Before you finance a cashflow gap, you need to be able to see it. A cashflow forecast is the tool that turns vague worry into a clear plan, and it is the single most useful habit a limited company can build for managing money in and out.
What a forecast actually is
It is simply a week-by-week or month-by-month view of the cash you expect to receive and the cash you expect to pay out, ending with your projected balance at each point. It is about timing of cash, not profit; a profitable business can still show a tight week, and the forecast is where you spot it.
How to build a basic one
- List expected money in: invoices due, deposits, recurring revenue, with realistic payment dates.
- List expected money out: wages, suppliers, rent, tax, loan repayments.
- Work through each period to see your running balance.
- Update it regularly as real figures replace estimates.
Using it for borrowing decisions
A forecast shows you exactly when a gap appears, how deep it is, and what will close it. That makes any borrowing deliberate: you can size a facility to the real need and check the repayment fits comfortably within future periods, at the rate shown in your offer over your agreed term.
Credicorp lends only to UK limited companies and LLPs for business purposes, never to individuals or sole traders, and we take no personal guarantees. As an exempt lender we sit outside the FCA consumer-credit regime, so the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS do not apply.
See also: Can business finance help bridge a short-term cashflow gap?, Planning your borrowing around seasonal trading, Credicorp Flex or Slice for a cashflow need?.