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Project Cash Flow Forecaster for Contractors

The job is profitable on paper, and you still can't make payroll in month seven.

Month-by-month cash on a fixed-price project, including retainage, so you know how much of your own money the job needs before you sign.

$49 USD · one-time
Buy on Etsy · $49Gumroad coming soon
Instant download · Excel & Google Sheets · works on Mac and Windows · on Etsy today, Gumroad soon
Project Cash Flow Forecaster dashboard
Who it's for

Made for the way you actually work.

  • Contractors signing fixed-price jobs that pay a month behind
  • Builders who fund the early months out of their own account
  • Remodelers with two jobs dipping in the same month
  • Anyone who's arranged financing in a panic mid-project
What's included

Everything in one file.

  • Dashboard: Lowest balance, runway and the cash curve. Read-only.
  • Start Here: Five steps from opening the file to a real number on screen.
  • Project Cash Flow: Where the forecast is built. The main working sheet.
  • Settings: Forecast horizon and display.
  • Instructions: What each sheet does, and what to do if a number looks off.
  • About: Version, license and support.
  • PDF Quick-Start Guide: two pages, first result in five minutes
How it works

Three steps to a number you trust.

  1. Open Project Cash Flow. Enter the cash you have available to fund this project, not the business's whole balance if other jobs need it.
  2. Set your alert threshold: the balance below which you cannot pay the crew.
  3. Under Payment sources, enter the deposit, the progress payments and the retainage release with the months each lands in.
A look inside

The screens you'll be working in.

List of the seven sheets in the project cash flow spreadsheetProject Cash Flow sheet with payment schedule, cost profile and month by month balanceStart Here sheet with five setup steps and a guide to each sheetSettings sheet showing the twelve month forecast horizonThree steps to the funding gap: enter money in, enter money out, read the low pointCompatibility list showing Excel, Google Sheets, Mac and Windows support
Questions

Good to know.

Does this work in Excel and Google Sheets?
Both. Google Sheets: File > Import, or open and make a copy. Excel 365: open it directly. No macros, no add-ons, nothing to install.
How is this different from the 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast?
Same engine, different horizon and vocabulary. That one is your whole business over a quarter. This one is a single project over its life, which is the unit a contractor actually signs for.
How do I handle retainage?
As a separate payment source in the month it is released. Do not net it off the progress payments, hiding it is what makes it a surprise.
What if my project runs longer than twelve months?
Copy the sheet and chain them, carrying the closing balance into the next opening balance. Most jobs this workbook suits finish inside a year.
I'm not confident with spreadsheets. Will I manage?
Yes. The white cells are the only ones you touch. The Quick-Start Guide has your first real number on screen in about five minutes, and if you get stuck, message me.

One mispriced job costs more than this.

$49 once, and it's yours to keep. It pays for itself the first time it stops you underpricing a job or leaving margin on the table. No subscription, no login, just a file that does the maths.

Buy on Etsy · $49Gumroad coming soon
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