Manage your cash flow in QuickBooks Sole Trader

Learn how to manage your cash flow in QuickBooks Sole Trader.

The cash flow feature offers a clear and comprehensive view of your business's financial health, empowering you to make informed decisions and plan for the future. 

How does Cash flow work in QuickBooks Sole Trader? 

QuickBooks Sole Trader automatically calculates your cash flow by analysing data from your connected bank accounts, manually created transactions and invoices entered into QuickBooks. This includes recurring income and expenses, providing a holistic view of your financial situation. The data is shown in a simple graph that shows your expected cash flow over time. It also predicts any possible shortfalls or surpluses, helping you to make informed decisions to keep your cash flow healthy. 

Your detailed forecast shows a breakdown of your total predicted balance by month. You can also make changes to individual transactions, adjusting the predicted amount or removing them from the predictions entirely.

Note: Cash flow projections and scenario exploration are based on the data you enter in QuickBooks. They're not independently verified. Projections are just for your information and may not reflect your actual results.

Explore scenarios in Cash flow

With the Explore scenarios planning tool, you can explore three different hypothetical situations and see how each one impacts your future cash flow. This information can help you make more informed business decisions.

Scenario 1: Pay yourself

Determine how much you can afford to pay yourself without impacting your cash flow.

Scenario 2: Hire contractors 

See your projected cash flow for the duration of a contract.

Scenario 3: Make a large purchase 

See how your cash flow will look after making this purchase.

The Scenario Planner determines "risk" based on whether you have enough to cover three months of operating expenses, or "cash reserves," as estimated by data entered into QuickBooksIf your cash flow stays above our estimated cash reserves, it will be marked as low risk. If you tap into your cash reserves, it will be marked as medium risk. If your cash flow drops below $0, it will be marked as high risk.

Note: Cash flow projections and scenario exploration are based on the data you enter in QuickBooks. They're not independently verified. Projections are just for your information and may not reflect your actual results.