Cash Flow Forecasting Buddy

When you start freelancing, an entirely different business skill is needed when it comes to managing the cash that’s flowing in and out of your business.

Freelance income isn’t consistent. One month you might get $1,000, and the next month you might hit $10,000. So you need to be financially prepared for what the coming months might look like.

And that’s hard to do if you can’t see what’s going on!

The first step is to keep track of exactly what your income and outgoings are each week.

If you’re not doing this, and you’re struggling to manage your money as a freelancer, this is a super simple system you can put in place to help get your business on the right track.

Use this automated cash flow spreadsheet to help you:

See at a glance what you’re earning each month, and what’s going out of your account each month - including all those teeny tiny bank fees, credit card fees, and currency conversion fees that can really add up.

Spot any low-income months that are coming up, so you can double down on your pitching and marketing efforts and get more money in.

Pinpoint when you’re going to be super busy, so you can make plans in advance to manage your workload and energy.

See what you’re really spending money on so you can trim anything you don’t need.
Adjust your freelancing rates to ensure you’re always profitable!

This spreadsheet is easy for anyone to use, and suitable for all types of freelancers.

It’s formulated to automatically calculate your client income, other income, and all your outgoings - week by week.

Just punch your numbers in, and let the spreadsheet work its magic!

Jat Leng Low - Freelance copywriter and messaging strategist for sustainability businesses

“Every year when December rolled around, I’d be fumbling with my emails, receipts, invoices, and bank statements to consolidate my business income and expenses. And every time I’d tell myself, let’s not be like this next year.

But I’d never learn. I found money admin a chore and I’d procrastinate on it. But I realized that wasn’t the real reason. It was that I had no system in place for tracking my income and expenses. Your forecasting spreadsheet changed that for me.

At the start of this year, I inputted my expected expenses like monthly and annual subscriptions according to their renewal dates. Then I let out a sigh of relief.

As the weeks passed, I could conveniently update the sheet with my expected income and ad-hoc expenses.

And because your sheet has the weeks clearly laid out, I could easily zoom in to any expected expense and reconcile it with actual data that came in, which happens when there are discrepancies due to currency conversions.

I love that I now have a complete view of my business finances and cash flow — how much money is in the bank, what’s coming in and what’s going out. And the best thing is, the sheet is an easy, reliable and sustainable tracking system I can depend on throughout the year.

So come December, it’ll be more rest, less stress!”