CASH, CASH, WHO'S GOT THE CASH? Most entrepreneurs find it extremely easy to forget about cash flow management; it's not very exciting, and there are a million day-to-day pressures driving cash management out of the owner's schedule. In reality, however, cash flow analysis is one of the building blocks of a successful enterprise. The risks of ignoring cash flow management are high, especially for entrepreneurial companies. Too often, fledgling businesses show paper profits but cannot pay their bills because they run out of cash. The faster a company grows, the more likely it is to experience cash flow complications. When it came to managing cash flow, John Brandon, founder of Via Systems, Inc., a Colorado Springs computer software venture, was the typical entrepreneur. He thought cash flow analysis belonged only in textbooks on small business management. "To me," he recalled, "cash flow meant that if I looked at my checkbook and had enough money, I was OK." A decade earlier, Brandon had watched a growing business fail, and he was determined to avoid that happening again. With annual sales approaching $1 million and with Via systems poised for rapid growth, Brandon realized he was managing his company's most valuable asset by the seat of his pants. "I had developed enormous anxieties that we were going to run out of cash and not be able to pay for the expansion I wanted to take on," he noted. In its sixth year, Via Sitemaps was facing a challenge. I was a one-product company, and rather than "wait for the product to run out its life," Brandon decided "it was time to change direction." But that would take cash, and Brandon realized he "couldn't think about diversifying product lines, expanding staff, adding new locations, or acquiring new divisions. In essence, when a company's cash outflows are about to climb significantly, it's time to pay special attention to cash management. Brandon and his wife, Kathie, the company's bookkeeper, decided to bring in an expert to help them set up a cash management system. They turned to Paul Parish, a senior consultant at the firm that handled Via Systems' accounting. The Brandons wanted to answer two questions: First, was there any basis for their fear of running out of cash, and second, would they have enough cash to add new software products? To answer these questions, parish helped the Brandons prepare a cash budget, forecasting detailed cash flows eighteen months into the future, with broader estimates for a three-to-five year span. "It was hard work, pouring over financial records and trying to figure out exactly what happens to every single sales dollar that we generate," he remembered. Parish explained cash flow analysis to the Brandons in this way: "Cash flow is a cycle. Once a company makes a sale, cash passes through various stages from billing to disbursements and so on. The more efficiently it passes along, the less cash any company, big or small, needs during any particular month to keep its operations going smoothly." To track that cycle, Parish analyzed six phases of Via Systems' cash flow: 1. Cash receipts: how the company invoiced customers, collected accounts receivable, and tracked late payers. 2. Cash concentration: the speed and efficiency with which cash receipts were put to work for the company. 3. Cash disbursements: the way Via Systems timed bill payments. 4. Forecasting: the accuracy of the Brandon's projections regarding the amount and timing of cash flows. 5. Inventory: how much cash the company has tied up in raw materials and unsold goods. 6. Bank relations: the flow of money among the company's various bank accounts and the details of its borrowing capacity. The analysis showed several weaknesses in Via Systems' cash flow cycle, including poorly timed disbursements and lack of a bank credit line. The hard work paid off handsomely. "We worked up a set of projections that showed us going from a positive cash flow of more than $8,000 in February to a negative cash flow totaling about $45,000 in March and April, when we started bringing new products to market," says Brandon. Their forecasts were on target. "When I went negative for those two months, it didn't worry me because I had faith in our long-term assumptions," he added. By May, Via Systems' cash balance climbed to $5,500 and has climbed steadily since. "Before the analysis, I didn't know which steps I could take," admits Brandon. "Now I've introduced four new products to the market, and we've done beautifully...My cash flow plan is a living, breathing document." 1. Why should fast-growth companies worry most about cash flow crises? 2. Why do the typical entrepreneurs fail to manage their company's cash properly? 3. What benefits does proper cash management offer any business owner? Adapted from Jill Andresky Fraser, "A Confidence Game," Inc., December 1989, pp.175-178