most people expect. Five inputs cover the backbone: reconciled bank balances, an AR aging report, an AP aging report, your payroll calendar, and your debt repayment schedule — all of which come straight out of your accounting and payroll systems. The rest is a single conversation: upcoming orders not yet invoiced, planned hires, any equipment you intend to buy, and how your larger customers actually pay as opposed to what their terms say. The full list, and where each item comes from, is in our cash flow forecast data checklist. If your books are behind, we start with catch-up bookkeeping — a forecast built on unreconciled data is confidently wrong.

The cash conversion cycle is the number of days between when you spend cash and when you receive it back. A shorter cycle means less working capital tied up in operations. A longer cycle means more cash stuck — even when the business is profitable. Use the Working Capital Calculator to measure DSO, DIO, DPO, and your cash conversion cycle from your own numbers, and see the four traps that stretch it for the usual causes. EasePro then benchmarks the cycle against your industry and identifies specific actions to reduce it.

Bookkeeping and cash flow management look backward vs forward. Bookkeeping records what happened to cash in the past — reconciles bank accounts, posts transactions. Cash flow management forecasts cash 13 weeks forward, identifies pressure points before they become crises, and gives a weekly decision framework.

If books are behind, start with catch-up bookkeeping first — a forecast built on incorrect data will mislead.

The build timeline for the first 13-week cash flow model is scoped to the complexity of your situation, the state of your accounting data, and the speed at which we can access AR aging, AP schedules, and bank reconciliation.

Typical outcome: The primary cash drain is identified in the first phase of the engagement. Measurable improvement follows as collections accelerate, payment timing tightens, vendor credit renegotiates, or working capital restructures.

Pace varies by client and is part of what we calibrate during the half-day assessment.

Cash flow management at EasePro is scope-based. The engagement fee is set after a scoping conversation, calibrated to your forecast complexity, working-capital depth, and reporting cadence. Every engagement is fixed-fee — no hourly billing, no hidden fees, no lock-in.