Blog

Read posts from our network of cash flow experts

Why you should move to a hosted QuickBooks Desktop Environment now!

Mar 31, 2021 1:55:26 PM

If your business is running QuickBooks Desktop, the main QB file is stored either on your PC or a server in your office.  But what if the PC crashes?  What if someone breaks in?  What if you are not physically at the office and need to access?  There is a better way...

By Dave Fester

Bill.com Integration with CashFlowTool

Nov 10, 2020 1:50:28 PM

Many customers using Bill.com have asked about how it integrates with CashFlowTool and so we have prepared a video to show you the best practice for including and integrating.  Enjoy and let us know how it's working for you!

By Dave Fester

We Stand for Small Business

Oct 1, 2020 3:46:38 PM

We started our company with a passion to radically improve (and automate) the lending process for banks and in the course of doing so, we realized we could help small businesses everywhere with one of the most important things they care about most - cash flow.

By Dave Fester

Taking a peek inside the minds of small business owners

May 27, 2020 11:27:17 AM

What financial topics are on the minds of small businesses right now?  To find out, I recently surveyed clients and friends, asking them to rate their areas of concern. While the results are not scientific, they are quite interesting.

By Scott Gregory (Guest Blogger)

Covid-19 Business Help #5: Perform cash break-even analysis

Apr 16, 2020 10:15:13 PM

Break-even analysis has long been used in the context of companies identifying how to become profitable or determining pricing strategies for new products and services.

By Justin Pulgrano

Covid-19 Business Help #4: Calculate and forecast your cash burn rate

Apr 16, 2020 4:45:08 PM

In the uncertain times that have come with the Covid-19 crisis, understanding cash burn rate could be the difference between your business' survival and salary cuts, layoffs or business closure. Cash has always been king, but that statement is even more true today.

By Justin Pulgrano

Covid-19 Business Help #3: Stress-test your P&L

Apr 16, 2020 3:14:28 PM

With the Covid-19 crisis affecting businesses everywhere, you need to stress-test your P&L to determine what your business can handle to survive.  This consists of running a series of mission critical what-if scenarios to help plan your cash flow future.

By Dave Fester

Covid-19 Business Help #2: Review your future income

Apr 16, 2020 2:26:25 PM

With the Covid-19 crisis affecting businesses everywhere, you probably have experienced a drop in income.  In this blog we will discuss how you can review and forecast your future income and combined with the expense planning, you will effectively know your complete cash flow picture.

By Dave Fester

Covid-19 Business Help #1: Evaluate your expenses NOW

Apr 16, 2020 12:46:15 PM

With the Covid-19 crisis affecting businesses everywhere, it is now more important than ever to manage and plan your cash flow.   It starts with a methodology of evaluating your expenses immediately.

By Dave Fester

Never be surprised by expenses!

Feb 25, 2020 1:57:32 PM

Have you ever been surprised by expenses?  For my personal expenses, I spend time knowing what they are, whether I need them and what the future will look like.   Businesses need to do the same and CashFlowTool makes it easy.

By Dave Fester

CashFlowTool Adds Support for Credit Card Accounts

Jan 29, 2020 7:34:35 AM

Our CashFlowTool team is always hard at work adding new features and we have just released support for importing transactions from credit cards found in QuickBooks (both online & desktop).    Enjoy and keep giving us the feedback!

By Dave Fester

7 Cash Flow Tips Every Business Owner Needs

Jan 23, 2020 8:19:21 AM

Every business knows that cash is king, yet an alarming number of businesses (only 33%) don’t even use a tech platform, tool or app to manage their cash flow1.   Here are 7 practical tips that every business owner should use to help with their cash flow.

By Dave Fester

CashFlowTool Product Update - December 2019

Dec 11, 2019 1:15:23 PM

Our CashFlowTool team is always hard at work adding new features and updating current features to make it easier for our customers! This month is no different, we are excited to announce two new features for CashFlowTool.

By Michael Patten

Becoming a virtual practice? Here's how CashFlowTool makes this possible

Oct 29, 2019 12:58:58 PM

In the past, most accounting, bookkeeping or advisory firms used to rely on getting customers from their local city and would conduct regular meetings (quarterly tax, annual tax, business health assessments, etc.), at their physical office.  If you are considering extending your practice to a virtual one, this is a must read for you...

By Dave Fester

The all-new CashFlowTool Summary screen.

Oct 28, 2019 10:59:15 AM

Your clients are busy running their business and their job is to focus on what matters. Most of the time this involves completing daily tasks, which leaves little time on assessing the health of their business. Too often assessing the health of their business occurs infrequently and only when there is a problem.

By Michael Patten

Insightful Accountant Webinar Replay - Your Golden Ticket to Advisory Services

Oct 17, 2019 3:30:00 PM

Our CashFlowTool expert, Justin Pulgrano, teamed up with Insightful Accountant  to give you a webinar on Cash Flow Forecasting: Your Golden Ticket to Advisory Services. This 50 minute webinar explores how you can deliver cash flow services profitably to all your clients without adding hours upon hours to your workload. 

By Quinn Dunkley

CashFlowTool - New Product Features Sept 2019

Sep 18, 2019 4:36:43 PM

This month, we have released 3 super cool new features in CashFlowTool that we hope you find really useful based on your feedback.  Enjoy and keep the feedback coming!

By Dave Fester

5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Business Cash Flow Management

Sep 17, 2019 3:54:27 PM

It’s so true…

Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business! (ask the thousands who failed without it)

Given that, I’d like to share insights with you to avoid these mistakes as you work with this precious commodity each business day…

By Scott Gregory (Guest Blogger)

The 5 Silent Killers of Cash Flow

Aug 15, 2019 3:01:58 PM

In an economy where the stakes are increasingly high and cash progressively scarce, business owners must proactively manage the balance sheet and income statement or risk falling victim to the five silent killers of cash flow.

By Cheryl Abrahamson

Insightful Accountant Webinar Replay - App Academy

Aug 14, 2019 11:30:24 AM

Insightful Accountant held a webinar on their App Academy Webinar Series titled "Intro to CashFlowTool:  The Ultimate Cash Flow Management and Forecasting Tool".   This 50 minute webinar introduces you to the most powerful cash flow tool available today.

By Quinn Dunkley

Introducing: Business Cash Flow Essentials Course

Aug 14, 2019 9:12:00 AM

We are happy to announce our brand new  Business Cash Flow Essentials Course, the online training course for CashFlowTool. This premium learning experience designed to give Accountants, Bookkeepers, Advisors and Business owners essential insights and tools to become experts in the art of cash flow management.

By Quinn Dunkley

CashFlowTool - New Product Features Aug 2019

Aug 14, 2019 8:14:45 AM

CashFlowTool continues to make improvements to the product based directly your feedback.  Our latest improvements let you make the most of the interactive chart and work in the customer/vendor views. and also give you a new way to discover and get help on concepts and features. 

By Michael Patten

Levers to improve cash flow for your practice

Jul 15, 2019 4:20:56 PM

Many accounting professionals are providing advisory services to their clients. The purpose of advisory services is to help your clients solve a problem, overcome a challenge or create an experience of what’s possible for them with you by their side.

By Audrey L Godwin

Interactive Chart Tips & Tricks

Jul 11, 2019 3:16:14 PM

Make the most of the breakthrough new interactive visual chart with this month's tips and tricks.

By Dave Fester

Lessons Learned From Shark Tank

Jul 11, 2019 11:05:32 AM

We’ve all watched entrepreneurs go onto Shark Tank and pitch their product to the Sharks. Some participants are so impressive the way they deliver a clever pitch that instantly grabs everyone’s attention, while other participants fail miserably and makes you cringe inside.

By Michael Patten

CashFlowTool Referral Program

Jul 10, 2019 5:41:37 PM

Invite a business owner or an accountant to try out CashFlowTool and if they purchase, you get paid!  

By Quinn Dunkley

What If Scenarios: CashFlowTool makes it easy

Jul 10, 2019 4:49:23 PM

So you have used CashFlowTool to predict and manage your future cash flow forecast.  How do you fine tune the forecast?  How do you create a few what if scenarios?  It's easy...

By Dave Fester

Documents: Improved Financial Statements

Jun 11, 2019 2:46:59 PM

 CashFlowTool has improved the financial documents saved into your document library each time you update your financials.  Now a single Excel worksheet is generated which includes your balance sheet and profit and loss statement (income statement) for the last 5 full quarters plus quarter to date.

By Michael Patten

All new Interactive Chart Forecast:  Visualize your future today!

Jun 11, 2019 9:19:00 AM

We went back to the drawing board and came up with a completely reimagined way to view your future cash flow forecast.  It lets you visualize your future forecast in ways you never imagined.  Once you see it, you will never want to go back to static forecasting again.

By Michael Patten

CashFlowTool to QuickBooks Desktop Improvements

Jun 10, 2019 6:13:22 PM

CashFlowTool is the only cash management and forecasting tool that connects to QuickBooks Desktop and this month, we did some significant updates to improve ease of use, performance, and stability.  We hope you love the improvements!

By Michael Patten

How to select the right clients for cash flow services

Jun 10, 2019 3:35:10 PM

Helping your clients understand, manage and forecast cash flow is critical to their success. This also represents a significant opportunity for you to expand your capabilities and service offerings.


But where do you start? And most importantly, which clients do you start with?

By Justin Pulgrano

Even in a cash business, cash can be tight

Jun 10, 2019 1:54:35 PM

It’s amazing how cash can slip through the fingers of even the most frugal small business owner. It just happens without you realizing it.

By Dave Fester

Now is the best time for a quarterly business review

May 2, 2019 2:05:17 PM

What better time to assess the state of your business than right after your busiest time of year? 

Now I know what many of you are thinking, “I just recovered from tax season and first quarter taxes”.  Believe me, I understand.

By Audrey L Godwin

Becoming A Cash Flow Champion

May 2, 2019 10:10:13 AM

National Small Business Week is May 5-11 and what a perfect time to think about cash flow which is the lifeblood of every small business. 

Are you ready to help every small business with cash flow advisory services?   

By Audrey L Godwin

Spotlight on Cards:  Cash on Hand and Cash Shortage

May 2, 2019 8:13:29 AM

Last month we introduced you to our "Spotlight on Cards" blog post where we showcased not only some critical cards, but also the interaction between the cards.   This month we talk about the big question that many have:  How can I have lots of cash on hand and yet still have a cash shortage? 

By Dave Fester

How do you keep your team focused and aligned?

May 1, 2019 1:18:13 PM

Do you feel that everyone on your team is driving toward the same goals as you are?  When your team makes key decisions, do they align to your top business objectives?  Does your team understand the impact they have on your business?  Here are four strategies to help you keep everyone on the same page and working toward the same goals.

By Michael Patten

CashFlowTool's new interactive chart forecasting feature

May 1, 2019 1:13:10 PM

This month we rolled out a powerful new feature enabling you to see your cash balance trend, overlaid with cash ins and outs over the past year and your 90 day future forecast.   It's a great new way to visualize your forecast.

By Dave Fester

Control Your Expenses!

Apr 30, 2019 5:28:40 PM

There is simply one rule to live by in small business if you want to stay in business:  The change in your operating expenses should mirror the change in your gross profit.  This is typically called expense control.  However, it should be called the essential function of a business.  It’s essential because without it your company will die.

By Mike Milan

Spotlight on Cards:  3 cards that show you the cash shortage

Mar 20, 2019 5:02:11 PM

CashFlowTool shows over 30 business metrics enabling you to have a quick pulse on your business.  These metrics appear in the dashboard feature where you can customize dashboards to meet your specific needs.   This month, we spotlight 3 cards that help you understand a cash shortage.

By Dave Fester

In honor of SBDC day - an important article on mis-financing.

Mar 20, 2019 8:57:28 AM

In honor of SBDC day we wanted to share some information on an important topic that is critical the success and financial health of a company.  It is something that is often overlooked until it is too late and silently sucks the cash out of a business.   The name of this deadly business killer – mis-financing.

By Cheryl Abrahamson

Keep tabs on your most important customers!

Mar 19, 2019 5:06:14 PM

Many small businesses rely on sales from just a handful of customers and in some cases rely on sales from just one or two customers. 

Having a high customer concentration puts your business at risk. If you lose your top customer, your business is at risk.  

By Michael Patten

CashFlowTool - New Product Features Feb 2019

Feb 21, 2019 11:36:56 AM

This month we rolled out a powerful new feature to manually add transactions to the Cash Flow Calendar to give you a greater degree of control over your forecasts.  In addition, we updated our 'Cash on hand' card in the dashboard to show how the calculation is made...

By Michael Patten

Beyond Price to Value

Feb 21, 2019 10:47:56 AM

As accounting professionals, from bookkeepers to accountants and CPAs, your training will lead you to go straight to the numbers when you want to introduce a new service to your clients.

But what if creating a profitable revenue stream requires you to go beyond the numbers?

By Audrey L Godwin

Why you need to change the conversation around cash flow

Feb 20, 2019 5:15:22 PM

Let’s talk about cash flow. More specifically, why we need to change the conversation around cash flow. Current cash flow conversations focus on trying to survive (crisis aversion) instead of planning to thrive and managing that state when we and our clients get there (command and control).

By Audrey L Godwin

5 ways you can be surprised by your cash flow

Feb 20, 2019 4:24:38 PM

Surprises by definition aren’t things you think would happen.  I love being surprised when it’s my birthday or even a random Wednesday, but its never a good thing to be surprised by a sudden cash flow problem in your business. 

By Mike Milan

Are you too busy for new business?

Jan 22, 2019 4:59:52 PM

W2s, 1099s, year-end close…..oh my!   Busy season is upon us. With all the increased activities this time of year brings, are you confident that your productivity and profitability increase at nearly the same rate? 

By Audrey L Godwin

CashFlowTool - New Product Features Jan 2019

Jan 22, 2019 4:32:30 PM

This month we rolled out two powerful new features:  Team member permissions and Invoice Rules.  Both of these were the top requested features from our customers and we are excited for you to begin using them today!

By Michael Patten

Cash Matters - Why every business must focus on cash flow

Jan 22, 2019 2:09:56 PM

The truth is – money is rarely the top motivator of the entrepreneur. There is always a passion behind the action of the person willing to step out on his/her own.

By Mike Milan

Demystifying Cash Ratios

Jan 22, 2019 12:33:34 PM

Inside CashFlowTool, there are several different ratios and dollar amounts that measure all aspects of how your company generates, uses and how much your company has and needs cash.

Do you know what they are and how to use them?  

By Mike Milan

4 ways to introduce cash flow advisory services into your business

Dec 18, 2018 11:18:08 AM

How do you grow your business and provide additional value to your clients without adding heavy costs that hurt your profit?

By Audrey L Godwin

Rarey-Olson expanded their practice with CashFlowTool

Dec 18, 2018 8:28:17 AM

CashFlowTool Helps Rarey-Olson CPAs Expand Services With Cash Flow Forecasting and Management.   They selected CashFlowTool to help manage and advise their clients on cash flow.

By Dave Fester

CashFlowTool - New Product Features Dec 2018

Dec 17, 2018 3:48:45 PM

This month we roll-up all the new features that we have been working in into this blog.  Performance - done.  New bank features - done.  New graphs - done.  Improved QuickBooks Desktop integration - done. 

By Michael Patten

Extend QuickBooks Desktop to the Cloud

Dec 17, 2018 3:03:20 PM

QuickBooks looks at business data from today & in the past.  By combining QuickBooks (any version) & CashFlowTool, business owners can immediately forecast their future.  Imagine being able to see the metrics, patterns and trends that you would otherwise miss.  CashFlowTool makes it possible.

By Michael Patten

Sales, Profit or Cash?  What is the TOP priority?

Dec 17, 2018 2:41:10 PM

In order to make your mark in the business world, you must find your unique value proposition.  Often it comes in the form of innovation, as it did for Dell’s founder and CEO, Michael Dell. 

By Mike Milan

Taxes and Cash Flow: A practice-building pair

Dec 17, 2018 2:34:46 PM

Taxes and Cash Flow: A practice-building pair 

Maybe you are still recovering from the October 15th tax deadline. Maybe you are preparing for year-end tax planning. Or just maybe, you are somewhere in between. 

By Audrey L Godwin

Don't Grow Broke!

Nov 15, 2018 3:09:28 PM

Growing broke. This concept rarely, if ever, comes to mind as business owners begin to grow their business. Yet it is possible that if you are growing too fast, you may in fact run out of cash. Could this happen to you? It could, but we want to give you some insights on how to prevent this from happening in your business.

By Mike Milan

Unleashing the forecasting power of CashFlowTool

Nov 15, 2018 2:37:02 PM

The hallmark feature of CashFlowTool is the breakthrough, industry leading forecast capability, that lets you see your future cash flow in three easy to use views. Powered by Finagraph's patent-pending CashLearn™ AI technology, it predicts the future with confidence, so you can understand your current and future cash flow situation.

By Justin Pulgrano

Cash Flow: It’s good for your health

Nov 13, 2018 11:24:30 AM

I couldn’t wait to get back to my desk after visiting the dentist last night.  I find inspiration in the oddest places.  For me, it was the dentist chair this time.  I’m not aware of anyone who thinks the dentist chair is a great place to sit, away from the commotion of the office, and ponder huge subjects.

By Seth David

Cash Flow – The Final Frontier – These are the Voyages of the Business Enterprise

Nov 13, 2018 11:23:27 AM

In 2003 I had had enough with working at a job where the managing partner of the CPA firm would berate us on a regular basis.

By Seth David

Liquidity – The State of Your Company’s Assets

Nov 13, 2018 11:21:51 AM

“I’m very liquid”, you hear the giants of industry say.  I think we all jump to the conclusion that the person making the statement has a lot of cash.  In general, we would be right.  Liquidity by definition is a company’s ability to convert its assets into cash to pay its liabilities.  It’s often expressed in the form of ratios like the current ratio.  But few people understand the state of liquidity they might be in and how to become “liquid”.

By Seth David

The Challenges of Dealing with the Cash Flow Statement

Nov 13, 2018 11:21:02 AM

It’s interesting how over the years, companies make adjustments to the rules that always seem to work in their favor.  Generally, the reporting transactions are accurate and legal, but may paint a different picture of the financial health of the company.  As a lender or trusted advisor, it’s important to understand the shortcomings of the reporting system.

By Seth David

Working Capital Cycle

Nov 13, 2018 11:16:37 AM

Cash Flow is something everyone talks about, but few people really understand, especially when you get into the details of what drives cash flow. In this episode Mike and I are going to dig into the Working Capital Cycle, but first we wanted to mention some important resources.

By Mike Milan

Why Cash Flow is More Important Than Profit

Nov 13, 2018 11:04:07 AM

I was recently asked, “Why the emphasis on cash flow?” I gave the example of real estate and how highly leveraged businesses can look profitable, but still go out of business. My friend pressed on saying that he gets it in that context, but in all business?

By Mike Milan

About CashFlowTool.com

CashFlowTool is a product developed by Finagraph. We're a technology company that's passionate about helping small business owners, accountants, and lenders deeply understand the financial health of companies. Finagraph’s trusted technology helps power services provided by companies including Moody’s Analytics, Jack Henry & Associates and leading banks. Learn more


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