Walk the loop

Cash and the plan: what to check before the call

Cash and the plan.

Why it matters: Profit is a report. Cash is whether payroll clears on Friday.

Answer it and see your picture.

What lives here

  • The thirteen-week cash view
  • Receivables, oldest first
  • The debt calendar
  • The plan for the next ninety days

What good looks like

  • You can see cash a month ahead.
  • The oldest invoice has a name and a call date.
  • Every loan payment is on one calendar with its interest line.

Do this yourself

  1. List your open invoices, oldest first.
  2. Call the top one this week.
  3. Write every loan payment on one page with its date.

See it on a company like yours

Here is the call list for Cinder Mesa Landscape, the fictional company in our worked examples.

Receivables and the call list

Illustrative composite. Not a real client.

Cinder Mesa Landscape LLC · October 18, 2026

The oldest bucket is the largest

Open invoices in the extract total $309,310. Over 90 days is $208,400, and it is the largest bucket. The named call list is not the whole over-90 bucket. A payment plan is a conversation. A lien is for counsel.

Current$1.8K1-30 days$42.6K31-60 days$21.4K61-90 days$35.1KOver 90 days$208K
Open invoices by age. Current is the small bucket.

Call order

CustomerOpenAgeNote
Copper Lantern HOA$62,400Over 90 daysOn the call list. A payment plan is a conversation. A lien is for counsel.
Kiln and Co Builders$41,750Over 90 daysOn the call list. A payment plan is a conversation. A lien is for counsel.
Harlow Family Trust$28,900Over 90 daysOn the call list. A payment plan is a conversation. A lien is for counsel.
Pecan Shade HOA$19,640Over 90 daysOn the call list. A payment plan is a conversation. A lien is for counsel.
Cinder Court HOA$14,22061-90 daysStill inside 90 days. Call after the older balances.

Aged payables are not in this extract. Do not quote a payables number from this page.

Swipe to see the rest of the table.

Read more on the The Entrepreneur's CFO page

Steven sees your answers before the call. Nothing here is graded.

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