How to Build a 30-Day Cash Flow Plan to Regain Control

Managing cash flow can feel like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle, exciting in theory, terrifying in practice. Yet for any company turning over over £1 million and helmed by multiple directors, mastering a short-term cash flow plan is essential.

In this guide, imagine me as your CFO-in-chief, cracking jokes about “financial yoga” while walking you through a clear, step-by-step 30-day plan that even a ten-year-old would understand.

Why Cash Flow Control Matters (and What Can Go Wrong)

Every business has an ebb and flow of money swirling in and out. When the inflows and outflows aren’t mapped out, it’s like navigating a ship without a compass: Getting your 30-day plan right prevents unexpected overdrafts, late-payment penalties and sleepless nights. Get it wrong, and you risk damaging supplier relationships, harming your credit rating, or worse, stopping payroll.

Step 1: Take the Temperature Assess Your Starting Balance

Begin by identifying how much cash you have available today. Pull the closing bank balances, petty cash and any short-term deposits. This snapshot is your “control deck.” If you skip this, it’s like starting a road trip with no gas gauge, you won’t know if you have 100 miles of range or zero.

Step 2: Forecast Your Inflows, Who’s Paying, When?

List every expected revenue source over the next 30 days: invoices due, recurring subscriptions, anticipated sales promotions. Assign realistic receipt dates. If a major client often pays early, account for that; if they tend to dawdle, push the date out. Underestimating delays is the number-one reason forecasts blow up.

Step 3: Map Your Outflows, Bills, Payroll, and That Office Coffee

Next, enumerate all commitments: rent, salaries, supplier invoices, loan payments, taxes, and yes, the endless coffee runs the team seems to love. Include due dates and amounts. Omitting even a small recurring cost can leave you scrambling and nobody wants a mutiny over cancelled caffeine.

Step 4: Create Your 30-Day Cash Flow Schedule

Now, combine the inflows and outflows into a day-by-day chart or simple spreadsheet. For each day, calculate:

• Opening balance (yesterday’s closing balance)

• + Cash inflows expected that day

• – Cash outflows scheduled that day

• = Closing balance (this becomes the next day’s opening balance)

This rolling calculation is your daily dashboard. Spot when the balance dips close to zero, and you’ll know where to act before alarms start buzzing.

Step 5: Plan Contingencies, What If Scenarios

Even the best forecasts are approximations. Build in “what‐if” scenarios: what if a big invoice is delayed by two weeks? What if unexpected repairs cost £5 k? Create a buffer, perhaps £10 k or 10 percent of your monthly expenses, to ensure you can weather minor shocks without emergency borrowing.

Step 6: Take Action, Accelerate, Delay, Negotiate

Armed with visibility:

• Accelerate collections by offering small early-payment discounts.

• Delay non-essential purchases or negotiate extended payment terms with suppliers.

• Reprioritise discretionary spending (postpone that office retreat if cash gets tight).

These moves aren’t heroic; they’re prudent. You’re steering your ship around icebergs, not capsizing it.

Step 7: Monitor Daily, Adjust and Communicate

Every morning, glance at your updated closing balance. If you see a potential shortfall in ten days, pick up the phone, call your bank to arrange a temporary overdraft, or message suppliers to adjust terms. Keep your leadership team in the loop, clarity breeds confidence.

Putting It into Practice: A Real-World Example

Imagine a manufacturing firm with £2 million turnover, three directors, and seasonal order variability. In month-end close, they saw a potential £50 k shortfall around day 18. By offering a 1 percent discount to early payers and negotiating a one-week payment extension on a large raw-material invoice, they turned a negative gap into a £20 k surplus, enough to cover an unexpected equipment repair.

For startups tackling their first cash-flow forecast, the same steps apply, but focus on basic revenue streams: customer invoices, subscription renewals and minimal payroll outflows.

Even small companies benefit enormously from daily visibility.

If you enjoyed this deep dive, check out our previous blog on streamlining invoicing processes for improved cash flow.

Wrapping up today's insights, tomorrow we simplify another accounting challenge.