13-Week Cash Flow Forecast Template for Small Business
The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast is the tool finance teams use to see trouble coming. You plan expected cash in and cash out for each of the next thirteen weeks, and the template shows your projected closing balance every week, so a shortfall is visible weeks before it lands. It works in Excel and Google Sheets.
Rolling 13-Week View — Know Your Runway Before It's Gone
Thirteen weeks is one quarter — long enough to plan around, short enough to forecast with confidence. The template lays out every week in columns, totals your expected inflows and outflows, and carries the closing balance forward so you can see exactly when cash gets tight. As each week passes you roll the model forward and always keep a quarter of visibility ahead.
Who Uses a 13-Week Cash Flow Model?
This is a standard tool for small-business owners, finance managers, and anyone steering a company through a tight stretch. It is widely used in turnaround and lending situations precisely because it focuses on actual cash timing rather than profit on paper. If payroll, rent, or supplier payments ever feel like a juggling act, this model brings order to it.
Excel and Google Sheets — Download Instantly
The forecast opens in Microsoft Excel and imports into Google Sheets, with the week columns and running-balance formulas already built. There is nothing to install. Buy it through secure Gumroad checkout and the file is on screen and in your inbox in seconds.
What's Included
- Thirteen weekly columns covering a full quarter
- Separate cash-in and cash-out sections you can label
- Automatic weekly closing balance carried forward
- Running runway view that flags the week cash turns negative
- Opening-balance input so the forecast starts from reality
- Designed to roll forward each week as actuals come in
- Works in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
Frequently Asked Questions
Why 13 weeks specifically?
Thirteen weeks is exactly one quarter. It is short enough that your week-by-week estimates stay realistic, but long enough to spot and plan around a cash shortfall before it arrives — which is why it is the standard horizon for short-term cash forecasting.
Is this different from a profit and loss statement?
Yes. A P&L shows profit on paper, which can look healthy even when your bank balance is about to run dry because of payment timing. A 13-week cash flow forecast tracks actual cash in and out by week, so it shows the timing problems a P&L hides.
What does rolling the forecast forward mean?
Each week you replace the oldest week's estimates with what actually happened and add a new week at the far end. That keeps a full quarter of forward visibility at all times, which is the real value of the model.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. It opens in Excel and imports into Google Sheets, and the weekly formulas and running balance work the same in both.