Prompt details

Tested on

Claude Opus 5.5

Length

538 words · 4 fill-ins

Example input

[Business, opening cash and minimum balance]: Greenline Landscaping, an owner-run lawn care and landscaping company. It's the first week of the spring season. Week 1 starts on the 1st of the month, Monday to Sunday. Opening cash in the business account: $18,000. I want at least $5,000 in the account at all times. We have a $20,000 line of credit with nothing drawn.

[Expected sales and when customers pay]: - Residential lawn customers pay by card on autopay a week after each service. Expected collections: $3,200 a week in weeks 1 and 2, $4,800 a week in weeks 3 to 6, then $6,400 a week from week 7. - Willow Creek HOA: spring clean-up and first month of maintenance, $24,000, invoiced in week 1 on 60-day terms. They have always paid on day 60 or a few days later. - Parkside Office Center: $16,500, invoiced in week 3 on 60-day terms. Last year they paid 10 days late. - Two patio and planting jobs, 30% deposit when booked and the rest on completion. Job A, $8,000: deposit in week 2, balance in week 5. Job B, $10,000: deposit in week 6, balance in week 9.

[Payroll and regular bills]: - Payroll every other Friday, in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Including employer taxes: $6,800 in week 2, then $11,200 from week 4 when the seasonal crew starts. - Owner pay: $1,500 on each payroll Friday. - Equipment loan: $1,150 on the 1st of each month. - Truck lease: $890 on the 15th of each month. - Insurance: $1,400 on the 1st of each month. - Fuel, phones and software: about $600 a week in weeks 1 and 2, then $900 a week. - Small materials: about $400 a week, paid when bought.

[One-off costs and known events]: - Spring mulch and plant order: $7,800, ordered in week 1 on net 30 terms. - Supplier order for job materials: $5,200, ordered in week 4 on net 30 terms. - New commercial mower: $9,200. The dealer wants half when I order (week 2) and half on delivery (week 4). - Quarterly estimated tax payment: $3,800 in week 7. - Yearly general liability insurance renewal: $2,900 in week 9.

Example output

1. Cash at a glance

Your lowest week is week 8, which closes at –$21,680. That is $26,680 below your $5,000 minimum and more than your whole $20,000 line of credit, so borrowing alone cannot fix it. You fall below the minimum in weeks 4–10 and week 12, and the account is overdrawn in weeks 4–9 and 12. The cause is timing: about $40,500 from Willow Creek and Parkside arrives in weeks 10 and 13, but seasonal payroll, the mower and supplier bills all land in weeks 4–9.

2. 13-week forecast

Week	Opening	Residential	Patio jobs	Total in	Payroll & owner pay	Monthly fixed	Running costs	Suppliers	One-offs	Total out	Closing	Below minimum?
1	18,000	3,200	0	3,200	0	2,550	1,000	0	0	3,550	17,650	No
2	17,650	3,200	2,400	5,600	8,300	0	1,000	0	4,600	13,900	9,350	No
3	9,350	4,800	0	4,800	0	890	1,300	0	0	2,190	11,960	No
4	11,960	4,800	0	4,800	12,700	0	1,300	0	4,600	18,600	-1,840	Yes – short 6,840
5	-1,840	4,800	5,600	10,400	0	2,550	1,300	7,800	0	11,650	-3,090	Yes – short 8,090
6	-3,090	4,800	3,000	7,800	12,700	0	1,300	0	0	14,000	-9,290	Yes – short 14,290
7	-9,290	6,400	0	6,400	0	890	1,300	0	3,800	5,990	-8,880	Yes – short 13,880
8	-8,880	6,400	0	6,400	12,700	0	1,300	5,200	0	19,200	-21,680	Yes – short 26,680

Claude Opus 5.5

Forecast Cash Flow – Cash flow forecast prompt for ChatGPT and Claude

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Claude Opus 5.5

This prompt builds a 13-week cash flow forecast for your business. Paste your opening cash, sales and payment terms, payroll and bills, and one-off costs; you get the weekly table, shortfall weeks, ranked fixes and a CSV.

What you get

A 13-week table of cash in, cash out and closing balance, each week carried into the next
Every week below your minimum flagged, with the size of the shortfall
Fixes ranked by cash moved and weeks helped, with the first step for each
A CSV for your spreadsheet and a Monday routine to keep the forecast current

How to use it

1
Give it real timing
List each sale with when customers actually pay, not when you invoice, and each bill with the date it leaves your account.
2
Check the assumptions
Read the numbered assumptions first. One wrong week for payroll or a big invoice moves every balance after it.
3
Paste the CSV and update weekly
Load the CSV into a spreadsheet, replace forecasts with actual figures every Monday and roll the forecast forward a week.

Better results

Ask: "Rerun the forecast with fixes 1 and 2 applied." You see the new low point before you make a single call.
Add each slow customer's real payment history, such as "paid 10 days late last year". Collection timing moves the low point more than anything else.
Next Monday, paste the CSV with last week's actual figures and ask it to roll the forecast forward one week.

Questions

Can ChatGPT do a cash flow forecast?

Yes. ChatGPT can build a 13-week cash flow forecast from your opening cash, expected collections, payroll and bills, and flag the weeks you run short. It only knows the timing you give it, so check the assumptions and re-add the table in a spreadsheet.

What is a 13-week cash flow forecast?

A 13-week cash flow forecast shows, week by week for about three months, the cash you expect in and out and the balance at the end of each week. Owners and lenders use it to spot shortfalls early and plan collections, payments or credit.

How do I improve cash flow in a small business?

Speed up collections with deposits, shorter terms and reminders; move big payments to after customer money arrives; delay spending you can; and keep borrowing as a last step. This prompt ranks those fixes against your own shortfall weeks.

Updated 8 Nov 2026