Understanding your cash flow forecast

Picture it: It's the middle of the month, and you have three invoices out to customers - but you know from experience that they tend to pay late. Meanwhile, your business expenses keep rolling in.

You log into Autobooks and, right there on your Dashboard, you see a clear snapshot: how much money is expected to come in over the next 30 days, how much is likely going out, and exactly how big the gap is. And right below that, a path forward.

That's the Cash Flow Forecast — a feature designed to help you see around the corner before a cash crunch hits.

What is the Cash Flow Forecast?

The Cash Flow Forecast appears on your Autobooks Dashboard when the system detects that your upcoming expenses may outpace your incoming payments over the next 30 days. It uses your real business activity (your outstanding invoices, how quickly your customers typically pay, and your recent spending patterns) to generate a personalized prediction.

When a potential shortfall is detected, the forecast shows you three key numbers:

• Coming in — the total payments expected in the next 30 days, based on your invoice history and average collection time
• Going out — your estimated expenses over the next 30 days, based on your recent bank account spending
• Shortfall — how much more is going out than coming in (highlighted so it's easy to spot)

When do I see my Cash Flow Forecast?

The Cash Flow Forecast appears for business owners who:

1. Are prequalified, approved, or have an application in progress for Autobooks Capital, and
2. Have a detected cash gap based on their invoice and bank account activity

If either of those conditions isn't met, your Dashboard will show the standard metrics (Incoming payments, Coming due, Past due) instead.

What does the Cash Flow Forecast show me?

Your 30-day snapshot

At the top of the forecast, you'll see Your Next 30 Days with three metric columns — Coming in, Going out, and Shortfall — so you can quickly understand where your business stands.

The explanation

Below the metrics, a brief message explains the numbers. If you want to dig deeper, click Learn how we calculated this to see the underlying details:

• Total outstanding invoices (past due + coming due)
• Your average customer payment time (in days)
• The dollar amount expected to arrive in the next 30 days, adjusted for how fast your customers actually pay
• Your estimated expenses, based on average weekly outflows from your linked bank account

A Capital offer, tailored to you

At the bottom of the forecast, you'll see an offer from Autobooks Capital to help bridge the gap. Click the action button to explore your Capital offering.

Why don't I see the Cash Flow Forecast?

The forecast won't appear in a few situations:

• Your projected income exceeds your estimated expenses (no shortfall detected — that's a good thing!)
• There isn't enough data yet to generate a reliable forecast (see below)
• You're not currently eligible for Autobooks Capital
• You're approved for Capital but have already drawn your full available line

Here's what we need to generate a forecast:

1. Capital eligibility — Are you prequalified, approved, or do you have a Capital application in progress?
2. Linked bank accounts — The forecast requires at least 4 weeks of bank transaction history to calculate your spending patterns.
3. Invoice activity — The system needs invoice data to estimate what's coming in. 
4. Enough payment history — The system needs to see at least 5 customer payments in the last 90 days to generate a forecast with sufficient confidence.