¿Cuáles son las habilidades y competencias clave para los profesionales de la previsión y conciliación del flujo de caja?

Regarding disbursements, in the near term, you'll be paying down your beginning accounts payable (AP) balance. Non-AP disbursements, such as payroll, rents, interest, and taxes, are typically recurring, fixed, and easy to forecast. Forecasting AP disbursements (payments typically made after you've paid down the beginning AP balance) should be driven by your sales forecast and will be unique to your business model/cash conversion cycle. For example, you receive raw materials or finished goods on week 1, creating inventory and AP; sell it on week three, creating A/R; pay for the inventory on week five, reducing AP.

If you want to build a three-statement model, you'll typically use the indirect method of calculating cash flows. This method involves backing into the change in cash by netting the changes in your balance sheet accounts, which you have forecasted. To manage your liquidity, you should create a weekly cash forecast. This is a direct method of cash forecasting where you forecast actual receipts and disbursements. During the first few weeks of the forecast, you'll be collecting on your beginning accounts receivable (A/R) balance. Then, you'll switch to collecting on new billings based on your sales forecast.

Es fundamental por parte del área financiera en general y del CFO en particular, el realizar una comunicación "transversal" con los diferentes departamentos de la compañía que impacten de forma significativa en la generación/salida de fondos. La interacción inicial y la posterior retroalimentación posterior pasa a ser una acción crítica para disponer de una previsión de fondos lo más cercana posible a la "realidad" futura del negocio de la compañía, independientemente de la solución tecnológica que se adopte.

1. Finance Proficiency: Understand and interpret financial principles and reports for accurate forecasting. 2. Decision-Making: Use data analysis for informed predictions and decisions. 3. Software Knowledge: Familiar with financial software for better management. 4. Risk Management: Identify potential risks and strategise to mitigate them. 5. Communication: Ability to explain forecasts clearly, possessing sharp business acumen for accuracy.

Basically cash flow forecasting is the vital tool to analyze your business liquidity. It's show how much your business need to run and expand it. It will also show which month you got surplus fund and deficit So you should take decision according for investing( if surplus fund) or borrowing(if out of cash).

Important consideration here is that your forecast methodology may not necessarily be incorrect. Sometimes the actuals deviate from the forecast because an ad-hoc expense came up or a customer requested a delayed payment option. To drive forecast accuracy during the reconciliation process, focus not only on forecast methodology but also on actual spend control.

In my experience as a CFO, cash flow reconciliation is a critical tool for growth planning. It not only helps in identifying discrepancies between forecasted and actual cash flows but also provides insights into the business's financial health. It's important to remember that the accuracy of your cash flow forecast can significantly impact your net margins. Therefore, any variances that exceed a certain threshold should be thoroughly investigated and explained, as they could indicate potential risks or opportunities for the business.

Consider if you are asked to link a direct cashflow forecast to a 3 financial statement model, how you would do that. This is definitely an advanced/expert level task. For 3 financial statement model linked, best to move with indirect cashflow approach.

The choice of cash flow forecasting method is crucial and dependent on the business's specific needs. For businesses with complex transactions, the direct method may be more suitable, but it requires significant resources. The indirect method is ideal for startups or small businesses due to its simplicity. The scenario method is excellent for businesses in volatile industries as it allows for risk assessment and contingency planning.

I agree with you that a Fractional CFO should consider the direct, indirect and scenario methods of cash flow forecasts, depending on the requirements of the scope of works and timing for the client. For example, the use the indirect method early in the engagement to get some quick wins for the client. Thank you Matthew.

Realizo casi a diario previsiones de Cash Flow con mis clientes. Quizás, la parte más complicada es la de ajustar la entrada de flujos de dinero provenientes de los clientes. Me explico: la mayoría de los pagos se conocen. Algunos son recurrentes, como el alquiler de las oficinas o el renting del coche. Y otros variables en función de la actividad de la empresa. Los plazos de pagos están, en su mayoría, acordados con los proveedores así que es un dato conocido. La complejidad llega a la hora de prever los cobros: clientes que se "olvidan" de pagar en plazo, problemas con el producto o servicio que retrasan el cobro, clientes con problemas de caja... Afinar en las fechas de cobro es la base y, en esto, el control de las CxC es crítico.

One must have strong analytical skills to understand and predict the flow of cash into and out of the organization. This involves analyzing historical data, understanding the timing of receipts and disbursements, and being able to interpret how external factors may influence cash flow. Understanding the risks that can affect cash flow, such as market volatility, credit risk, and operational risks, is important. A treasurer must be skilled in identifying potential risks and implementing strategies to mitigate them.