Cash Flow Calculator

A cash flow calculator for monthly forecasts and cash-flow statements

Profit and cash are not the same thing: a business can be profitable on paper and still miss payroll because customers pay late or a big purchase lands in the wrong month. This cash flow calculator does two jobs. The monthly plan takes your opening bank balance and every regular and one-off receipt and payment, then shows the balance at each month end for 12, 18 or 24 months — with the lowest point and the first month cash goes negative.

The statement mode builds a cash-flow statement the way accountants do it under IAS 7 and Ind AS 7: operating cash flow by the indirect method, investing and financing flows, and free cash flow. It suits small-business owners, freelancers, finance students and anyone checking a company’s annual report. Plans can be saved and reloaded as CSV, and everything runs in your browser.

How to use the Cash Flow Calculator

1. Choose Monthly cash-flow plan, pick the first month, how many months to plan and your cash at the start.
2. Edit the example rows or add your own with Add money in and Add money out: an amount, how often it happens, and the first (and optionally last) month.
3. Read the closing balance, the lowest balance and the first month below zero; the chart and table show every month.
4. Use Download plan CSV to keep the plan, and Open a CSV file or paste rows to load it again.
5. For a statement, switch to Cash-flow statement and enter net income, non-cash items, working-capital changes, investing and financing flows.

Cash Flow Calculator features

Worked example: a forecast that shows the problem early

The example starts with 3,00,000 in the bank (₹3 lakh, or $300,000 — the arithmetic is the same). Each month 4,50,000 comes in from customers and 4,30,000 goes out on salaries, rent and suppliers, so the business gains 20,000 a month. A 75,000 tax payment falls every quarter from month 3, new equipment costing 4,00,000 is paid in month 4, a bank loan of 2,50,000 arrives in month 5 and insurance of 36,000 is due in month 6.

The plan shows balances of 3,20,000, 3,40,000 and 2,85,000 — then −95,000 in month 4, because the equipment is paid a month before the loan arrives. The year ends at 54,000 with 56,50,000 in and 58,96,000 out. Without a forecast the business looks fine at year end; with one, it is obvious that either the equipment payment or the loan date must move.

Cash-flow statement: operating, investing, financing and free cash flow

Operating cash flow (indirect method) = net income + depreciation and other non-cash expenses − gains on asset sales − increases in receivables, inventory and other current assets + increases in payables, accruals and deferred revenue. IAS 7 (paragraph 19) encourages the direct method (listing cash received and paid), but most companies use the indirect method because it reconciles profit to cash.

In the statement example, net income of 8,00,000 becomes operating cash flow of 9,20,000: depreciation and other non-cash items add 3,00,000, the asset-sale gain takes away 30,000 and working capital absorbs 1,50,000 (receivables up 1,80,000, inventory up 90,000). Investing uses 5,70,000 and financing 1,10,000, so cash rises 2,40,000 to 7,40,000. Free cash flow = 9,20,000 − 6,00,000 capex = 3,20,000, a 5.3% margin on 60,00,000 of revenue, with cash conversion of 1.15×.

Interest and dividends: IAS 7 lets companies show interest paid as operating or financing. Ind AS 7 puts interest paid and dividends paid under financing and interest received under investing for most companies, and IFRS 18 (from 1 January 2027) moves IFRS reporters the same way. To follow that, add finance costs back under Other operating adjustments and enter interest paid as a negative Other financing amount.

Tips for a forecast you can trust

• Enter cash when it moves, not when you invoice: if customers pay in 45 days, push sales receipts back.
• Include GST or VAT you collect and pay over, loan instalments, tax payments and owner drawings — they are real cash even though some never appear in profit.
• Keep a buffer: many owners aim for the lowest month to stay above one or two months of fixed costs.
• For a start-up with no profits yet, the burn rate calculator turns the same idea into runway; to see the profit side, use the net margin calculator; to plan repayments, the business loan calculator.