Plenty of businesses have a cash flow forecast somewhere. Few actually use one — updated weekly, checked against reality, adjusted as the picture changes.
The businesses that get surprised by a cash crunch are almost never the ones without a forecast. They're the ones whose forecast was accurate the day it was built and never touched again.
Fifteen minutes a week, same day, same routine — update the actuals, adjust the assumptions, look thirteen weeks ahead. That's the whole habit. It's not complicated. It's just easy to skip.
The businesses that never get surprised by cash are the ones that never stopped looking.
Free first step: the the 13-week cash flow template.
With respect,
Annie