A monthly P&L tells you whether you made money. A 13-week cash forecast tells you whether you’ll have money, week by week, for the next quarter. For D2C brands with inventory, ad spend, and marketplace delays, it’s one of the most useful tools you can build.
Why 13 weeks?
Thirteen weeks is one quarter: long enough to spot problems like a large supplier payment or a festive stock build, but short enough to forecast with reasonable accuracy.
What goes into it
Cash coming in
- Website payments (usually arriving within days)
- Marketplace settlements (on their own delayed cycles)
- COD remittances from logistics partners
- B2B or retail customer payments
- Any funding or loan drawdowns
Cash going out
- Supplier and manufacturer payments
- Ad spend
- Salaries and rent
- Logistics and platform fees
- Taxes and statutory payments
- Loan repayments
A worked example (first four weeks)
Numbers in this example are illustrative. The brand wants to keep at least ₹12 lakh in the bank at all times.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening cash | ₹20L | ₹18L | ₹11L | ₹14L |
| Cash in | ₹8L | ₹7L | ₹9L | ₹8L |
| Cash out | ₹10L | ₹14L (supplier) | ₹6L | ₹12L (salaries) |
| Closing cash | ₹18L | ₹11L | ₹14L | ₹10L |
The brand drops below its ₹12 lakh minimum in weeks 2 and 4. Seeing this weeks ahead gives it time to act: split the supplier payment, pull forward a marketplace settlement, or trim ad spend for a week.
How to build and run it
- Start with today’s actual bank balance.
- List known payments with their dates.
- Forecast receipts by channel, using real settlement timelines. See marketplace settlement delays.
- Set a minimum cash level and highlight any week below it.
- Update weekly: replace the past week with actuals and add a new week at the end.
- Compare forecast vs actual to make it more accurate over time.
FAQs
How is this different from my monthly budget?
A budget plans the year by month. A 13-week forecast tracks actual cash timing week by week, so it catches short-term gaps a monthly view hides.
How long does it take to update?
Once built, usually under an hour a week.
Do investors care about this?
Yes. It shows you understand your cash position, which builds confidence, especially close to a raise.
Download The D2C Founder’s Cash Flow Checklist to map your cash timing.
Get the free checklist →Want a 13-week cash forecast built for your brand? The Financial Arc sets up and runs cash forecasting as part of our Virtual CFO service.
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