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A project-based business that commits to materials long before the customer pays: purchase orders go out on quoted work, deliveries and retentions follow their own timetable.
Every large commitment was a guess. The team could see the bank balance and the order book, but not the week where the two would collide, so purchases were either delayed too long or approved on optimism.
The question it answers
Your committed spend and expected receipts on one line, with the week the balance goes under the buffer.
A treasury forecast carries inventory as one lump per month. This starts from the purchase orders themselves, so the commitment you are about to sign appears on the cash line before you sign it.
Materials are committed now, the customer pays on their own terms, and retentions land later still. A 13-week horizon stops exactly where project money gets tight.
Payment terms, receipt timing, the buffer. Move one and the low point moves, so a disagreement with the team becomes a number instead of an argument.
The week, the figure, and how far under the buffer it goes. That is the sentence you repeat in the meeting.
