ⓘ This article is for small businesses who use Xero
- Learn about the short-term cash flow dashboard in Xero and how it works at different subscription levels – you’ll either have Xero Analytics or Xero Analytics Plus.
What you need to know
The short-term cash flow dashboard projects the amount of cash your business will have in the near future.
To calculate the projection, the dashboard uses the balance of your bank accounts in Xero and future one-off or repeating invoices and bills.
You can choose which bank accounts to include in the projection.
The projection includes reimbursable expense claims, but doesn’t include credit notes, transfers, batch payments and batch receipts. If your organisation uses multicurrency, foreign currency invoices show in your base currency.
All Xero organisations have access to the short-term cash flow projection and the business snapshot. You need the adviser or standard + reports user role to view both dashboards.
If your subscription includes Xero Analytics Plus, you can view a more advanced version of the dashboard. Xero generates cash flow predictions based on previous cash transactions, invoices and bills. You can also forecast further into the future.
Short-term cash flow in Xero Analytics
How the projection works
Xero creates a short-term cash flow projection dashboard for every organisation.
The dashboard projects your cash flow for the next 7 or 30 days using:
- The balance of your bank accounts in Xero
- The amounts owing on invoices and bills awaiting payment in Xero
If your organisation uses multicurrency, transactions display in your base currency.
Improve your short-term cash flow projection
To improve the accuracy of the short-term cash flow projection dashboard:
- Reconcile your bank accounts on a regular basis
- Add expected payment dates to overdue invoices
- Add planned payment dates to overdue bills
When you add expected dates on the dashboard, Xero also applies them to the original invoice or bill.
You can’t use the dashboard to add dates to invoices or bills that are partially paid, have credit notes applied or are dated within a locked period. You need to do this from the Awaiting Payment tab on the Sales overview or Purchases overview screens.
The short-term cash flow projection dashboard might not capture all factors that affect cash flow and it's for informational purposes only. Please contact your advisor if you have any questions about your business’s cash flow.
Short-term cash flow in Xero Analytics Plus
How the projection works
If you have Xero Analytics Plus as part of your Xero subscription, the dashboard projects your cash flow for the next 7, 30, 60 or 90 days using:
- The balance of your bank accounts in Xero
- The amounts owing on invoices and bills awaiting payment in Xero
- Upcoming money in or out amounts you manually add to your forecast
- Predictions of recurring cash transactions based on the past three months of reconciled spend and receive money transactions
- Predictions of upcoming invoice and bill payments based on the past three months of reconciled invoices and bills
If your organisation uses multicurrency, predictions display in your base currency.
What predictions are based on
In Xero Analytics Plus, the predictions that Xero generates help inform your short-term cash flow projection.
You need at least three months of historical data in Xero before predictions appear. This includes reconciled spend or receive money transactions and reconciled invoices or bills. It can also take up to 24 hours for predictions to appear after getting Xero Analytics Plus.
To create a prediction, the dashboard uses total amounts. It looks for transactions reconciled in the last three months that:
- Repeat on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis
- Had consistent amounts paid or received each time
- Were paid or received from the same bank account
- Were paid or received on a regular date each time
- Were paid or received with the same contact, account and currency
If one or more of these conditions aren’t met, a prediction might not be generated.
You can exclude predicted transactions for a 12-month period and re-include them if circumstances change.
Improve your short-term cash flow projection
To improve the accuracy of the short-term cash flow projection dashboard:
- Reconcile your bank accounts on a regular basis
- Use the correct account code and contact to reconcile, rather than a catch-all account code or contact
- Make recurring payments consistently, eg on the same day of each week or month
- Add expected payment dates to overdue invoices
- Add planned payment dates to overdue bills
When you add these dates on the dashboard, Xero also applies them to the original invoice or bill.
You can’t use the dashboard to add dates to invoices or bills that are partially paid, have credit notes applied or are dated within a locked period.
Please bear in mind that predictions are just that – predictions. You might notice changes in the amount of predictions you receive as Xero refines its prediction tools.
The short-term cash flow projection dashboard might not capture all factors that affect cash flow and is for informational purposes only. Please contact your advisor if you have any questions about your business’s cash flow.