Cash flow forecasting for UK businesses
Know the chance of running short, weeks before it happens.
Cadence builds your next thirteen weeks from your invoices, bills, payroll and tax, places every invoice in the week that customer really pays, and tells you how likely you are to dip below your cash buffer, and which customers that risk comes from.
No card needed. Connects to Xero. Data held in the UK.
- Lowest point
- £38,100
- week of 27 Nov
- Against the buffer
- £1,900 under
- Weeks under
- 1
What Cadence shows you
The charts you work from, drawn here from a sample company’s figures. Pick one to see what it tells you.
- Forecast balance
- Likely range
- Cash buffer
| Week of | Balance | Likely low | Likely high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Oct | £64,500 | £63,000 | £66,000 |
| 16 Oct | £81,700 | £79,300 | £84,100 |
| 23 Oct | £79,600 | £76,300 | £82,900 |
| 30 Oct | £69,900 | £65,700 | £74,100 |
| 6 Nov | £75,800 | £70,700 | £80,900 |
| 13 Nov | £64,300 | £58,300 | £70,300 |
| 20 Nov | £49,200 | £42,300 | £56,100 |
| 27 Nov | £38,100 | £30,300 | £45,900 |
| 4 Dec | £54,600 | £45,900 | £63,300 |
| 11 Dec | £53,200 | £43,600 | £62,800 |
| 18 Dec | £73,800 | £63,300 | £84,300 |
| 25 Dec | £66,100 | £54,700 | £77,500 |
| 1 Jan | £63,450 | £51,150 | £75,750 |
Every week of the quarter, against your buffer
Each invoice lands in the week that customer usually pays. Bills, payroll, VAT, PAYE and corporation tax go in on their due dates.
The shaded band is the likely range, set from how accurate the forecast has been. Here the low is £38,100 in the week of 27 Nov, under the £40,000 buffer.
Every plan; likely range from Professional
- Chance of dipping below the buffer
| Week of | Chance |
|---|---|
| 9 Oct | 0% |
| 16 Oct | 0% |
| 23 Oct | 0% |
| 30 Oct | 1% |
| 6 Nov | 1% |
| 13 Nov | 4% |
| 20 Nov | 18% |
| 27 Nov | 61% |
| 4 Dec | 22% |
| 11 Dec | 20% |
| 18 Dec | 3% |
| 25 Dec | 5% |
| 1 Jan | 6% |
The chance of running short, and who it comes from
The next 13 weeks are run thousands of times on each customer’s own payment record. Each bar is the chance of dipping below the buffer that week.
66% over the quarter. If Paulsen Medical Supplies pays this week, it falls to 29%.
Professional and above
- Cash in
- Cash out
| Week of | Cash in | Cash out |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Oct | £14,800 | £12,300 |
| 16 Oct | £23,400 | £6,200 |
| 23 Oct | £6,300 | £8,400 |
| 30 Oct | £4,100 | £13,800 |
| 6 Nov | £12,400 | £6,500 |
| 13 Nov | £3,100 | £14,600 |
| 20 Nov | £7,800 | £22,900 |
| 27 Nov | £8,600 | £19,700 |
| 4 Dec | £21,300 | £4,800 |
| 11 Dec | £9,600 | £11,000 |
| 18 Dec | £24,900 | £4,300 |
| 25 Dec | £11,200 | £18,900 |
| 1 Jan | £5,100 | £7,750 |
What comes in and goes out, week by week
Cash in above the line, cash out below it, so the heavy weeks stand out before they arrive.
The weeks of 20 and 27 November carry the payroll and the supplier bills with little coming in. That is where the low point comes from.
Every plan
- Current forecast
- With a hire at £5,200 a month
- Cash buffer
| Week of | Current | With the hire |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Oct | £64,500 | £64,500 |
| 16 Oct | £81,700 | £81,700 |
| 23 Oct | £79,600 | £79,600 |
| 30 Oct | £69,900 | £69,900 |
| 6 Nov | £75,800 | £75,800 |
| 13 Nov | £64,300 | £64,300 |
| 20 Nov | £49,200 | £49,200 |
| 27 Nov | £38,100 | £32,900 |
| 4 Dec | £54,600 | £49,400 |
| 11 Dec | £53,200 | £48,000 |
| 18 Dec | £73,800 | £68,600 |
| 25 Dec | £66,100 | £55,700 |
| 1 Jan | £63,450 | £53,050 |
Test a decision before you make it
Add a hire, a new contract or a lost client on top of the real forecast and switch it on and off. Nothing changes in your actual numbers.
A hire at £5,200 a month from November takes the low to £32,900 in the week of 27 Nov.
Every plan
Paulsen Medical Supplies£4,200, 13 days late
Can claim £70 + interest
Paid this week: risk falls to 29%
Mark Cho£2,850, 10 days late
Can claim £70 + interest
Paid this week: risk falls to 47%
John Melton£1,350, 7 days late
Can claim £70 + interest
Paid this week: risk falls to 58%
Risk now: 66% chance of dipping below the buffer in the next 13 weeks.
Know which invoice to chase first
Overdue invoices ranked by what they cost you, with the fixed compensation you can claim on each under the late payment law, plus interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate. Try the late payment interest calculator.
Next to each, what paying it would do to your chance of running short.
Every plan; drafted chase emails on Enterprise
Northbank Works Ltd is a sample company. Illustrative figures.
Cadence in 30 seconds
The forecast against your buffer, who to chase and what you can claim, a what-if, the chance of running short, then Scout and Sentinel.
Start a 14-day trialRead the tour as text
- 0:00Payroll goes out on Friday. Will the cash be there?
- 0:03Overview: see every week ahead, against your buffer. Cash today £62,000 across all accounts. The lowest point is £38,100 in the week of 27 November, £1,900 under the £40,000 buffer. £8,400 overdue on 3 invoices. This week: cash dips below the buffer, and Paulsen Medical Supplies is the one to chase. The forecast is drawn against the buffer with a likely range.
- 0:08Actions: know who to chase, and what you can claim. Paulsen Medical Supplies £4,200, 13 days overdue; Mark Cho £2,850, 10 days; John Melton £1,350, 7 days. You could claim £210 in fixed compensation (£70 each), plus interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate.
- 0:12Scenarios: test a decision before you make it. Hiring a developer at £5,200 a month from November takes the 13-week low from £38.1k to £32.9k, £7.1k under the buffer in the week of 27 November. Another what-if shown: moving the van payment of £6,500 to January.
- 0:16Forecast, cash risk: the real chance of running short, and who it comes from. The next 13 weeks are run 2,000 times on how each customer really pays: a 66% chance of dropping below the £40,000 buffer. If Paulsen (£4,200) pays this week the chance falls to 29%; Mark Cho (£2,850) to 47%; John Melton (£1,350) to 58%.
- 0:20Scout, opened over the Overview: ask anything, with answers from your own numbers. "Can we afford a new hire in November?" "Not comfortably. At £5,200 a month the low falls to £32,900 in the week of 27 Nov, £7,100 under your buffer. Starting in January keeps the hire out of this quarter."
- 0:24Sentinel, the briefing: Sentinel watches, briefs you and drafts the chase. Risk: cash is likely to dip below the buffer in the week of 27 November (66% chance, expected low £38,100). Chase Paulsen Medical Supplies first. VAT of £9,840 is due on 7 November and is already in the forecast. To chase: Paulsen Medical Supplies £4,200 and Mark Cho £2,850, and a drafted chase email for invoice INV-1042, ready to review and send.
- 0:28CadenceFi. Know your chance of running short, weeks ahead. Start your 14-day free trial.
What late payment costs UK businesses
- £26bn
- owed to UK businesses in late payments at any one time
- 86 hours
- a year spent chasing, for each business paid late
- 14,000
- businesses close each year because of late payment
How it works
- 01
Connect your accounts
Link Xero or import a spreadsheet. Invoices, bills and budgets come in and stay current; nothing in your accounts is changed.
- 02
See the weeks ahead
Each invoice lands in the week that customer usually pays. VAT, PAYE and corporation tax are added on their due dates.
- 03
Act early
Cadence shows the chance of a shortfall and who it comes from, so you chase the right invoice before the tight week, not during it.
Why Cadence
Other tools do some of these. Cadence puts them in one forecast, priced for small and growing businesses.
- It learns how your customers pay
- A customer who always pays ten days late is forecast ten days late, worked out from their paid invoices.
- Every plan
- It shows how accurate it has been
- Each week the forecast is checked against what actually happened. That record sets the likely range, so you know how far ahead to rely on it.
- Professional and above
- Tax bills are in the forecast
- VAT estimated quarter by quarter from your own invoices and bills, with PAYE and corporation tax on their due dates.
- Every plan
- Your edits are kept
- Move an expected date because a customer said Friday, and the next sync from your accounting software leaves it alone.
- Every plan
- It answers from your own numbers
- Ask Scout in plain English and get an answer built from your invoices, bills and forecast, within a monthly AI allowance.
- Professional and above
- It watches for you
- Sentinel flags what needs attention, writes the Monday briefing and drafts the chase email for you to review and send.
- Enterprise
Who it is for
UK businesses that invoice on terms and pay staff and suppliers on fixed dates.
- Agencies and studios
- Consultancies and professional services
- Technology businesses
- Construction, trades and design
Your accountant joins free
They see the same live forecast, read only and without using a seat. You choose which parts they can see, and the database enforces it.
Your data
- Data held in London, encrypted in transit and at rest
- Each company’s data kept apart in the database itself
- Two-step sign-in, and a full change log
Pricing
Billed monthly. Every plan starts with a 14-day trial with Professional features included. No card needed.
Starter
£69.99 a month
A forecast that updates itself from your accounting software and learns how your customers pay.
2 users
Professional
£149.99 a month
Ask questions in plain English, see how accurate your forecast has been, and the real chance of running short.
Up to 10 users
Enterprise
with Sentinel£349.99 a month
Problems flagged before you look, chase emails drafted for you, and up to 5 companies in one view.
Up to 100 users
Quick answers
What is Cadence?
Cadence is cash flow forecasting software for UK businesses. It takes the invoices you are waiting to be paid, the bills you have to pay and your budgets, and turns them into a week-by-week forecast of your bank balance. It then tells you what needs attention: who to chase, which weeks look tight and what a decision would do to your cash.
It is made by CadenceFi. CadenceFi is the company; Cadence is the product.
How is Cadence different from a spreadsheet?
A well-kept spreadsheet can work, but it only stays correct while someone remembers to update it. Cadence keeps the forecast current automatically from your data, warns you when cash will dip below the buffer you set, lets you test decisions without breaking a formula, and does not depend on one person understanding how the workbook was built. If you would rather start by hand, use our free 13-week cash flow forecast template.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every new account starts with a 14-day free trial, and you do not need to enter a card to begin. The trial includes the Professional features (Scout and forecast accuracy) with a small AI allowance, so you can try them before choosing a plan. Use the trial to bring in your real invoices and bills so you can judge the forecast on your own numbers. The trial never turns into a paid plan by itself. When it ends, access pauses until you choose a plan in Settings; your data is kept, and you can download it at any time.
Will Cadence change anything in my Xero account?
No. Cadence only reads from Xero. It reads your invoices, bills and account names to build your forecast, and it never creates, edits or deletes anything in your Xero account.
Free tools and guides
Useful whether or not you ever use Cadence.
Calculators
13-week forecast template
A spreadsheet with the formulas already in, and a guide to filling it in.
See your own next 13 weeks.
Connect Xero or import a spreadsheet, and the forecast builds itself. No card needed.