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Cash flow forecasting

Build a rolling cash flow forecast that updates itself. Pull AR, AP, payroll, and open POs from your systems, project the position out 13 weeks, and refresh every Monday.

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The prompt

I want to automate my rolling cash flow forecast. Build me a flow that pulls open AR from NetSuite, open AP and POs, expected payroll, and recurring fixed costs, projects them across the next 13 weeks, and outputs a refreshed forecast every Monday with last week's actuals filled in.

Just copy and paste the prompt into a new Parabola flow to get started.

What Parabola builds

A workflow with six steps you can edit:

1. Pull AR. Open invoices from NetSuite or your ERP with due dates and customer aging buckets.

2. Pull AP and open POs. Approved invoices, scheduled payments, and outstanding purchase orders that will hit the cash position.

3. Layer payroll and fixed costs. Payroll runs, rent, debt service, software subscriptions, anything recurring.

4. Project the position. Bucket each item into the right week. Net inflows and outflows. Roll forward the beginning cash position.

5. Fill in last week's actuals. Replace last week's forecast row with what actually happened.

6. Output the forecast. A 13-week view with one row per week, the running cash position, and a comparison of forecast vs actual for the trailing weeks.

Why teams stop doing this manually

The cash forecast is the report finance rebuilds every Monday from scratch. AR exported from NetSuite, AP from the AP system, payroll from the calendar, and a stack of recurring costs from memory. Each source goes into its own column in a workbook. The columns get summed into weeks. The weeks get summed into a position.

The problem is not the math. The problem is that the inputs change every week and the workbook has to be rebuilt to absorb them. New AR aging buckets. A vendor that shifted payment terms. A payroll run that landed on a different week than usual. The analyst rebuilding the file each Monday is the system of record. If they take a Monday off, the forecast does not run.

A rolling forecast that pulls from live systems removes the rebuild. The model is the same every week. The data is fresh. Last week's actuals automatically replace last week's forecast, so the rolling baseline corrects itself.

How it works

Step 1. Paste the prompt.

Open Parabola, paste the prompt in section 2, and let it ask follow-up questions about your AR aging logic, your payroll cadence, and which recurring costs to project.

Step 2. Connect your data.

API connections to NetSuite, your AP system, payroll, and your bank. Plus the reference table that defines your fixed costs.

Step 3. Run it every Monday.

The flow refreshes the forecast, drops in last week's actuals, and emails the file to the controller. New cost? Update the reference table. New customer? It flows through AR automatically.

Related prompts

FAQ

Can it model multiple scenarios?

Yes. Duplicate the flow with different assumptions (slower AR collection, higher AP, new hire delay) and the output is a side-by-side scenario view.

What if our payroll cadence is irregular?

Payroll runs are configurable as discrete events. Bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly. The flow handles weeks with two payroll runs and weeks with none.

How does it handle customer-specific payment behavior?

Add a per-customer override table. If a major account pays on net 60 instead of net 30, the override moves their AR into the right week.

Can it pull live bank balances?

Yes, if your bank supports a feed or if you push the balance into a sheet the flow reads. The forecast then ties to the actual position, not last close's number.

How is this different from a finance team using a spreadsheet?

Same model. Less manual work. Every Monday morning, the spreadsheet rebuilds itself with fresh data. If finance wants to tweak the assumptions, they edit the reference table, not the formulas.
Stop rebuilding the cash forecast every Monday.
Paste the prompt, point it at your ERP and AP systems, and let the rolling forecast refresh on its own.
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