How can entrepreneurs use ThinkOut for better cash flow management

Your cash flow is your company’s financial health indicator and you probably already know how important it is to carefully monitor it. If you keep updating your cash flow periodically, it will be easier for you to get a glimpse of your cash on hand together with the next expected inflows and outflows.

Need to make sure that you keep your business afloat for the next month? Then start forecasting and check your future cash position. Sure, you can do it in Excel or spreadsheets, but this will cost you a lot of time and energy. Managing your cash flow in Excel is burdensome and prone to human error.

If you are looking for an easier way to do it, you can take ThinkOut for a spin, it’s free! In just a couple of clicks, you set up your cash flow statement which is daily refreshed and you can focus on analysis and financial planning.

How does ThinkOut work?

ThinkOut is a cash flow management platform that helps entrepreneurs analyze and forecast their cash movements based on bank transaction history. Once the data source is connected, it aggregates and organizes all transactions using a predefined category structure that can be easily edited.

With ThinkOut, it’s easier to forecast and keep track of your next money movements. You get a clear overview of your future cash position, know exactly which predictions became reality and make sure that all due invoices will be paid by the end of the month.

How to use ThinkOut?

The first step — connect your data source

Connect your bank accounts to ThinkOut to save time. The platform will automatically aggregate all your daily transactions so you always have a clear picture of your cash on hand. Check which banks are currently available for connection.

If your bank is not on the list, you can import your bank statements manually. You can import any financial data about your company — such as a list of invoices, forecasts, sales reports — as long as the documents are saved as CSV/XSLX.

Confirm the automated categorization of your data

ThinkOut will automatically organize your bank transactions based on a predefined category structure (which you can easily edit). Check if your data is correctly classified and change the category easily where needed. ThinkOut will continuously learn from your actions so the next time fresh data is imported, your transactions will be assigned to the correct category.

Check the financial picture of your business

Verify and analyze your inflows and outflows history in a friendly interface. Identify your best months and your rainy periods, see what are your biggest monthly spendings and what percentage from your total outflows is allocated to taxes. The ThinkOut Dashboard is the screenshot of your financial activity and contains data from your last 6 months of activity.

If you need the whole financial history instead, go through the cash flow plan and easily spot your peaks and troughs of your activity. See your cash flow movements for each particular project or the entire company and easily visualize all transactions for each month.

Start planning your next moves

Your financial history and current available cash are the solid groundwork for your cash flow forecasts. Here is where ThinkOut needs your input as you are the person who knows the business the best.

Specifically, what you need to do? Add all your expected inflows and outflows for the next period. ThinkOut helps you to do this quickly. For example, you may choose to import a list of all your A/R and A/P that will be used as predictions. Or you can add your monthly fixed expenditures with a couple of clicks by using the details of a previous payment.

Set up your cash flow forecasts and ThinkOut will help you to spot potential cash problems in the future. You just need to look for the red zones and start taking action to avoid it: collect faster, pay later, contract a loan, etc.

ThinkOut will also help you keep track of your daily transactions and your overdue forecasts. The platform identifies bank transactions that can be associated with a prediction with just one click. This way you know how many of your forecasts became reality and what you still need to collect or pay.

Create your yearly budget

You’ll see the same distinction in ThinkOut. Therefore, we encourage you to create your budget to set up your monthly targets and to use cash flow forecasts so you know when and how your goals can be achieved.

ThinkOut automatically calculates a series of estimations based on your previous financial activity. Verify it and edit the numbers to reflect the reality of your business and your plans.

Keeping track of your budget is easy as you visualize the estimated vs. realized numbers. This way you know where you need to push more to reach your goals. All your data can be easily downloaded in case you need it.

Your company’s cash flow is the most reliable source of data that you can use to make informed business decisions. Try ThinkOut for free and manage your cash flow in an easy-to-use platform for busy entrepreneurs.

For any questions about ThinkOut, please contact us at support@thinkout.io.