Cash flow forecasting for agencies
Retainers, project stages, freelancers and payroll all land on different dates. Cadence lines them up week by week so you can see a tight month coming while there is still time to do something about it.
Where the cash gets tight
Marketing, advertising, media, design, digital and creative agencies
- Retainers and project stages are invoiced on different cycles, so income arrives in lumps.
- Freelancers and suppliers are often paid before the client pays you.
- Payroll is fixed and comes first, whatever the clients do.
- One large client paying late, or leaving, can change the whole quarter.
How Cadence helps
Retainers projected forward
Mark a retainer as recurring and it appears in every future period at its usual amount, until the end date you set.
Every plan
When each client really pays
Cadence learns from paid invoices how late each client usually pays and places their open invoices on that date, not the due date.
Every plan
How exposed you are to one client
The Clients page shows each client’s share of your revenue, what they owe and how much of it is overdue.
Every plan
Win a project or lose a client, before it happens
A scenario for winning a project or losing a client shows the effect on cash week by week, from the date you choose.
Every plan
Freelancer and supplier spend
Every payee has a page with what you have paid them and what is due.
Every plan
The chance of running short, and who it comes from
Cash risk works out how likely you are to drop below your buffer from how each client really pays, and names the clients behind it.
Professional
A payroll week, two ways
A worked example.
- Bank balance on Monday: £40,000. Payroll on Friday: £30,000. Cash buffer: £15,000.
- An £18,000 retainer invoice to your largest client is due on Wednesday.
- By due date, Friday closes at £28,000 (£40,000 + £18,000 − £30,000), comfortably above the buffer.
- That client has paid about 12 days late for the last year, so Cadence expects the money the following week. Friday then closes at £10,000 (£40,000 − £30,000), £5,000 below the buffer, and the week is flagged.
Illustrative figures.
See your own next 13 weeks.
Connect Xero or import a spreadsheet, and the forecast builds itself. No card needed.