A worked example and planning aid
Give every dollar
a clear priority.
See how cash moves through operating obligations, debt service, reserves and distributions. Change the assumptions. Find the constraint. Keep the reconciliation visible.
The order makes the difference
Available cash → decisionsIllustration of priorities, not a financial forecast.
Cash earmarked for a reserve remains cash.
01 / Interactive model
Operating cash waterfall
Starting dataset: Cedar Services Group · fictional $200 million annual revenue. Period: one modeled month, in the selected currency. This example is independent of the other finance tools. Requests are funded in the order shown; the minimum cash floor limits optional distributions only.
Save status: example ready · held in this tab only. Closing or refreshing clears it. Backups include current inputs and the pinned baseline.
USD · one modeled period
| Cash priority | Requested | Funded | Unfunded | Cash left* |
|---|
*Unrestricted cash remaining after each allocation. Teal bars show the funded share of each request; the pale remainder is unfunded.
Close the loop.
- Opening cash + inflows
- $23,000,000
- Less: external cash payments*
- $18,000,000
- Ending total modeled cash
- $5,000,000
- Of which: unrestricted
- $3,000,000
- Of which: new earmarked reserve
- $2,000,000
- Target unrestricted cash floor
- $3,000,000
- Shortfall against that floor
- $0
*Operating obligations, tax, debt service and distributions. Reserve funding transfers cash within the model; it is not an external payment. Existing reserve balances are outside the model.
Fund the whole plan
How much cash would close the gap?
The core plan covers operating obligations, tax, debt service, the requested new reserve and the unrestricted cash floor. The distribution case adds the full optional distribution request.
| Requirement | Core plan | With full optional distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Total cash required | $21,000,000 | $24,600,000 |
| Minimum period inflows, after opening cash | $16,000,000 | $19,600,000 |
| Additional inflows above those entered | $0 | $1,600,000 |
The fictional example covers its core plan. An additional $1,600,000 of inflows would also cover the full optional distribution while retaining the cash floor.
Reserve and floor are retained cash, not external payments, and are counted once each. The distribution request is optional; its unfunded portion is separate from unpaid obligations. These targets do not change the allocation order or create cash.
Compare inflow sensitivity
Compare 50%, 75%, 100% and 125% of the current inflow assumption.
| Inflow case | Period inflows | Unpaid operating, tax & debt | Unfunded reserve | Cash floor shortfall | Funded distribution | Ending unrestricted cash |
|---|
Selected inflow cases, not a forecast or probabilities. All other current assumptions stay fixed. Fractions of a cent are rounded down. Inputs and any pinned baseline are unchanged. Cases above the 1,000,000,000,000 inflow limit are not calculated.
Unpaid obligations, unfunded reserve requests and the cash floor shortfall are shown separately. Optional distributions occur only after earlier priorities and above the floor. This table is included in the CSV and printed decision brief.
Test the decision
Baseline vs. current
Pin the current assumptions, then edit them to see what changes. Download a backup to preserve current inputs and the pinned baseline before closing or refreshing.
| Measure | Pinned baseline | Current | Change |
|---|
Keep a scenario for later.
Download a backup, then use Restore backup to resume. JSON includes current currency, all eight inputs and the pinned baseline, if any. Closing or refreshing clears this tab. CSV and print are review outputs, not resumable backups.
Files are read locally, with a 16 KB limit. Downloads and printed copies may contain confidential assumptions; store and share them appropriately. Nothing is automatically saved or submitted. Changes to the inputs and pinned baseline are tracked against the starting example or most recent backup download/restore. Legacy version 1 files restore inputs without a baseline. CSV and print exports do not create a resumable checkpoint.
This is an illustrative allocation sequence, not a contractual waterfall, borrowing-base model, IRR/promote model or assessment of lawful distributions. Agreement terms, timing, account restrictions and required approvals may produce a different result.
Cedar Services Group / Fictional $200m annual revenue / Monthly amounts in USD
A $3,600,000 request. A $2,000,000 allocation.
Start with $5,000,000 of unrestricted cash and $18,000,000 of period inflows: $23,000,000 is available. The default scenario funds $11,600,000 of operating obligations, $1,200,000 of tax and $3,200,000 of debt service. That leaves $7,000,000.
Earmark $2,000,000 for a new reserve and $5,000,000 remains unrestricted. A $3,000,000 cash floor leaves room for $2,000,000 of the $3,600,000 optional distribution request. The unallocated $1,600,000 is a distribution request, not an unpaid operating obligation.
The cash floor is already included in unrestricted cash; adding it again would double-count cash. Use “Reset example” to reproduce these results. Then pin the baseline and use “Halve current inflows” to see which earlier obligations become unfunded. This action changes only the current inflow assumption, rounds a half-cent down, and asks you to confirm the old and new amount. Repeating it halves the remaining inflows again.
02 / Understand the decisions
Cash available is only the beginning.
A cash waterfall makes an allocation sequence explicit. It helps you see which request absorbs the next dollar and where the first shortage appears. The next step is to connect that snapshot to timing, legal permissions and the next period’s needs.
Guide / Timing & priority
Cash waterfall vs. 13-week cash forecast
One asks where money goes. The other asks when it arrives and leaves. Use both to avoid a comfortable month-end balance masking a mid-month funding gap.
Read the guide →Guide / Retain or release
Debt service, reserves and distributions
Separate payments from earmarks, define a cash floor and identify the conditions a simple calculator cannot verify.
Read the guide →03 / Method & data
A transparent model. Your inputs stay here.
For each priority, funded cash equals the smaller of its request and the cash remaining. Distributions use only cash remaining above the floor. Enter amounts in whole cents; values with fractions smaller than a cent are rejected. Calculations use integer cents and do not borrow automatically to cover a shortage.
Calculations and scenario imports run in your browser. Tool inputs are not submitted to a server or automatically stored. Refreshing restores the fictional example and clears any pinned baseline. You can choose to download current inputs and the pinned baseline as a JSON backup for later resumption, export assumptions and results as CSV, or print a decision brief. Those files and copies are under your control. Cloudflare Web Analytics separately measures page visits and performance, not tool entries. Use approved handling procedures for confidential information.
The wider finance picture
Connect allocation
to execution.
See Seth’s HeyTutor financing case study, then explore the finance example collection and CFO engagement hub by Seth Sokoloff.
- 13-week cash & funding example ↗Connect liquidity decisions to lender reporting and covenant visibility.
- ValueCreationPlans.com ↗Connect investment requests to value creation priorities.
- RollupCFO.com ↗Explore finance priorities across an acquisition platform.
- PEBackedCFO.com ↗Return to the finance leadership resource hub.