12-Month Cash Flow Forecast Template for SaaS

How the cash flow forecast template works

This is a direct-method forecast: every line is cash received or cash paid, in the month it happens. It starts from the bank balance, not from the P&L.

• Monthly billing grows at the rate you set. The card share arrives in the month billed. The invoiced share arrives after your collection lag (DSO), moved by 30-day months: 45 days means half next month and half the month after. Invoices billed before month 1 are collected in the first months, so the receivables you carry in are counted.
• Annual invoices are entered one by one, in the month you invoice them, and collected after the same lag. Any part collected after month 12 is reported separately.
• Financing (equity raised, debt drawn) is a receipt but not customer cash, so the template also shows operating cash flow without it.
• Payroll is the current team's monthly gross pay plus each new hire from their start month, with payroll taxes and benefits as a percentage. Contractors, rent, software and marketing are paid in the month.
• Other vendor bills are paid after your payment terms, the same way invoices are collected. Capex, loan repayments and taxes land in the month you enter.

Closing cash is opening cash plus receipts minus disbursements, and it becomes the next month's opening cash.

Worked example: the default forecast

An illustrative SaaS company starts January 2027 with $1,600,000 and wants to keep at least $500,000. It bills $70,000 on monthly plans in January, growing 3% a month; 70% pays by card and the rest on invoices that take 45 days to collect. Three annual contracts are invoiced in February, June and November. Payroll is $150,000 a month plus 10% taxes and benefits, with three hires during the year. A $2,000,000 round closes in October.

January shows the mechanics. Card payments bring in $49,000. The invoices billed in November and December 2026 ($21,000 each) are collected half and half at 45 days, which adds $21,000. Payroll and taxes are $165,000, the fixed monthly costs $48,000, December's vendor bills paid on net 30 $18,000 and the loan repayment $5,000: $236,000 out in total. The month closes at $1,434,000.

Operating cash burn averages $168,141 a month. Cash drops below the $500,000 minimum in Jul 2027 and bottoms out at $101,872 at the end of Sep 2027, one month before the round lands. Without the round, December would end at −$417,688. If the close slips by two months, the company runs out of cash before it arrives: that is the month the forecast tells you to start raising, or to cut, well ahead of time.

Cash vs P&L: why the two disagree

Over the year this company recognizes $1,082,442 of revenue but collects $1,107,762 from customers, +$25,320. The reconciliation is one line: customer cash minus revenue equals the change in deferred revenue minus the change in receivables.

• Annual invoices pull cash forward. Customer A's $60,000 contract is invoiced in February and collected in March and April, but only $5,000 a month is revenue. By December, $55,000 of annual invoices is still deferred revenue.
• Invoice terms push cash back. Revenue on invoiced monthly plans is booked when billed, but the cash arrives 45 days later. Receivables rise from $31,500 to $61,180 as billings grow, including half of customer C's November invoice.
• Not everything is timing. About $18,000 of customer C's renewal is collected in January 2028, after the window, so it is in revenue and receivables but not in this year's cash.

The same logic explains why a profitable month on the P&L can still lower the bank balance, and why a big annual renewal makes one month look far better in cash than in revenue. SaaS revenue recognition covers the accounting side.

Monthly forecast vs the 13-week cash flow

The 13-week cash flow forecast uses the same receipts and payments, by week, for the next quarter. A month can end with a healthy balance and still have a week in the middle where payroll and a big bill land together; the weekly view catches that, the monthly view does not. The monthly forecast looks a full year ahead, which is the horizon for runway, hiring and fundraising.

• Use the monthly forecast at each month-end close: replace the month that ended with actuals, add a month at the end and check the low point.
• Use the 13-week forecast when the low point is within a few months, before a round closes or when a lender asks for one.
• Use a budget like the SaaS budget template for the P&L view: revenue, spend by department and budget vs actual. The cash forecast turns that plan into bank balances.

Adlega builds both sides from one set of drivers: a 36-month model with revenue, headcount, P&L and cash, scenarios, and actuals that update the forecast. Build the 36-month model in Adlega.

Download the Excel version

The Excel template has the same defaults and math as live formulas: an Inputs sheet for balances, billing, financing, payroll and costs with lists for annual invoices, other receipts, hires, capex and taxes, and a Forecast sheet with the 12-month cash flow, the minimum cash flags and the cash vs P&L reconciliation. No email needed. For the method behind it, read cash flow forecasting for SaaS and burn rate and runway.