Last week, I talked about Moneyball.  How the Oakland A’s stopped trusting instinct alone and built systems that showed what actually influenced outcomes.

Cash in a business is no different.

You can’t manage it well solely on gut, but the system also doesn’t need to be complicated.

It just needs to show you what’s really happening.

The Gap That Creates Most Cash Stress

The cash cycle for almost every business runs by the same simple loop:

• Sell 

• Deliver 

• Invoice 

• Collect

• Pay Costs

Presented like that it looks simple and tidy.

In reality, the timing between those steps is where the pressure builds.

• Work is delivered ahead of payment
• Running costs do not match the cycle of income
• VAT and payroll run on fixed calendars, not on your emotional or financial readiness

As the business grows, the gaps widen before they stabilise.

That’s why you may have often asked: “We’re busier than ever, but it feels tighter than it should be.”

Nothing is broken.

The timing just isn’t visible enough.

Monthly Reporting Is Too Slow for Cash Flow

When we take on new clients most are reviewing cash properly once a month at most.

However, by then:

• decisions have already been made
• commitments are already locked in
• pressure is already building

Monthly reports are really only useful for reflection, hindsight, learning etc.

Cash Flow requires foresight.  And foresight doesn’t require perfection; it requires rhythm.

What a Cash System Actually Looks Like

When we talk about cash as a system, we’re not talking about a forecasting model that takes hours to maintain.

We’re talking about something far lighter.

A weekly view that answers four questions:

1. Where is our starting cash at the bank this week?
2. What is realistically coming in? Based on facts, not hope.
3. What is going out? Assessed as Has to go and Ideally should go.
4. Where does that leave us by next Monday when we start again?

That’s it.

I always do this over a 13-week horizon.  This is not to predict everything, but to see the shape of pressure building or easing and get on top of them early.

This is the thinking behind the Cash Visibility Pack.

Not control.
Not complexity.
Just a signal.

Why This Changes Behaviour

What changes when you can see cash clearly?

Not just the bank balance.

Decisions.

• Hiring becomes timed, not hopeful
• Pricing conversations firm up
• Scope creep is resisted earlier
• Big commitments are checked before being made

The numbers don’t magically improve overnight; but your leadership will. And that tends to improve the numbers soon after.

The Real Benefit: Calm Thinking

Moneyball didn’t make the Oakland A’s emotional.  It made them disciplined.

Cash visibility works the same way.  When you can see what’s coming, even roughly, you stop reacting to shadows and demons in your cash flow.  You respond to the simple reality.

This applies to any business.  Take Lehman Brothers for example.  It wasn’t unprofitable in the traditional sense. What it fatally lacked was liquidity visibility and runway discipline.  When confidence evaporated, they didn’t collapse because their long-term assets had no value. They collapsed because they couldn’t survive the short-term cash gap.  They ran out of time.

That is a really simple illustration of:

• Profit does not guarantee Survival
• Assets do not automatically mean Liquidity
• Growth is not a perfect Safety mechanism

A Small Test

If someone asked you right now: “What will cash likely look like three weeks from today?”

Would your answer be:

• confident
• approximate
• or a guess?

If it’s a guess, that’s not a failing.  It just means your system isn’t defined yet.  Visible systems are what turn stress into leadership.

“Cash rarely causes your problems. Not seeing it does.”   

– Niall McGinnity