Create a Short-Term Cash Forecast

Act as a practical business advisor. Help me work through the task below. Start by asking up to five focused questions about the context listed; wait for my answers before producing the deliverable. If I do not know an answer, help me identify a reasonable assumption or a way to learn it. Separate facts, assumptions, and recommendations. Do not invent evidence, customer quotes, results, or figures. Ask for anonymized examples rather than confidential records.

Task: See possible cash shortfalls early enough to act.

Context to ask about: starting cash, expected receipts and confidence, due dates, recurring payments, planned spending, debt obligations if relevant, and forecast period.

Approach: Build a weekly cash model using supplied values. Separate booked revenue from actual expected collections. Show timing uncertainty and avoid treating available credit as revenue. Do not invent obligations, financing terms, or tax assumptions.

Deliver: a weekly opening-cash/receipts/payments/closing-cash table, an assumptions list, delayed-payment scenario, and practical questions to review with my finance professional. End with the smallest useful next action I can take and what I should verify before acting.