It is mandatory to employ the principle of conservatism when it comes to the assessment of projected inflows and outflows:Use the longest historical statistics for production cycles and inventory turnovers.Discount future revenues.Anticipate higher prices for purchases and increases in services’ rates.Always add extra time for collections.Expect to make payments earlier.Build a cushion for extraordinary events and unexpecteddisbursements.Adhering to these rules will result in the creation of a cash flow safety net, preventing the possibility of being strapped for funds.Cash Forecasts Generated by Accounting SystemsThe task of forecasting is only partially an exact science. Even the most advanced, custom-made program that studies the data and makes predictions based on past patterns cannot accommodate extraordinary events and momentary changes. There is some element of an intuitive art to this process, and that is why it is difficult to automate—it requires a hands-on touch, especially if you deal with a dynamic entity in a volatile market.The majority of popular small-business accounting systems (QuickBooks and such) do not produce reports like that at all—you, your treasury group, or your financial analyst will have to design one, most likely in Excel, and then update it based on the data in the system, which can be exported and then manipulated. Writing macros may facilitate this task. If there is a lack of time and/or skills, you should outsource the development, but don’t get suckedinto buying an expensive report-writer just because you need this and few other reports. Instead, find people who provide solution-by-solution services. I can always suggest someone suitable to your needs through my blog, The Frustrated CFO.If you have an expensive high-end program integrated with a sophisticated report developer, such as IBM Cognos, you may be able to create a cash forecast that will be updated automatically every time you run the report.Without a doubt, these are the most time- and effort-efficient solutions.Nevertheless, a certain level of flexibility is lost there, due to the standardization of reporting features.Midmarket programs, such as various packages within Microsoft Dynamics business solutions, all have prebuilt cash requirements queries. However,you must keep in mind that these reports do not actually have forecasting capabilities—they draw the projections based on the data already in the system.Therefore, unless you have all your anticipated outflows entered into the AP module, you will not be able to generate a six-month forward report.My experience shows that even treasurers with complicated and powerful IT products at their disposal end up with a set of interconnected Excel spreadsheets that allow them to play with the data predicting cash flows.
机器翻译的就不要贴了
机器翻译的就不要贴了