Cash Flow
Sales are growing. But cash is always tight.
Cash tightness is an outcome. Where the cash gets trapped is the real question. Follow actual orders before assuming collections are the only issue.
Does this feel familiar?
Sales are growing. But cash is always tight.
- Payments to suppliers precede collections
- Completed work waits to be invoiced
- Inventory grows while cash shrinks
Recognition is the beginning
Follow the cash
Compare when cash leaves with when it returns. The delay can begin well before invoicing.
An illustrative starting point for investigation; the actual flow depends on your business.
- 01
Order
Order received; terms and delivery date agreed.
What might slow this down?
Terms do not reflect the cash cycle.
Assess the impact using actual cases and evidence.
- 02
Purchase
Materials bought, sometimes with advance payment.
What might slow this down?
Purchasing runs ahead of need.
Assess the impact using actual cases and evidence.
- 03
Work
Cash is tied up in unfinished work.
What might slow this down?
Long queues extend lead time.
Assess the impact using actual cases and evidence.
- 04
Delivery
Delivery completed; customer acceptance may be pending.
What might slow this down?
Acceptance evidence is missing.
Assess the impact using actual cases and evidence.
- 05
Invoice
Invoice prepared and issued.
What might slow this down?
Billing waits for approval.
Assess the impact using actual cases and evidence.
- 06
Collection
Payment received against the agreed terms.
What might slow this down?
Disputes delay payment.
Assess the impact using actual cases and evidence.
What could be happening?
A different cause needs a different solution.
These are possible drivers to investigate, not a diagnosis of your business.
The visible symptom
Sales are growing. But cash is always tight.
Potential drivers to investigate
Customer and supplier terms
When do payments fall due on each side?
Inventory planning
How long do materials wait before use?
Production lead time
How long is cash committed to unfinished work?
Billing approvals and coordination
What prevents completed work from being billed?
How I may help
Fix the cause.
Improve the outcome.
Shorten avoidable waits across the order cycle, with clear ownership at each hand-off.
The right change depends on where cash is being consumed, delayed or trapped.
The answer might sit in purchasing, inventory, work-in-progress, delivery, billing, payment terms, ownership or visibility. The evidence should tell us where to act.
Follow the pressure upstream
Financial pressure can begin much earlier than the finance team sees it.
I’ve spent years managing environments where time, cost, completion, dependencies, suppliers, resources and controls had to come together for work to deliver economically.
That creates a useful perspective on cash: it can become trapped long before somebody chases an invoice.
Selected experience from my career, before this independent practice.
Possible operating pressures
- Early purchasing
- Waiting work
- Slipping completion
- Costly rework
- Blocked billing
- Delayed visibility
Cash consumed or delayed The financial symptom appears later
So I follow the money backwards through the operation.
Not every cash-flow problem is operational. Before assuming the answer is financing or harder collections, I want to understand where the business may be consuming or delaying cash unnecessarily.
Evidence before investment
Observe. Connect. Prove.
Quantify. Decide.
Follow actual work, test likely causes and assess the business impact before committing to a change.
- 01
Observe
Follow actual work.
- 02
Connect
Link symptoms to possible causes.
- 03
Prove
Test the explanation against evidence.
- 04
Quantify
Assess the business impact.
- 05
Decide
Choose what is worth changing.
What could improve?
Potential improvements depend on the diagnosis and your starting point.
- Less cash trapped in work
- More predictable collections
- Clearer working-capital decisions
Connected outcomes
One change can reach further.
- Margins
The cash released still depends on what each order earns.
- Capacity
Queues and constraints can extend the time cash is tied up.
- Efficiency
Cleaner hand-offs can reduce delays before billing.
Let’s start a conversation
If cash feels tighter than the business performance suggests, let’s trace where the pressure may actually be starting.
A number that concerns you. A frustrating process. Something that should work better. You don’t need the root cause, a solution or a formal project brief.
In 30 minutes, we can explore what’s happening, what may be driving it and what deserves closer attention. A starting point, not a complete diagnosis or a commitment to a larger engagement.