Which question needs a 13-week forecast, an annual plan or a cash-flow statement?

One business can be profitable and short of cash

All monetary amounts below are EURk: 1 EURk = EUR 1,000. Native model files store base-currency EUR; choose EUR and the thousands display unit to reproduce these tables. All businesses, balances and financing terms are synthetic.

The synthetic annual Model has revenue 5,200 and operating costs 4,680, with no interest, tax or investment: projected operating cash is 520. That broad outcome does not settle the timing question inside the 13-week operational plan.

In the weekly extract below, payroll of 90 still falls due when the 100 receipt is delayed. The full example and all thirteen columns belong to the 13-week construction workflow.

Projected and historical statements answer different time questions

The annual forecast below belongs to the synthetic 2026 operating model. The separately labeled 2025 historical illustration shows the structure of an actual-period statement, using synthetic recorded inputs. It is not a historical observation about a real business and is not a reconciliation of the operational plan’s opening balance.

Choose and reconcile the views

Horizon is different from presentation method. A cash-flow statement may use direct or indirect presentation; calling a plan “13-week” specifies its horizon, not an accounting standard. The ACT’s short-term forecasting guidance is relevant to timing decisions, not a guarantee that any fixed horizon is sufficient.

1. For a payment decision over the next weeks, use expected dates, available cash and committed funding in the 13-week plan.
2. For strategy, budgets and linked balance-sheet effects, use the annual Model and its statement projections.
3. For explanation of past cash movements, start with the historical cash-flow statement. Do not relabel forecasts as actuals.
4. Reconcile opening date, entities, currency, receipts, payments and funding scope before comparing totals. Explain timing differences instead of forcing different horizons to match.

What the views cannot establish

The operational example uses an explicit opening cash of 40 and independent cash inputs. It does not silently revise the annual Model’s revenue or create invoice dates from annual totals. Positive year-end cash is not proof that every intermediate payment can be met. Conversely, a temporary funding gap does not by itself establish poor annual profitability.

Use the 13W source reference for links and overrides, and the cash-flow statement reference for statement mechanics. For weekly statement resolution within a model, see the weekly financial model.