See the Week Your Cash Runs Thin Before It Arrives — Free
Most small businesses fail on timing rather than on margin: the invoice is real, it just arrives three weeks after the payroll run. A dated cash book with a running balance shows the low point and its date, which is the number that decides whether you chase a payment, delay a purchase or use the overdraft.
The proof surface
Free path: the card computes locally in the browser with no key and no account. Where an AI step helps, any free chat assistant works — Google AI Studio's free tier and Groq's free tier were both no-card and rate-limited when this page was reviewed on 2026-09-13 (limits change; check before you rely on them).
Why the flat version breaks
A profit forecast and a bank balance tell you two different things, and neither tells you about week seven. A dated cash book does, because it puts every movement in the order it will actually hit the account.
How to read the book in four passes
An invoice dated the first and paid on the twenty-eighth belongs on the twenty-eighth. The book's value is the order of events, and best-case dates destroy it.
Payroll, rent, lease, VAT. Recurring outgoings are what create the low point, and they are the easiest entries to leave out because they are predictable.
A book can close healthy and still be negative in week four. The low point and its date are the finding; the closing balance is a summary of a different question.
One chase on the invoice before it, or one purchase moved after it, changes the whole shape. The book is a decision tool, and the decision is always about the row at the bottom.
SAMPLE DATA, NOT A VERIFIED CLAIM: Ridgeline Joinery · opened 19 Oct 2026 · payroll 25 Oct · VAT 26 Nov · low point marked with its date. Replace these values with your own source before you rely on anything.
What breaks first
Using expected-best dates
Every invoice entered at the earliest possible date produces a book that never dips and a bank account that does. Use the date you would bet on.
Leaving out the irregular costs
VAT, insurance, lease payments and the annual software renewal are the entries that turn a positive month negative. If it will leave the account in the period, it belongs in the book.
Reading the closing balance as the position
A healthy close with a negative fourth week means the business needed borrowing it did not have. The low row is the number to watch.
What you pay otherwise
| The usual route | What it leaves out | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| An unplanned overdraft | Borrowing arranged in a hurry, at the bank's rate | the whole low-point gap |
| A delayed purchase | Materials ordered late, pushing the job and the invoice | a week of margin |
| A supplier on stop | A credit account frozen because a payment slipped | the supply, and the relationship |
| This page + the free cash book page | Computed in your tab, result on screen before you type anything | $0 |
Try the free cash book page
Ten entries are already posted with a starting balance of 9,800. Move an invoice a fortnight later and the low-point band moves with it.
Open the free cash book page →Keep the work if you will use it again
Every dated entry, the running balance, the low point with its date and the below-zero warning, with no account.
Every entry, the running balance and the low point stay free. The one-time tier adds the printable cash book plus the saved scenarios behind it.
Boundary: This projects the entries you make; it is not accounting or financial advice, and it does not know your credit terms or tax position. Confirm dates with the people paying you, and take qualified advice before arranging credit.