The First 13 Weeks After Closing: Build a Dated Operating Cash Plan

Establish the cash that remains after closing

Reconcile the approved funds flow to the opening operating accounts. Distinguish unrestricted operating cash from purchase payments, escrow, restricted balances and a lender commitment that has not funded. A reserve included in acquisition uses is not a second source of cash when the forecast starts. Record the cutoff, account population, outstanding items and responsible reviewer.

The acquisition model addresses sources, uses, debt payments and monthly liquidity. This schedule asks the narrower continuing-operation question: on which dates can the business meet its payments? The proposed thirteen-week horizon is a planning convention, not a bank or regulator requirement. FDIC’s Money Smart materials explain cash projections and reserves; the dated method and examples here are original.

Date customer cash without turning it into earned revenue

Separate collection of opening receivables, cash from new jobs, customer deposits and other receipts. Tie each assumption to the underlying invoice, job, agreement, processor or customer response. A deposit can improve cash before the promised work is performed. Its receipt does not by itself establish earned revenue, available profit or the absence of a future obligation.

The opening-receivables tool can organize one input population, but it excludes new receipts and every cash outflow. Review dates and source references before carrying amounts into the operating plan. Do not include a collection once in an opening-AR total and again as a new-job receipt. Keep disputed, undated and unsupported items in an exception queue rather than assigning a convenient percentage.

Use payment dates and a complete scope

Work from direct receipts and payments. If these already reflect customer collection and supplier timing, an added working-capital change can duplicate the same cash effect. Similarly, a supplier deposit should not appear in the initial funds flow and again as an unpaid post-close requirement without reconciling the cutoff. Keep the original evidence and every approved change.

A positive week-end can hide a cash shortfall

The first two seven-day period-end balances are $55,000 and $25,000, yet the dated balance falls to negative $5,000. A separately chosen $15,000 floor therefore requires $20,000 of additional opening funding under these assumptions: $15,000 minus negative $5,000. The floor is hypothetical. The calculation does not establish a required reserve, credit approval or solvency.

The dated operating-cash tool keeps daily balances alongside thirteen weekly summaries. It reports the opening position as well as end-of-day balances. It cannot determine whether an outgoing morning payment clears before an incoming afternoon receipt, whether a check is available to spend or whether a bank permits an overdraft. Review intraday availability separately for tight dates.

Stress dates without inventing a forecast

In the same example, moving both customer receipts seven calendar days later leaves payroll and supplier dates unchanged. Cash reaches negative $55,000 before the delayed first receipt. The chosen $15,000 floor then has a $70,000 gap. Final cash still reaches $25,000 when both receipts arrive within the horizon. Timing changes the funding question even when total receipts are unchanged.

A delay case is an assumption, not an estimate of collection probability. Retain receipts pushed beyond the horizon in a separate table. Do not silently drop them or claim that the last displayed cash balance covers later payments. Show future financing draws and repayments distinctly; a supported draw changes cash but does not become revenue or EBITDA.

Turn the forecast into an operating review

Assign an owner to each material receipt and payment. At a consistent weekly cutoff, preserve the prior version, enter actual cash movements and explain date/amount differences. Separate a revised assumption from an observed bank event. Reconcile opening cash for the next version to the accepted closing position, including outstanding items and restricted cash treatment.

Periods with no entered movement may be incomplete, not cost-free. A declaration of complete scope is the user’s assertion and should be tested against payroll, payables, tax, debt and purchase calendars. The output should carry unresolved dependencies beside the cash chart: customer response pending, supplier approval incomplete, unquoted equipment or an unavailable credit draw.

Connect the plan to closing once

Use the working-capital guide for transaction definitions and the supplier review for purchasing approvals and timing. Keep one reference across funds flow, opening balances and dated payments. A modelled gap can prompt more opening cash, changed dates or a reviewed financing case; it does not decide which response the parties or lender will accept.

The final file should include the dated assumptions, bank/ledger opening reconciliation, source documents, scenario settings, prior-version variance log and the person authorized to update each item. Financial planning remains dependent on actual records and qualified review. The public tool is local and descriptive; it does not connect to a bank or initiate a payment.

Sources and scope

Source links support the specific topics noted. Examples and analytical frameworks are illustrative; confirm current requirements and transaction facts with the responsible advisers.

1. Managing Cash Flow, Money Smart for Small Business, Module 10
   Cash-flow projection, cash reserves and timing concepts. The 91-day horizon, calculations and examples below are our original design, not an FDIC requirement or endorsement.
2. Manage your business: Manage your finances
   Bookkeeping, available cash, bank reconciliation, payroll, receivables and payables. Not a prescriptive acquisition forecast or accounting opinion.