A cash flow forecast answers one question: will there be enough money in each account on each day ahead? Looking back at what you spent can't tell you; looking forward at what you expect can.
The idea is simple:
Forecast = your balances today + everything you expect to come in and go out.
1. Start with today's balances
Add each account, bank accounts, credit cards, cash and investments, with its balance today. See Accounts. Coming from Buxfer or your bank? Import your accounts and transactions instead.
2. Add what you expect, once
Most money moves on a schedule: pay, rent, loan payments, subscriptions, card payments. Add each as a planned transaction and tick Repeats: every week, every 2 weeks, twice a month, monthly, every 3 months or yearly. Enter it once and it repeats for as long as it lasts. See Transactions.
Moving money between your own accounts, such as paying the credit card from chequing, is a transfer: it lowers one balance and raises the other.
3. Read the forecast
The overview shows your balances ahead on a chart, money in and out by month, and a Below zero warning when an account is forecast to drop under zero: when, how low, and when it comes back up. The calendar shows each day's balance.
4. Keep it honest
- When a planned transaction goes through, mark it Cleared, with the real amount. Ones that always go through as planned can clear automatically.
- Anything overdue still counts as if it happens today, so the forecast never looks better than it is.
5. Try a "what if"
Switch a transaction off to see your balances without it, or add one that might happen. Nothing is deleted, and switching back undoes it.