Financial Forecasting
Rolling forecasts, scenario planning, and cash flow tools for proactive financial management.
20 articles
What Is a Rolling Forecast?
A rolling forecast continuously updates your financial outlook as new information arrives — replacing the static annual budget as the primary planning tool for agile businesses.
What Is Scenario Planning?
Scenario planning prepares your business for multiple possible futures — not just one expected outcome. It is the tool that separates businesses that survive shocks from those that are blindsided by them.
What Is Cash Flow Forecasting?
Cash flow forecasting predicts when money will come in and go out of your business. It is the most important financial tool for avoiding insolvency — profitable businesses fail for lack of cash every day.
What Is Revenue Forecasting?
Revenue forecasting estimates future income based on historical data and pipeline analysis, helping SMEs plan spending and avoid cash shortfalls.
What Is Zero-Based Budgeting?
Zero-based budgeting requires every expense to be justified from scratch each cycle, helping SMEs eliminate wasteful spending that traditional budgets carry forward by default.
What Is Variance Analysis?
Variance analysis compares your planned financial figures to actual results, revealing where and why performance diverged from the budget.
What Is Sensitivity Analysis?
Sensitivity analysis tests how changes in key assumptions — like revenue growth or margins — affect your financial outcomes, so you can identify your biggest risks before they materialise.
What Is Break-Even Analysis?
Break-even analysis tells you exactly how many units or hours you need to sell to cover all your costs. Use it to evaluate pricing changes, new hires, and product launches.
What Is Budget vs. Actual Reporting?
Budget vs. actual reporting compares what you planned to earn and spend against what really happened, turning your budget from a wish list into a management tool.
What Is a 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast?
A 13-week cash flow forecast tracks weekly inflows and outflows for a rolling quarter, giving you early warning of cash shortfalls while there is still time to act.
What Is Run Rate?
Run rate takes a recent period of performance and extrapolates it to estimate annual results — useful for fast-growing businesses where last year's data no longer reflects current scale.
What Is Forecast Accuracy?
Forecast accuracy measures how closely your financial predictions match actual results. Tracking it over time reveals systematic biases and drives better planning.
What Is Top-Down Forecasting?
Top-down forecasting starts with total market size and estimates your share to arrive at a revenue figure. It is best used alongside bottom-up methods for cross-validation.
What Is Bottom-Up Forecasting?
Bottom-up forecasting builds a revenue projection from granular inputs like individual deals, customers, and team capacity — making it the most accurate method for short-term planning.
What Is Financial Modelling?
A financial model is a spreadsheet-based tool that links your assumptions to projected outcomes, letting you test decisions like hiring, pricing, or expansion before committing.
What Is a Working Capital Forecast?
A working capital forecast projects changes in your debtors, creditors, and inventory over time, revealing how growth ties up cash and where to free it.
What Is CapEx vs. OpEx?
CapEx covers long-term asset purchases while OpEx covers day-to-day running costs. The distinction affects your tax treatment, reported profitability, and cash flow timing.
What Is Burn Rate Forecasting?
Burn rate forecasting projects how quickly your business consumes cash each month and how many months of runway remain, so you can act before funds run out.
What Is Contribution Margin Analysis?
Contribution margin analysis shows how much each product or service contributes to covering fixed costs and generating profit, helping you prioritise your most profitable revenue streams.
What Is EBITDA Forecasting?
EBITDA forecasting projects your operating earnings before interest, tax, and non-cash charges — the metric investors and lenders focus on when valuing your business.