cash-flow-forecasting

Export 12 months of sales and payout data from your platform, map cash timing lags per channel, then build a weekly spreadsheet of inflows and outflows with a running balance. Update it every Monday by replacing the oldest week with actuals and rolling forward.

Amazon pays on a bi-weekly disbursement cycle with roughly a 14-day lag, so map the exact disbursement dates from Seller Central for the next 13 weeks. Treating Amazon revenue as weekly cash is the largest timing error for marketplace sellers.

Shopify Payments typically pays out 2-3 business days after the transaction, configurable under Finances then Payout schedule. Stripe defaults to 2 business days, and PayPal ranges from 1-3 business days with longer holds possible for new accounts.

Build a bear case at 70-75% of base revenue, scaling only variable costs like COGS and marketing while keeping fixed costs such as payroll and rent unchanged. Runway is the number of weeks until the closing balance hits your minimum viable cash threshold.

Common causes include confusing revenue recognition with cash receipt dates, missing ad spend billing lag, and forgetting one-time outflows like tax remittances or annual software renewals. Reconcile forecast to actual balance weekly before gaps compound.

Float, Pulse, Dryrun, and Runway connect to bank feeds, payment processors, and accounting systems like Xero or QuickBooks for automated forecasts. Shopify users can also sync orders and payouts into Google Sheets with the Sheets for Shopify app.