Set up tips

Cash flow Forecast Templates

Tips for setting up Cash Forecaster Depreciation Loans due after more than one year Stock adjustments Start date on your cash flow forecasts Currency setup - choosing '£'; '$' or '€' Set up for VAT, Sales Tax or GST Cash and credit card sales

Depreciation

Depreciation is one of the many entries needed where a business has fixed assets (equipment, fixtures, cars etc.), which is why this facility is also included with Cash Forecaster. The depreciation facility is easy to use and extremely versatile whereby you can choose any number of methods and rates for each of your asset headings. Rates from zero, where you choose not to depreciate the asset, to 100% if the asset is to be depreciated fully in the year. Methods include both straight line and reducing balance.

The calculated figures are then included within the appropriate reports, including the profit and loss report, balance sheet and fixed asset report.

Loans due after more than one year

One of the many reasons that businesses use cash forecasting software to produce cash flow forecasts is to work out financing requirements, either in terms either an overdraft facility or for working out the amount of a loan that is required for the business and the affordability of that loan.

Also, it is important to represent the loan facility on the balance sheet report in the correct way, with amounts falling due within one year and amounts falling due after more than one year. Cash Forecaster makes this reporting easy and all that is necessary is to enter the details of the loan, including, for example the amount, term and interest rate, and the software will calculate repayments to include in the cash flow reports, the interest charged in the profit and loss account report and it will split the balance of the loan outstanding at each period end between amounts due within 12-months and due after more than 12-months on the balance sheet.

Stock adjustments

Some businesses purchase and carry stock which has certain profit and cash flow implications, which is why Cash Forecaster includes a stock adjustment facility.

If for example, you are a business that buys stock up front and then sells it over a period of months, Cash Forecaster is able to account for the initial purchase and when this is paid to the supplier for the cash flow reports, and then depending upon how much of the initial stock is left at the end of each month, this amount can be entered and thereby taken into account in the profit and loss account report.

If the stock figure you enter is at the end of one of your accounting period ends, then Cash Forecaster will include the stock amount on your balance sheet report also.

Start date on your cash flow forecasts

When you are setting up a cash flow forecast you should set a start date of the beginning of the month even where it might not necessarily be that way. For example if you are about to set up your figures for the month of May and today is 20th of the month, then I would either suggest you begin on 1st May (so back-date your start) or go forward to 1st June.

The reason for this is that most times cash and profit forecasts are reviewed on a month by month basis so it is not that important what happens on the individual days within the month.

Setting up reports for different currencies

The Cash Forecaster comes with options to change the currency shown on the reports - the default currency symbol is a '£' sign, but it also comes ready to select '$' and the '€' symbols too.

When you are setting up the parameters of your cash flow forecast templates it is very easy to choose the currency for your country and this is what will be shown on all of your reports.

If your country has a different currency symbol to a Pound, Dollar or Euro then there is a facility in the 'Headings' Section of the 'Information' Tab to enter your own symbol accordingly.

Set up for VAT, Sales Tax or GST

The Cash Forecaster has various settings for government sales tax or what is termed Value Added Tax (VAT) in Europe and the UK or General Sales TAx (GST) in Australia and New Zealand. For the purposes of this tip we will refer to this tax as 'Sales Tax'.

If your Sales tax is payable on a monthly basis, simply select 'Monthly' from the drop-down list on the 'Sales Tax' terms section of the Information Tax or company set up. This will automatically insert monthly payments into your cash flows based upon the sales and expenditure data already entered. Similarly, if your Sales Tax is payable on a 2-monthly, quarterly or 6-monthly basis, simply select the appropriate payment term and the software will do the rest.

One final adjustment is to select the first month your Tax payment is to be made - simply select the month from the drop down list, as appropriate.

Cash and credit card sales

If your business receives cash sales and again if part of those cash sales are made by way of a credit card then you can easily set Cash Forecaster to deal with this.

You will need to estimate what percent of your sales you are likely to receive by way of cash and then again what percentage of these cash sales is paid by credit card, but once you have worked this out it is very quick and easy to set up.

On the 'Information Tab' go to the 'Customer Payment Terms' section and enter the percentage of your non-cash sales split between 30-days, 60-days etc. This will leave the balance allocated as cash sales and Cash Forecaster will work this out as a percentage of your total sales and put the appropriate amount in your cash flow forecast.

To allocate an amount to credit card charges, simply enter a percentage amount in the Percent of 'Cash Sales' by credit card and the percentage your bank charges you for credit card sales in the 'Credit card charges' section, and the Cash Forecaster will do the rest.

Customer services

Contact us
Returns policy
Sitemap

Help & FAQ

Shipping FAQ
Payment FAQ
Support

Articles

Importance of cashflow
Cashflow Forecaster
Compare Cashflow versions

Links

Shopping cart software
Our blog
Cashflow user manual