13-week cash flow
In accounting, 13-week cash flow means a direct-method forecast of cash receipts and payments week by week for the next quarter, built from the bank balance, bills, payroll and tax dates and expected collections, and rolled forward every week.
Also called Thirteen-week cash flow.
Cash in and out, forecast week by week.
Covers the next thirteen weeks, about one quarter.
Updated weekly with actuals, then rolled forward.
Not a rule. Treasury convention — not codified; direct method as in ASC 230-10-45-25. US GAAP governs recognition, measurement and presentation, not bookkeeping mechanics. Sources
Work out 13-week cash flow
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Mistakes people make
What goes wrong in a real set of books, and what an accountant reviewing them catches.
The lesson that teaches this
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For founders
The same idea written for a founder: what it costs a startup that ignores it, and what to do in a real month.
- 13-week cash flow forecastA week-by-week forecast of cash in and cash out for the next quarter, built from actual bills, payroll dates and expected customer payments.
- Burn rate and runway: how to calculate them correctlyGross burn, net burn and months of runway, done the way an investor checks them: from cash, averaged, and with the hires you’ve already committed to.
What it is not called
Each of these means something else. Use one here and an accountant reading the product notices.
- cash flow statement (historical, under ASC 230)
- runway
Components that render the terms it depends on
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Also in Finance & planning
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two can't disagree.