Yes! I want the free Cash Flow Template!
Do you have a six-month cash reserve at your organization? Or do you lose sleep at night hoping you have enough cash to cover payroll?
Cash flow forecasting is an integral part of managing your nonprofit’s finances but it’s one area that I see many nonprofit leaders inadvertently neglecting. I get it. A cash flow forecast is not something that’s easily generated from Quickbooks, your bookkeeper probably doesn’t have enough info to do it herself, and it involves a spreadsheet.
Cash flow forecasting does NOT have to be scary or take more than 30 minutes a month (seriously), but it WILL help you regain control over your organization and confidence in your financial sustainability.
Here are three quick tips:
- Understand your cash inflows and outflows each month. You should be able to answer these questions: How long do your donors take to pay you? Which months are the strongest? What are your average monthly expenses? Do your expenses fluctuate throughout the year or are they pretty steady?
- Check your bank balance weekly. Neglecting your cash accounts will NOT help you regain control and confidence in your financial management. Know your numbers!
- Plot all these numbers into a spreadsheet and update it monthly. Lucky for you, I’ve created a template that will help you do this yourself, very easily, along with a video that walks you through exactly how to use the template so it is completely foolproof. (It’s all included in our template!)
Meet our founder
Hi, I'm Stephanie
I’m a visionary Chief Financial Officer for nonprofits. I love sharing with nonprofit leaders how to better understand, use, and communicate your financials to your donors and other stakeholders because I know that when organizations are transparent about their numbers, they raise more money.
Grab the Cash Flow Template to make forecasting a consistent part of your financial management, build a solid cash reserve, and ensure your organization’s sustainability!
Hi, I'm Stephanie
I’m a visionary Chief Financial Officer for nonprofits. I love sharing with nonprofit leaders how to better understand, use, and communicate your financials to your donors and other stakeholders because I know that when organizations are transparent about their numbers, they raise more money.
Grab the Cash Flow Template to make forecasting a consistent part of your financial management, build a solid cash reserve, and ensure your organization’s sustainability!
Need more help with your nonprofit numbers? Check out:Master Your Nonprofit Numbers – An online course in financial management for nonprofit leaders.
Every single week, leaders tell me, “ I don’t know what I don’t know,” and, “I don’t know how my organization is doing because I don’t understand my numbers,” and, “I literally lay awake at night worrying about cash flow.” Sound familiar?
Check out our online course to learn the critical elements of financial management: budgeting, cash flow forecasting, audit, compliance, financial reporting, strategic planning, and more.
The course is for CEOs, Executive Directors, Program leaders, and Development staff (in other words, non-finance people), so rest assured this program is for YOU. (No technical accounting lingo included!)
Wondering if this course is for you?
This course is for you if:
- You lay awake at night worried about cash flow
- You don’t know if/when/how to file your 990
- Your organization doesn’t have a budget or financial dashboard
- You don’t have a roadmap for achieving your goals this year
This course is not for you if:
- You’re an experienced CFO who can prepare 990s in your sleep
- You have an effective forecasting mechanism and confidently project a year out
- You nail your audit every year with nary a management letter comment in sight