Guide
Cash flow for a small trucking company: a 13-week view that works
Profit and cash are different weeks. A fleet can be profitable on paper and still miss payroll because three invoices are due after the fuel bill. A 13-week view shows the low week before you reach it.
In short
- Put each invoice in the week it is expected to be paid, using your broker’s actual days to pay.
- Put fixed costs in the weeks they hit: insurance, payments, payroll, IFTA, permits.
- The number to watch is the lowest weekly balance, not the average.
- Add a line for short pays and disputes. They are cash that does not arrive.
The low week is the number that matters
Below is an invented 8-week view for a 12-truck fleet, opening cash $18,000. Inflows follow collections. Outflows follow fuel, payroll and bills. The balance falls in weeks 2 and 6, when insurance and payments land on top of a slow collection week.
The lowest balance in this example is $7,700. A flat monthly average would hide that.
Build your own the same way: one row per week, inflows by expected payment date, outflows by due date.
Build it in six steps
List your open invoices
Amount, invoice date, broker, the days that broker actually takes to pay. Use the real days from your aging report, not the rate con terms.
Place each invoice in a week
Invoice date + actual days to pay = expected week. Spread uncertain ones into two weeks.
Place the fixed costs
Insurance, equipment payments, payroll, permits and IFTA in their due weeks. Mark the big ones.
Add fuel and variable costs
Use a recent weekly average from your fuel card statements. Update every week.
Add a leak line
Short pays, disputes and unbilled accessorials from last month. They are cash you expected and did not get.
Roll it forward each Monday
Replace the guess with the actual, add week 13. Look at the lowest week.
The 8-week view (invented)
| Week | Cash in | Cash out | Closing balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| W1 | $14,200 | $12,600 | $19,600 |
| W2 | $9,800 | $17,900 | $11,500 |
| W3 | $15,100 | $12,300 | $14,300 |
| W4 | $11,200 | $11,800 | $13,700 |
| W5 | $16,400 | $12,700 | $17,400 |
| W6 | $8,700 | $18,400 | $7,700 |
| W7 | $13,900 | $12,100 | $9,500 |
| W8 | $12,500 | $12,400 | $9,600 |
Each closing balance = previous balance + cash in − cash out. Invented numbers that reconcile.
Worked example EXAMPLE VALUES
Invented numbers. Week 6 has the lowest balance, $7,700. Cash in is $8,700 and cash out is $18,400.
- Two invoices expected in week 6 are paid in week 7 by a slow broker, so inflow is lower.
- Quarterly insurance and an equipment payment land the same week.
- Options: ask the slow broker for payment, move one payment, or use a short credit line in week 5. All are cheaper when decided in week 3.
The cash flow simulator lets you test the same idea with your numbers.
Weekly sheet to copy
Update on Monday, one tab per week, no formulas more complex than add and subtract.
The three numbers behind a believable forecast
Most forecasts fail on timing, not on totals. Three numbers fix that. First, days to pay by broker, taken from your own aging report. A broker that pays in 45 days on a net 30 rate con belongs in week 7, not week 5. Second, the weeks your big bills land: insurance installments, equipment payments, quarterly taxes and fuel card settlement. Put them in on the real date. Third, the leak line: the dollars of short pays and unbilled extras from last month, because they will repeat unless you change something.
How to use the low week
Once you see the low week, you have three weeks to act. Collect the oldest invoice, ask a broker for a payment date in writing, move a discretionary payment, or arrange a short line of credit before you need it. Compare the cost of each, using the per-day method in factoring vs quick pay.
What we would check in your audit
- Actual days to pay by broker, to place your invoices in the right weeks.
- Short pays and disputes in the last 20 loads, which should sit on the leak line.
- Unbilled detention or lumper that, once billed, would move into a future week.
- The share of your invoices more than 30 days old.
Questions
Why 13 weeks?
It covers a quarter, which includes the big quarterly bills. Use fewer weeks to start.
Do I put factoring in?
Yes: show the advance in the week it arrives and the fee and reserve release in their weeks. See factoring vs direct billing.
How accurate should it be?
Rough and weekly beats exact and monthly. Replace guesses with actuals each week.
What if the low week is negative?
That is the information you wanted. Act three weeks ahead: collect, move a payment or arrange credit.
Related: cash flow simulator, invoice aging, broker payment delay, factoring vs direct billing, reading an invoice aging report.
See what your last 20 loads show.
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