Cash flow management: smart tools to plan your financial future

Analysis-ready charts, multiple forecast scenarios, and real-time integration with Google sheets help you navigate your cash flow with clarity. All the insights you need to make strategic decisions for your business - when it matters most.

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Our features at a glance

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Forecasts

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Expected Transactions

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VAT

Get a clear picture of your cash flow

  • Monitor your inflows and outflows to stay ahead of potential shortfalls.  
  • Generate cash flow forecasts up to 4 years in the future.
  • Import and sync your external projections via Google Sheets.

  • Compare multiple forecast scenarios to choose your best next move.

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Track your payments in real time

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  • Group all your invoices, subscriptions, and withdrawals in a single dashboard.

  • See your incoming & outgoing payments at a glance without getting lost in Excel.

  • Adjust payment dates to maintain a healthy, consistent cash flow.

  • Avoid delays and missed payments with centralized and automated invoice tracking.

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Categorize your transactions

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  • Spot spending trends with AI-assisted transaction categorization. 
  • Set up custom categories to sort your transactions with precision.  
  • Apply VAT by category to simplify calculations and declarations.

  • Save up to 3 working days each month with tailored automations to accurately track your cash flow.

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Manage VAT with peace of mind

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  • Instantly see if your VAT balance is in credit or debit. 
  • Get an updated estimate of the amount due after each invoice and transaction.
  • Track your invoices and schedule payments without fear of unexpected costs.

  • Create a dedicated sub-account to automatically set aside the VAT you'll need to pay.

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Cash flow management: the essentials

Cash flow plays a fundamental role in keeping a business running smoothly and in good financial health, whether it's a micro-enterprise or a multi-national. It ensures day-to-day finances are in tact and guarantees that the company has the necessary liquidity to meet its commitments.

A healthy cash flow can be leveraged to to:

  1. Pay suppliers, salaries, and routine expenses.
  2. Finance working capital needs.
  3. Make strategic investments.
  4. Build a safety reserve to handle unexpected events (like a client's late payment).
  5. Optimize cash surpluses through investments.

Effective cash flow management allows businesses to optimize their daily financial operations while building a clear vision of their future. It also helps them negotiate favorable terms with their bank (access to credit, lower borrowing rates, etc.)

Effective liquidity management is primarily based on visibility. You need to know, at any given moment and for the weeks ahead, what your available cash level is. The idea is to avoid discovering a critical balance at the last minute and not to rely on complex spreadsheets.

Here are some tips for better liquidity management:

  1. Centralize operations: combine banking services, invoicing, and forecasting in a tool that can track all your cash flows.
  2. Automate information gathering: use software to categorize transactions, link client payments to your invoices, and monitor VAT in real-time.
  3. Analyze risks: keep an eye on payment delays, unnecessary expenses, and critical due dates (e.g., corporate tax or VAT payments).
  4. Train your team: educate them on best practices and strategies for optimizing cash flow (negotiating with suppliers, following up on overdue invoices, etc.).
  5. Anticipate financing needs: determine if a loan or cash advance is needed to avoid a temporary shortfall. Cash flow management solutions help you quickly identify these issues.

Cash flow forecasting acts as a financial GPS. It maps out the likely trajectory of your cash balance for the upcoming days and months.


In practice, it involves gathering historical cash flow data (paid invoices, client revenue) and future operations (fixed expenses, tax deadlines, salaries) to project the future state of a business's cash flow. This way, you can spot if the cash level might dip too low in a few weeks and take corrective actions (like proposing quicker payment terms to a client, negotiating a deferment with a supplier, or considering a short-term loan). Conversely, if forecasted liquidity looks healthy, you might hire a new employee, purchase equipment, or launch a new project.


These precise forecasts enable a company to identify potential cash flow issues several weeks in advance and adapt its strategy as events unfold.

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Your questions about cash flow management

Cash flow management encompasses all the processes and practices a business can leverage in order to optimize its cash flow and financial transactions. It ensures an optimal level of liquidity while maximizing the profitability of available funds.


Relying on a centralized platform instead of multiple, disconnected tools, a cash flow management solution consolidates banking data, payment schedules, and accounting information into a single dashboard. This enables companies to make quick, informed decisions.


The goal of cash flow management isn't just to avoid unwelcome surprises and shortfalls; it also involves turning cash flow into a genuine growth lever.

Effective cash flow management can be the difference between success and failure. Poor cash flow management is like flying blind and can jeopardize a company's financial stability in the long run. 


With the right tools to manage your cash flow, you can:


  1. spot potential payment discrepancies earlier;
  2. reduce time spent on administrative tasks;
  3. Allocate resources to strategic investments instead of merely keeping your business afloat.

This strategic approach to cash flow management not only covers day-to-day operations, but also facilitates proactive finance planning.

With the right cash management solutions, you'll gain more peace of mind knowing that you can safely invest more in future growth projects - without fearing a sudden lack of funds.

To improve your cash flow, you need to both speed up collections and manage disbursements effectively. Here are a few ideas to consider:

  1. Accelerate collections with regular client reminders, well-defined payment terms, and diverse payment options.
  2. Identify risks of delays and defaults with real-time visibility into your bank transactions.
  3. Improve supplier payment timelines by negotiating better terms.
  4. Anticipate VAT by setting aside necessary funds ahead of time in a sub-account
  5. Identify non-essential or recurring costs by categorizing expenses to maintain liquidit.

  6. Automate tasks such as invoicing, bank reconciliation, and cash flow management to eliminate errors and duplication.

Choosing a cash management solution should be based on a thorough analysis of a company's needs (number of bank accounts, types of transactions, growth objectives, etc.).


Select reliable software that secures your financial data and offers seamless integration with your accounting tools.


Ergonomics is also important. A clear dashboard and automation features (automatic categorization, real-time account synchronization) will save you considerable time.

Finally, consider what customer support and updates are on offer: a responsive provider that regularly improves its app ensures a sustainable and scalable solution.

Qonto offers an a multi-faceted app that combines a business account with cash flow management solutions. This allows you to manage your bank accounts, invoices, international and domestic payments, and cash flow forecasts all within one app.

Qonto customers benefit from a 360° view of their cash flows, with the ability to:

  1. Automatically categorize income and expenses.
  2. Visualize cash flow forecasts to anticipate liquidity issues and make decisions with confidence.
  3. Save time through automated banking operations and numerous integrations.

Designed to support small businesses, SMEs, and freelancers, Qonto offers a flexible, easy-to-use service with high added value to optimize business cash flow and maintain financial stability.

By choosing Qonto's cash flow management solution, you'll have the freedom to focus on growing your business and expanding your operations.