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Payments & finance

Weekly cash flow forecast from Xero and Starling

Cash flow forecast automation combines today’s bank balance with the invoices, bills and regular costs due in the coming weeks. It builds a rolling forecast in Google Sheets each week and highlights any week where cash is expected to fall below the buffer you set.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

From today’s bank balance to a rolling forecast of the weeks ahead.

  1. Step 01

    Week starts

    On the agreed morning, start a fresh forecast before the week’s payments are made.

  2. Step 02

    Balance read

    Read the current balance from Starling Bank through its API, using read-only access.

  3. Step 03

    Money due listed

    Read unpaid sales invoices and bills from Xero with their due dates, plus regular costs such as payroll and VAT from the sheet.

  4. Step 04

    Forecast built

    Lay out the coming weeks in Google Sheets, allowing for customers who usually pay late.

  5. Step 05

    Tight weeks flagged

    Send the owner a short summary that highlights any week falling below the buffer you set.

The result

A clear view of the weeks ahead, before a tight one arrives.

The forecast only reads data, through read-only bank access, and never moves money or changes anything in Xero. Each run writes a new dated tab, so earlier forecasts can be compared with what actually happened.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful for agencies, nurseries and small manufacturers whose income arrives unevenly while payroll, rent and VAT fall on fixed dates. A sensible first version forecasts from Xero and the bank alone, then adds regular costs and late-payment patterns once the basic view is trusted.

What we need to connect

  1. 01Read-only API access to the Starling Bank business account, limited to balances and transactions.
  2. 02Xero access to unpaid invoices and bills with due dates, plus enough payment history to see who usually pays late.
  3. 03A Google Sheet of regular costs not yet in Xero, such as payroll, rent, loan repayments and VAT, and the minimum buffer you want to keep.

What needs careful handling

Invoices are rarely paid exactly on their due date, so the forecast uses each customer’s typical delay rather than assuming they pay on time. Large one-off items, such as a VAT payment or an annual insurance premium, are easy to miss and need to be kept in the costs sheet. If the bank or Xero can’t be reached, the run stops and says so rather than building a forecast from incomplete figures.

Questions people ask.

Isn’t this what Xero’s cash flow tools do?

Xero includes short-term cash flow features that may be enough. A sheet built for you helps when you want regular costs from outside Xero, your own late-payment assumptions or a format your accountant already uses.

Will it tell me what to do about a tight week?

It shows where the pressure is and which invoices and bills cause it. Decisions such as chasing a customer, moving a payment or arranging finance stay with you and, where needed, your accountant.

Monday arrives → Posted to Slack
Automation 89

Weekly KPI digest in Slack

Invoice overdue → Owner alerted
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Automated overdue invoice reminders

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