#cash-flow
Track and optimize cash flow for better financial health and stability
Form 8300 requires businesses to report cash payments over $10,000 within 15 days. This guide covers who must file, what counts as cash (including cashier's checks under $10,000), the 24-hour and 12-month aggregation rules, structuring penalties up to $31,000 per form, and the industry traps that hit car dealers, jewelers, real estate operators, and attorneys.
A 13-week cash flow forecast uses the direct method to project weekly cash movement across one quarter, surfacing the exact day a profitable business could still bounce payroll. Here is how to build, read, and roll one forward.
A monthly bank reconciliation done in 30 to 90 minutes is the cheapest fraud control a small business has. This guide walks through the two-column worksheet, how to handle outstanding checks and deposits in transit, the recurring items that trip people up, and the internal controls that turn the exercise into real protection.
A practical 2026 playbook for small businesses using a Treasury-bill ladder to earn ~3.66% on idle operating cash, capture the state and local tax exemption on Treasury interest, and keep the bookkeeping clean.
FedNow and RTP now reach over 1,700 and 1,200 U.S. financial institutions, settling credit pushes in under 20 seconds, 24/7/365. A practical guide for small businesses on when instant rails replace ACH, how the two networks differ, and how to defend against the fraud patterns that irrevocable settlement creates.
A practical playbook for building a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast using the direct method—how to model receipts, disbursements, and weekly variance so small businesses spot liquidity gaps four to twelve weeks before they hit.
A side-by-side comparison of the Percentage of Completion (PCM) and Completed Contract (CCM) methods for construction revenue recognition, with worked examples, ASC 606 over-time criteria, the IRC Section 460 small contractor exception (~$31M for 2026), WIP schedule mechanics, and the overbilling/underbilling traps that wreck contractor cash flow.
A four-stage billing system—strategy, invoicing, collections, reconciliation—that reduces DSO, cuts the 1–5% EBITDA loss from revenue leakage, and stops late payments before they start.
A working guide to collections management for small businesses, covering the six-stage follow-up workflow, the AR metrics that actually matter (DSO, CEI, ADD), and a 30-day plan to shorten the average collection cycle.
A four-stage dunning ladder, the signals hidden in customer replies, and operational rules that turn overdue B2B invoices into reliably collected cash.
Copy and adapt invoice email templates for payment requests, reminders, overdue follow-ups and recurring billing, plus a post-payment thank-you example.
How invoice-to-cash automation typically cuts Days Sales Outstanding by 15–30 days within 90 days, reduces collections effort from 25% to 5% of finance team time, and pushes cash application accuracy from 60–80% to 95%+. Covers the eight-step automated workflow, software selection criteria, staged implementation, and the bookkeeping foundation it depends on.
