Cashflow Budget
Budgeting Basics III

Because a startup without cash is like a car without
gasoline.
2 | Budgeting Basics




Introduction
                                                         Figuring out your establishing budget and your
                                                         operating budget might involve a good deal of work
                                                         and estimating your sales will probably involve
                                                         some frustrations too – especially if you see it as an
                                                         impossible attempt to predict.

                                                         However, the cashflow budget is where you must
                                                         be really concentrated. The challenge in you
                                                         cashflow budget is to place all your payments in the
                                                         month where the money will go either in on or out
                                                         of your account.

                                                         The purpose is to find out if we need more money
                                                         than the startup investment that we found out in
                                                         our establishing budget.



                                                         The cashflow budget is basically your operating
                                                         budget transformed into actual cashflow. If you
deliver a product or service in September, you will register the turnover of that transaction in September in
your operating budget. If however you send the invoice at the end of September and receive the money in
October, you should register the payment from the customer in October.

Furthermore there are some payments, that you cannot find in your operating budget but that will have to
be in your cashflow budget.

I will introduce you gradually to the different complexities of the cashflow budget in the following.

As an example I will show you an operating budget, that I will transform into a cashflow budget.
3 | Budgeting Basics


Operating budget
For 1 /9 2010 to 31 /8        2011           Sep       Oct       Nov       Dec       Jan       Feb       Mar       Apr       May       Jun       Jul       Aug       Total


Turnover
Sales                                         250       250       300       400       200       250       250       350       250       250       150       200       3.100
Variable costs
(Cost of goods sold)                          185       185       240       300       160       185       185       250       185       185       115       160       2.335
Contribution margin                            65        65        60       100        40        65        65       100        65        65        35        40         765


Fixed costs
Wages                                            0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0          0
Rent                                            18        18        18        18        18        18        18        18        18        18        18        18        216
Car mileage and service                          2         2         2         2         2         2         2         2         2         2         2         2         24
Administration costs                             5         5         5         5         5         5         5         5         5         5         5         5         60
Marketing                                        1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         12
Maintenance - shop equipment                     0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0          0
Unexpected costs - + 5 pct. of fixed costs     1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       1.3       15.6
Total fixed costs                             27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      27.3      327.6

Profit before interest and depreciation       37.7      37.7      32.7      72.7      12.7      37.7      37.7      72.7      37.7      37.7       7.7      12.7      437.4


Depreciation:
Shop equipment                                     1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1       12
Depreciation, total                                1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1         1       12


Interest
Net interest                                       0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0           0


Net profit                                    36.7      36.7      31.7      71.7      11.7      36.7      36.7      71.7      36.7      36.7       6.7      11.7      425.4
4 | Klik her for at angive tekst.




The very basics
The very basics of a cashflow budget go like this:



               Cash, beginning of month

               + Incoming payments

               -    Outgoing payments

               = Cash, end of month



So in the simple cashflow budget you just take the numbers from the operating budget and
transfer them to a cashflow budget. Except for the depreciation which is not actually a
payment!

I have made the calculations for the first four months below:

1.000 DKK                           September        October     November        December
Cash, beginning of month                        0         27.3          54.6             81.9

Incoming payments
Sales                                      250             250           300               400

Outgoing payments
Variable costs                              185            185           240              300
Fixed costs                                37.7           37.7          32.7             72.7

Cash, end of month                        27.3            54.6          81.9            254.6




The conclusion:
We do not need the bank for funding. We expect to earn a profit from the first month and will
have positive cashflow (more incoming than outgoing payments) all the way. After the first
month we have 27.300 DKK in the bank and that amount just grows and grows.
5 | Klik her for at angive tekst.




The extra payments – and the non-
payments
It would be nice if it was actually that simple, but it is not quite. There are actually some
payments, that you cannot see in the operating budget or income statement – and then there
is something in the operating budget, that is not actually a cash payment.

The payments that you cannot see in an operating budget will typically be the following:

       Private withdrawals
       Investments in large assets - that cost more than app. 12.000 DKK.
       Repayment on loans
       Deposits

And the cost in your operating budget, that is actually not a cash payment:

       Depreciation

If we assume that we take out private withdrawals of 20.000 DKK pr. month, pay a 50.000 DKK
deposit on the rent in the first month and expect to invest 30.000 in new shop interior before
Christmas, our cashflow will actually look like this:

                              September October November December

Cash, beginning of month               0     -42,7        -35,4       -58,1



Incoming payments

Sales                                250      250          300          400

Total incoming payments              250      250          300          400



Outgoing payments

Variable costs                       185      185          240          300

Fixed costs                          37,7    37,7         32,7         72,7

Private withdrawals                   20       20           20           20

Deposit on rent                       50

Shop interior                                               30

Total outgoing payments             292,7   242,7        322,7        392,7
6 | Klik her for at angive tekst.




Cash, end of month                  -42,7    -35,4        -58,1        -50,8



The conclusion
Since we need private withdrawals to survive personally and since we need to pay deposit and
invest in new interior before the booming Christmas sales, we will need a cash credit of at least
58.100 DKK to cover the overdraft in November (In practice you would probably want to ask
for 70-80.000 or more to have a margin).
7 | Klik her for at angive tekst.




Delayed payments – complicating
things further
We have now learned that there are actually payments, that we cannot find in the operating
budget, and to complicate things further, we will have to take time of payment into
consideration.

When you start a job as an employee, it will make a big difference to you if you get your
monthly wage on the 1st of a month instead of the 31st. If you get you wage at the end of the
month, you will have no cash for a month. The same goes for businesses, so you will have to
take into consideration:

-   When will I actually have to pay for what I buy?
-   When can I get my money from my customers?

Let’s make a couple of assumption about the budget above:

-   We assume that we get our money in cash when people buy in the shop, but only after 30
    days when we deliver to business customers.
-   We assume that 40% of our sales are to business customers, so we only get our money
    after 30 days on half of our sales.
-   We assume that we have to pay our suppliers on delivery and also pay our other costs
    immediately – just to simplify things a bit.

                               September     October         November     December
Cash, primo                             0        -142,7          -135,4       -178,1
Incoming payments
Cash sales                            150              150         180           240
Credit sales - 30 days                                 100         100           120
Total incoming payments               150              250         280           360


Outgoing payments
Variable costs                        185              185         240           300
Fixed costs                          37,7          37,7           32,7          72,7
Private withdrawals                    20              20           20            20
Deposit on rent                        50
Shop interior                                                       30
Total outgoing payments             292,7         242,7          322,7         392,7
Cash, ultimo                        -142,7       -135,4          -178,1       -210,8
8 | Klik her for at angive tekst.



In September you expect to sell for 250.000 DKK, but if 40% of your sales – 100.000 DKK – are
on credit, you will only get the money in October. In September you will only receive the
150.000 DKK from your 60% cash sales.

The conclusion
Since we accepted, that our business customers – 40% of our sales – only pay after 30 days, we
will need further credit to fund that. Instead of 58.100 DKK we will need a cash credit of at
least 210.800 DKK.

The reason for that is that we will have to pay our suppliers before we get all our money from
our customers. Credit from our suppliers would solve part of the problem.

We will be profitable every month, but we will just not have got the money yet. It’s like getting
your wage or student grants at the end of the month instead of the beginning of the month.

This is what it will look like if you fx organize an event and get paid after the event. You will
need money to cover the costs until your customer pays you.
9 | Klik her for at angive tekst.




VAT – the tricky part
To take the complexity one step further, we want to take VAT into consideration.

However! If you have a concept, where you don’t have to charge VAT – fx certain cultural and
social offers – you can skip this part!!!!

If you have to add VAT to your prices – which most commercial products or services do – you
will make the operating budget without VAT but include the VAT in your cashflow budget.

The rationale for that is that VAT you charge is not something you can keep, and the VAT you
pay you can get refunded. Therefore it is not actually income or cost to you and should not be
in the operating budget. However, the money goes in and out of your bank account, so they
should be registered as cashflow anyhow. Below I have added 25% VAT to costs and sales in
the cashflow budget. No VAT on the private withdrawals however.

                               September     October      November       December
Cash, primo
                                        0        -105,2          -35,4           -8,1


Incoming payments
Cash sales                            150           150           180              240
Credit sales - 30 days
                                                    100           100              120
VAT on sales - 25%
                                     37,5          62,5            70              90
Total incoming payments
                                    187,5         312,5           350              450


Outgoing payments
Variable costs
                                      185           185           240              300
Fixed costs
                                     37,7          37,7           32,7          72,7
Private withdrawals                    20            20            20              20
Deposit on rent                        50
Shop interior                                                      30
VAT on costs 25%                       56            56            76              93
Total outgoing payments             292,7         242,7         322,7          392,7


Cash, ultimo                        -105,2        -35,4           -8,1          49,2
10 | Klik her for at angive tekst.



The conclusion:
VAT is a good thing for your cashflow. You charge VAT and pay later. In this case it means that
you will only need 105.200 DKK in funding in the beginning and pay it back fast. By Christmas
you bank account will be positive.

Just remember, that every three months you have to pay back the net VAT you charged.

If we take the first three months in this case:

VAT on sales 25% of (250+250+300)- see operating budget                  200.000
VAT on costs 25% of (185+185+240+37,7+37,7+32,7)                         179.525
Net VAT                                                                   20.475


This means that 20.475 must be refunded to the tax authorities. In practice in DK it will be
done 4 times a year.

Now you probably understand why we have accountants 

But I hope it gave you an understanding of how dynamics are in a budget.
11 | Klik her for at angive tekst.

Budgeting basics iii cashflow

  • 1.
    Cashflow Budget Budgeting BasicsIII Because a startup without cash is like a car without gasoline.
  • 2.
    2 | BudgetingBasics Introduction Figuring out your establishing budget and your operating budget might involve a good deal of work and estimating your sales will probably involve some frustrations too – especially if you see it as an impossible attempt to predict. However, the cashflow budget is where you must be really concentrated. The challenge in you cashflow budget is to place all your payments in the month where the money will go either in on or out of your account. The purpose is to find out if we need more money than the startup investment that we found out in our establishing budget. The cashflow budget is basically your operating budget transformed into actual cashflow. If you deliver a product or service in September, you will register the turnover of that transaction in September in your operating budget. If however you send the invoice at the end of September and receive the money in October, you should register the payment from the customer in October. Furthermore there are some payments, that you cannot find in your operating budget but that will have to be in your cashflow budget. I will introduce you gradually to the different complexities of the cashflow budget in the following. As an example I will show you an operating budget, that I will transform into a cashflow budget.
  • 3.
    3 | BudgetingBasics Operating budget For 1 /9 2010 to 31 /8 2011 Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Total Turnover Sales 250 250 300 400 200 250 250 350 250 250 150 200 3.100 Variable costs (Cost of goods sold) 185 185 240 300 160 185 185 250 185 185 115 160 2.335 Contribution margin 65 65 60 100 40 65 65 100 65 65 35 40 765 Fixed costs Wages 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rent 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 216 Car mileage and service 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 24 Administration costs 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 60 Marketing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 Maintenance - shop equipment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unexpected costs - + 5 pct. of fixed costs 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 15.6 Total fixed costs 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 27.3 327.6 Profit before interest and depreciation 37.7 37.7 32.7 72.7 12.7 37.7 37.7 72.7 37.7 37.7 7.7 12.7 437.4 Depreciation: Shop equipment 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 Depreciation, total 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 Interest Net interest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Net profit 36.7 36.7 31.7 71.7 11.7 36.7 36.7 71.7 36.7 36.7 6.7 11.7 425.4
  • 4.
    4 | Klikher for at angive tekst. The very basics The very basics of a cashflow budget go like this: Cash, beginning of month + Incoming payments - Outgoing payments = Cash, end of month So in the simple cashflow budget you just take the numbers from the operating budget and transfer them to a cashflow budget. Except for the depreciation which is not actually a payment! I have made the calculations for the first four months below: 1.000 DKK September October November December Cash, beginning of month 0 27.3 54.6 81.9 Incoming payments Sales 250 250 300 400 Outgoing payments Variable costs 185 185 240 300 Fixed costs 37.7 37.7 32.7 72.7 Cash, end of month 27.3 54.6 81.9 254.6 The conclusion: We do not need the bank for funding. We expect to earn a profit from the first month and will have positive cashflow (more incoming than outgoing payments) all the way. After the first month we have 27.300 DKK in the bank and that amount just grows and grows.
  • 5.
    5 | Klikher for at angive tekst. The extra payments – and the non- payments It would be nice if it was actually that simple, but it is not quite. There are actually some payments, that you cannot see in the operating budget or income statement – and then there is something in the operating budget, that is not actually a cash payment. The payments that you cannot see in an operating budget will typically be the following:  Private withdrawals  Investments in large assets - that cost more than app. 12.000 DKK.  Repayment on loans  Deposits And the cost in your operating budget, that is actually not a cash payment:  Depreciation If we assume that we take out private withdrawals of 20.000 DKK pr. month, pay a 50.000 DKK deposit on the rent in the first month and expect to invest 30.000 in new shop interior before Christmas, our cashflow will actually look like this: September October November December Cash, beginning of month 0 -42,7 -35,4 -58,1 Incoming payments Sales 250 250 300 400 Total incoming payments 250 250 300 400 Outgoing payments Variable costs 185 185 240 300 Fixed costs 37,7 37,7 32,7 72,7 Private withdrawals 20 20 20 20 Deposit on rent 50 Shop interior 30 Total outgoing payments 292,7 242,7 322,7 392,7
  • 6.
    6 | Klikher for at angive tekst. Cash, end of month -42,7 -35,4 -58,1 -50,8 The conclusion Since we need private withdrawals to survive personally and since we need to pay deposit and invest in new interior before the booming Christmas sales, we will need a cash credit of at least 58.100 DKK to cover the overdraft in November (In practice you would probably want to ask for 70-80.000 or more to have a margin).
  • 7.
    7 | Klikher for at angive tekst. Delayed payments – complicating things further We have now learned that there are actually payments, that we cannot find in the operating budget, and to complicate things further, we will have to take time of payment into consideration. When you start a job as an employee, it will make a big difference to you if you get your monthly wage on the 1st of a month instead of the 31st. If you get you wage at the end of the month, you will have no cash for a month. The same goes for businesses, so you will have to take into consideration: - When will I actually have to pay for what I buy? - When can I get my money from my customers? Let’s make a couple of assumption about the budget above: - We assume that we get our money in cash when people buy in the shop, but only after 30 days when we deliver to business customers. - We assume that 40% of our sales are to business customers, so we only get our money after 30 days on half of our sales. - We assume that we have to pay our suppliers on delivery and also pay our other costs immediately – just to simplify things a bit. September October November December Cash, primo 0 -142,7 -135,4 -178,1 Incoming payments Cash sales 150 150 180 240 Credit sales - 30 days 100 100 120 Total incoming payments 150 250 280 360 Outgoing payments Variable costs 185 185 240 300 Fixed costs 37,7 37,7 32,7 72,7 Private withdrawals 20 20 20 20 Deposit on rent 50 Shop interior 30 Total outgoing payments 292,7 242,7 322,7 392,7 Cash, ultimo -142,7 -135,4 -178,1 -210,8
  • 8.
    8 | Klikher for at angive tekst. In September you expect to sell for 250.000 DKK, but if 40% of your sales – 100.000 DKK – are on credit, you will only get the money in October. In September you will only receive the 150.000 DKK from your 60% cash sales. The conclusion Since we accepted, that our business customers – 40% of our sales – only pay after 30 days, we will need further credit to fund that. Instead of 58.100 DKK we will need a cash credit of at least 210.800 DKK. The reason for that is that we will have to pay our suppliers before we get all our money from our customers. Credit from our suppliers would solve part of the problem. We will be profitable every month, but we will just not have got the money yet. It’s like getting your wage or student grants at the end of the month instead of the beginning of the month. This is what it will look like if you fx organize an event and get paid after the event. You will need money to cover the costs until your customer pays you.
  • 9.
    9 | Klikher for at angive tekst. VAT – the tricky part To take the complexity one step further, we want to take VAT into consideration. However! If you have a concept, where you don’t have to charge VAT – fx certain cultural and social offers – you can skip this part!!!! If you have to add VAT to your prices – which most commercial products or services do – you will make the operating budget without VAT but include the VAT in your cashflow budget. The rationale for that is that VAT you charge is not something you can keep, and the VAT you pay you can get refunded. Therefore it is not actually income or cost to you and should not be in the operating budget. However, the money goes in and out of your bank account, so they should be registered as cashflow anyhow. Below I have added 25% VAT to costs and sales in the cashflow budget. No VAT on the private withdrawals however. September October November December Cash, primo 0 -105,2 -35,4 -8,1 Incoming payments Cash sales 150 150 180 240 Credit sales - 30 days 100 100 120 VAT on sales - 25% 37,5 62,5 70 90 Total incoming payments 187,5 312,5 350 450 Outgoing payments Variable costs 185 185 240 300 Fixed costs 37,7 37,7 32,7 72,7 Private withdrawals 20 20 20 20 Deposit on rent 50 Shop interior 30 VAT on costs 25% 56 56 76 93 Total outgoing payments 292,7 242,7 322,7 392,7 Cash, ultimo -105,2 -35,4 -8,1 49,2
  • 10.
    10 | Klikher for at angive tekst. The conclusion: VAT is a good thing for your cashflow. You charge VAT and pay later. In this case it means that you will only need 105.200 DKK in funding in the beginning and pay it back fast. By Christmas you bank account will be positive. Just remember, that every three months you have to pay back the net VAT you charged. If we take the first three months in this case: VAT on sales 25% of (250+250+300)- see operating budget 200.000 VAT on costs 25% of (185+185+240+37,7+37,7+32,7) 179.525 Net VAT 20.475 This means that 20.475 must be refunded to the tax authorities. In practice in DK it will be done 4 times a year. Now you probably understand why we have accountants  But I hope it gave you an understanding of how dynamics are in a budget.
  • 11.
    11 | Klikher for at angive tekst.