Adding Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable to your forecast

Managing cash flow is one of the most important aspects of the business. In the planning phase, your cash flow estimates can help you decide whether your business idea is viable. You can also radically change your cash outlook by adjusting a few basic assumptions about when you pay and get paid.

There are two methods for forecasting your accounts receivable and accounts payable. You can set an average percentage of your sales on credit for all of your revenue and an average percentage of your purchases on credit for all of your expenses. If you would like more precision in your cash flow assumptions you can set your accounts receivable terms by your individual revenue streams. Likewise, you can do the same for your accounts payable to fine-tune your assumptions for individual regular expenses.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are also sometimes known as incoming payments or A/R.

When planning your spending, it's important to recognize the timing of when you receive payments for sales you make on credit. If you receive cash for a sale today, that money is immediately available for you to use. On the other hand, if you agree to invoice your customer for future payment, you have to wait for that payment to come in before the money is available to you.

To set up your accounts receivable in your finance, navigate to the Cashflow tab located under the Settings option, which will direct you to the configuration window.

Adjust the  Sales on credit slider to indicate the percentage of your sales that will be on credit:

Decide how long it will take, on average, to get paid for your credit sales. Faster payments are better since you can use the cash received to pay expenses or fund growth. Timely reminders and collection tactics can minimize the risk associated with credit sales.

Use the  Days to get paid slider to indicate how many days it will take you, on average, to collect on your invoices:

Accounts Payable:

Accounts payable is sometimes also referred to as outgoing payments or A/P.

Just as slow payments from your customers will hurt your cash flow, so will fast payments to your suppliers. Think about the timing of your outgoing payments. Paying later for your purchases, instead of immediately, will leave more cash in the bank for your business to work with.

To set up your accounts receivable in your finance, navigate to the  Cashflow tab located under the Settings option, which will direct you to the configuration window.

Estimate the portion of your spending that will be on credit from your vendors, rather than paid immediately. Use the  Purchases on credit slider to indicate the percentage of your purchases you will make with credit:

Suppliers offer terms for purchases on credit, typically requiring payment within 15 days, 30 days, or even longer. It’s good for you to take advantage of that time. If suppliers give you the option to hang onto your cash for now and pay your bills later, your business will be stronger for it.

Adjust the  Days to pay slider to indicate how many days, on average, it will take you to pay your bills:

Where does this entry appear in the financial statements?

The Cash Flow Assumptions don't appear in the Profit and Loss table explicitly, except to possibly move some revenues and some expenses to future months.

In the Balance Sheet, your Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable will appear as shown below:

In the Cash Flow, accounts receivable and payable will appear under "Cash Paid" and "Amount Received" meaning the amount of increase or decrease in accounts receivable or payable each period. If you see a zero listed here, it doesn't mean there were no receivables or payables; it means there was no change in them:

Additionally, you can view the individual reports for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable to understand the specifics of your financial obligations and incoming payments.