How to build a 13-week cash plan for your first 90 days
A useful first-90-days plan shows when money reaches the bank, when commitments are paid and the lowest balance between them. Build a 13-week schedule, retain a defined minimum balance and update the forecast against actual receipts and payments every week.
What you will produce: A weekly cash schedule, the lowest balance and the extra funding needed to retain your chosen minimum.
Updated September 6, 2026 · Worked examples and editable worksheets
What to have ready
Collect opening available cash, payment dates, payroll dates, customer collection terms, planned purchases and restricted amounts. Thirteen weeks cover 91 days; use actual dates when working to a specific 90-day deadline.
Work through the calculation and decision
How do you turn sales into weekly receipts?
Start with completed sales, then place the cash into the week it is expected to clear. A cleaning job invoiced this week may fund a later week. For card sales, allow for the actual settlement arrangement, fees, refunds and chargebacks where relevant. Use either gross receipts with fees in payments or net settlements, consistently.
Deposits and advance payments enter the cash schedule when received, but the future delivery and refund obligations still need to be funded. Keep those obligations visible. Do not count the same deposit again as a full final collection.
Which payments need their own dates?
List payroll, rent, supplier payments, tax payments, debt service, equipment installments and any owner withdrawals. Opening cash in this exercise is the money available at the start of week 1, after any earlier opening payments. Later opening commitments belong in the week they are paid.
Calculate closing cash as opening cash plus receipts minus payments. Carry that balance to the next week. The minimum includes the starting balance because a plan can be short of its reserve before its first sale. Keep restricted cash outside the available starting amount.
How do you use the forecast each week?
Replace the completed week with actual results, explain the difference and add a new week at the end. Separate a delayed payment from a lost sale: delay moves cash between weeks, while loss removes it. Test your largest receipt arriving later without moving the corresponding payroll or supplier bill.
If a week approaches the reserve, split it into actual payment days. Receiving cash on Friday does not fund a Wednesday payroll. Agree a dated action before the shortfall: accelerate a legitimate collection, change a purchase date, reduce scope or arrange confirmed funds.
Find the trough before the balance recovers
The editable example starts with $25,000. Weekly receipts rise from $5,000 by $750 each week. Payments are $10,000 in weeks 1–4 and $11,000 afterward. The retained minimum is $7,000.
| Point in the schedule | Cash balance | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Start | $25,000 | Available opening cash |
| End of week 4 | $9,500 | The opening decline is already material |
| End of week 8 | $2,000 | First lowest balance; week 9 is also $2,000 |
| End of week 13 | $9,500 | Later recovery does not fund the earlier trough |
| Extra cash to retain a $7,000 minimum | $5,000 | $7,000 − $2,000 |
What this changes: A positive ending balance hides the reserve breach in the middle. Edit the receipt and payment weeks below to identify a funding amount and the latest date it must be available.
Find the lowest cash balance over 13 weeks
Start with the illustrative example, then replace its inputs with your own assumptions. All money amounts are in USD. The result updates in this tab.
Illustrative result · assumptions apply
- Lowest cash balance, including the starting balance
- $2,000.00
- First lowest-balance week (0 = start)
- 8 week
- Additional cash needed to retain the minimum
- $5,000.00
- Cash at the end of week 13
- $9,500.00
Week-end balances can hide a midweek shortfall. Break the tightest week into dated receipts and payments before committing funds.
| Week | Cash received (USD) | Cash paid (USD) | Closing cash (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | $5,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $20,000.00 |
| Week 2 | $5,750.00 | $10,000.00 | $15,750.00 |
| Week 3 | $6,500.00 | $10,000.00 | $12,250.00 |
| Week 4 | $7,250.00 | $10,000.00 | $9,500.00 |
| Week 5 | $8,000.00 | $11,000.00 | $6,500.00 |
| Week 6 | $8,750.00 | $11,000.00 | $4,250.00 |
| Week 7 | $9,500.00 | $11,000.00 | $2,750.00 |
| Week 8 | $10,250.00 | $11,000.00 | $2,000.00 |
| Week 9 | $11,000.00 | $11,000.00 | $2,000.00 |
| Week 10 | $11,750.00 | $11,000.00 | $2,750.00 |
| Week 11 | $12,500.00 | $11,000.00 | $4,250.00 |
| Week 12 | $13,250.00 | $11,000.00 | $6,500.00 |
| Week 13 | $14,000.00 | $11,000.00 | $9,500.00 |
Complete your decision record
A weekly cash schedule, the lowest balance and the extra funding needed to retain your chosen minimum. Enter the finding or number, the source and the next action for each row. “Supported” records your assessment of that item; it does not approve the business or certify completed research.
| Item and what to record | Your finding and evidence | Status and next action |
|---|---|---|
| Forecast datesStart date and the date range represented by every week | ||
| Collection assumptionsCustomer, amount, expected clearing date and evidence | ||
| Payment commitmentsSupplier or obligation, amount, due date and flexibility | ||
| Cash minimumUnrestricted balance you need to retain and its purpose | ||
| Lowest weekBalance, main cause and the earlier action deadline | ||
| Weekly updateActual difference, revised assumption and person responsible |
6 items have no evidence recorded yet.
Entries are temporary and are not sent to us or saved automatically. Download your completed work before leaving or refreshing this page.
Choose your next action
| If your finding is… | Your next action |
|---|---|
| A week falls below the cash minimum | Fund or reduce the shortfall before the earlier payment date. |
| The lowest week contains one large receipt | Run a delayed-collection scenario and inspect daily balances. |
| Actual receipts repeatedly miss the forecast | Revise the demand and collection assumptions before repeating the same plan. |
Errors that can change the result
- Entering invoices as cash on the day they are issued.
- Using a monthly total that hides a weekly payroll gap.
- Adding the same opening cash payment to both the initial balance and week 1.
Apply this to your business
Choose the matching format and check its customer unit, paid team and evidence limits.
Restaurant
48-seat counter-service restaurant
Open the operating guide and state profiles →Coffee Shop
Independent coffee shop without a drive-through
Open the operating guide and state profiles →Cleaning Business
Two-person commercial cleaning team with recurring accounts
Open the operating guide and state profiles →Hair Salon
Three-stylist employee salon with booked appointments
Open the operating guide and state profiles →Auto Detailing Business
Two-technician fixed-site detailing studio
Open the operating guide and state profiles →After the first 13 weeks, test the longer opening ramp and later equipment commitments. Values entered here are not automatically transferred to another calculator.
Continue with the next part of your plan
- How to build a startup budget you can actually fund
A funding total, a dated payment ledger and a clear amount still to arrange.
- Why a profitable business can still run out of cash
A profit-to-cash bridge and a clearly defined test for recovering the initial investment.
- How much startup financing do you need, and can you repay it?
A sources-and-uses brief, a net funding gap and a repayment scenario to discuss with a lender.
Sources and limits
The sources below provide the stated background. The worked examples, calculator defaults and decision exercises are authored teaching material. They do not establish market prices, local demand, legal applicability or completed state research.
- SBA: managing a business
Accounting, staffing and asset-planning background.
- IRS: business recordkeeping
Keeping supporting business records.
Source pages checked September 6, 2026. Research and review standards · Report an issue
When you need a longer financial plan
Use a financial model to organize a broader forecast after defining your own operating assumptions. The site’s research, your worksheet entries and the purchased workbook are separate; entries are not transferred automatically.
Financial models