The Value of Cashflow Forecasting During a Crisis

Written by
MBS Advisors
Published on
April 6, 2020

During the ongoing coronavirus crisis, many sectors will see their income drop to frightening levels or completely disappear.

To be able to navigate the future path of your cashflow, we can assist you with forecasting.

We can map out your financial position over the coming months, so that you can take the appropriate action to safeguard your cash position.

Forecasting your future cash pipeline

Projecting your cashflow pipeline forwards during a crisis is crucial. Detailed forecasts help you to scenario-plan, search for cost-savings and look for strategies that will preserve your cashflow position.

We can help you remain in control of the cash coming into (and going out of) your business, so that you can accurately predict your financial position and resolve any issues.


Key ways we can help you get more from your forecasting

  • Run regular forecasts – The financial landscape is currently changing on a daily basis. A cashflow forecast is not a static document. Variables and external factors are changing each day, so it’s vital that we run frequent forecasts so that you can react swiftly to any projected cash issues as they become apparent.
  • Explore the right revenue streams – most of you will have seen your face-to-face sales drop to absolute zero since level 4 lockdown restrictions have come into place.  To overcome this, there’s a real imperative to explore revenue streams and new opportunities for income.  This will depend on your specific business and the lockdown restrictions.  The idea is to find ways to increase the money that’s coming in the door and balance out your unavoidable expenses.
  • Get proactive with cost-cutting – we’ll help you review how you can reduce cash outflows to a minimum, which will have a real impact on the health of your future cashflow.  Things like scaling back your operations and reducing things like over-ordering of basic supplies. Negotiating cheaper rates with suppliers, if possible, can also help.
  • Review your staffing needs – as the government has said, now’s not the time to make anyone redundant. But we can help you look at ways to reduce the costs of staffing and resourcing. Reducing working hours or redeploying staff in different roles are all options that reduce payroll costs, while also looking after your staff’s welfare.
  • Run a variety of scenarios – changing the financial drivers in your forecast model allows us to scenario-plan different strategies and options.  Many of these will be a long-term plan when restrictions ease.   Scenario-planning lets us answer questions and will give you some hard evidence on which to base your decision-making and strategic outlook over the coming months.
  • Look at various ways to access funding – if forecasts show a giant cashflow hole coming up, you’re going to need additional funding to get through this crisis. We can assist your business to investigate funding opportunities from your bank or loan provider.

Talk to us about setting up cashflow forecasting, an important step giving you business intelligence to support decision making.

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