MAKIN A cash-flow forecasting model your board can question
What’s included
01- ✓Driver-based revenue and cost model
- ✓Budget versus actual reporting
- ✓13-week rolling cash forecast
- ✓Scenario and sensitivity toggles
- ✓Unit economics and contribution margin
- ✓Monthly refresh from accounting data
The details
02What is a driver-based model, and why does it matter?
A typical budget is a grid of numbers typed in month by month. A driver-based model starts one level down, from the things that cause the numbers: orders, price, headcount, collection days, the cost of each unit sold. Revenue and cost are calculated from those drivers, so when the board asks what happens if you hire two more people in March, the answer comes from changing a driver, not from rebuilding a sheet.
That is also what makes the model maintainable. Each assumption lives in one place with a name, and your team can change it and see the effect, which is the difference between a model that gets used and one that only its author can open.
What questions can it answer?
Scenario and sensitivity toggles let you compare cases side by side, such as a slower sales quarter, a price change or a large customer paying late, and see what each does to profit and cash. Budget versus actual reporting, refreshed monthly from your accounting data, shows where the year is departing from plan and in which lines.
- Can we afford this hire, and from which month?
- What happens to cash if collections slip by a few weeks?
- Which products or customers contribute most once their variable costs are paid?
- How far off budget are we, and where?
How is this different from the Finance MIS & Cash-Flow Dashboard?
The Finance MIS & Cash-Flow Dashboard (₹45,000) reports what has happened: P&L, balance sheet, ageing and branch views, pulled from Tally and bank data. This model is about what could happen: drivers, budgets and scenarios. Both include a 13-week rolling cash forecast, so if near-term cash is your main worry and you mostly want current actuals, the dashboard may be the better starting point.
Reporting to investors or lenders is a different job again. The CFO Dashboard & Investor Pack (₹25,000) turns actuals into a monthly pack with commentary and sign-off, and keeps an eye on covenants. This model answers the planning questions such a pack tends to raise, such as how long the cash lasts in a slower year, but it is not a reporting pack itself.
What does the model not do for you?
The model is built on your numbers and your drivers, but the assumptions themselves, such as growth, prices and hiring plans, are your decisions; the model makes them visible rather than making them for you. It is not an audit, a valuation or fundraising advice. Actuals arrive monthly from your accounting data. The listed stack is Power BI with Postgres, so if your team expects to work in a spreadsheet, raise it on the scope call.
How it works
03- 0115-min callTell us what’s breaking. We ask the questions that change the price.
- 02Scope in writingA fixed quote and a written scope: what’s in, what isn’t.
- 03Build & reviewWorking software early, with review rounds on real screens.
- 04LaunchWe go live with you, train your team and hand over access.
- 05SupportFixes, changes and growth on a retainer, if you want one.
FAQ
04What does an FP&A and cash-flow model cost?
The FP&A & Cash-Flow Model starts at ₹25,000 and is delivered within 30 days. It covers the driver-based model, budget versus actual, the 13-week cash forecast, scenarios and unit economics; which drivers and scenarios matter to your business is what the scope call pins down. Your fixed price arrives in writing after a 15-minute scope call.
Can our own team update it?
That is the aim in the package description: a model your team can maintain. Assumptions sit as named drivers rather than numbers buried in formulas, and actuals refresh monthly from your accounting data. Decide who on your team will own it before the scope call, so the build fits how that person works.
What does contribution margin show?
Contribution margin is what each product, customer or channel leaves after its own variable costs, before shared overheads. Seeing it per unit shows which parts of the business pay for the rest, and which grow volume without growing profit. Which units to measure is agreed on the scope call.
Where do the actuals come from?
From your accounting data, refreshed monthly, as listed in the package. Which system holds your books, and how its accounts map to the lines of the model, is settled on the scope call, so that budget versus actual compares like with like from the first month.
Do we need Power BI?
Power BI and Postgres are the listed stack, so the model’s reports are built in Power BI. Who needs to open them, and the access that requires, is covered on the scope call before anything is built, so there is no surprise about licences after handover.
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0515 minutes.
One quote.
Tell us what you need. We reply on WhatsApp or email with a time, and a written quote after the call.
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