Separate sold, invoiced and collected
A signed job is not collected cash. An invoice is not a bank receipt. Maintain separate dates for acceptance, invoice issuance, expected collection and actual receipt. Reconcile the forecast to the bank and outstanding obligations rather than treating your CRM sales total as available money.
Use a rolling weekly view far enough ahead to cover upcoming jobs. A thirteen-week worksheet is one practical planning choice, not a requirement. Update it as dates and amounts become clearer.
Build one row per week
| Field | What belongs there |
|---|---|
| Opening cash | Funds available for the modeled obligations |
| Expected receipts | Amounts with realistic collection dates |
| Committed payments | Materials, labor, disposal and other due bills |
| Planned payments | Purchases you can still reschedule |
| Closing cash | Opening cash + receipts − payments |
Track restricted or committed customer funds separately where applicable. Do not count a credit facility as income or a pending sale as a guaranteed receipt.
Stress-test a late payment
Illustrative week: $12000 opening cash plus $8000 expected receipts minus $15000 payments leaves $5000. If that receipt slips one week, the same week ends at negative $3000. The job may still be profitable, but the timing creates a funding gap.
Before committing, identify which optional spending can move and which obligations cannot. Confirm invoice documents, customer acceptance steps and supplier terms early. Do not solve a shortfall by promising an unagreed payment date or using customer funds contrary to their requirements.
Make collections part of the job handoff
Assign invoice preparation, missing-document follow-up and payment-status reconciliation to named people. Record a dispute separately from an administrative delay; they need different next actions. Review the oldest unresolved items in a short weekly meeting.
Use this forecast alongside job margin analysis, not instead of it. Discuss financing, tax reserves and the treatment of customer deposits with your qualified adviser. This worksheet illustrates operations and arithmetic, not individualized financial advice.
