HVAC
HVAC Cash Flow Forecast Calculator
Project cash across coming months, with the seasonal trough visible rather than averaged away.
Result
Profit and cash are different things and a growing contractor can run out of cash while profitable, because the work is paid for before the invoice is. This models collection speed, not seasonality.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Seasonal revenue pattern, which for HVAC is pronounced.
- Payment timing rather than invoice timing.
- Fixed outgoings, which continue level through the quiet months.
Where this one goes wrong
Forecasting on averages. The average month never happens. The forecast that matters is the worst month, and whether there is enough cash to reach the other side of it.
Questions
About this calculator
How do I forecast a seasonal business?
Month by month from last year's actuals adjusted for what has changed, not from an annual figure divided by twelve. The shape is the whole point.
What should I do about the trough?
Plan for it while the money is coming in. Maintenance work scheduled into quiet weeks, a reserve built during peak, and a credit facility arranged before it is needed rather than during.
How accurate can a forecast be?
Directionally useful rather than precise, which is enough. Knowing roughly when the low point arrives and roughly how deep it is changes decisions.
The formula
cash tied up = daily invoicing x days to get paid
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How to use this calculator
- Invoiced per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $48,000.
- Payment terms (days). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 30.
- Days customers actually take. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 46.
- Costs paid out per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $38,000.
- Cash in the bank now ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $22,000.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to days of funding gap, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Invoiced per month | $48,000 |
| Payment terms (days) | 30 |
| Days customers actually take | 46 |
| Costs paid out per month | $38,000 |
| Cash in the bank now | $22,000 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Days of funding gap main result | 16 |
| Cash tied up in invoices | $73,600 |
| Monthly surplus | $10,000 |
| Months of cover | 999.0 |
There is $73,600 sitting in unpaid invoices, and customers take 16 days longer than your terms allow. That gap is the money you are lending them for free.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only invoiced per month, this is what happens to days of funding gap. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Invoiced per month ($) | Days of funding gap |
|---|---|
| $24,000 | 16 |
| $36,000 | 16 |
| $48,000 example above | 16 |
| $72,000 | 16 |
| $96,000 | 16 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Invoiced per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $48,000.
- Payment terms (days)
- A number, between 0 and 180, starting at 30.
- Days customers actually take
- A number, between 0 and 365, starting at 46.
- Costs paid out per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $38,000.
- Cash in the bank now ($)
- A money amount, starting at $22,000.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Days of funding gap | The headline result. A number. |
| Cash tied up in invoices | A money figure. |
| Monthly surplus | A money figure. |
| Months of cover | A decimal figure. |
Before you rely on this number
Sizing, capacity and load figures here are planning estimates. A real installation depends on the manufacturer's data for the specific equipment, the duct system it is going into, and a proper load calculation for the building. Use this to sanity-check a number or price a job, not to select equipment.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.