The ten-day cash calendar: see tomorrow's shortfall a week early

Most “due tomorrow” emergencies weren’t really surprises. The pay run was always on Thursday. The BAS was always due on the 28th. The big customer always pays a week late. What was missing was a view that put those facts side by side early enough to do something about them.

A ten-day cash calendar is that view. It isn’t a budget or a forecast model. It’s a short, rolling list of the next ten business days showing what cash comes in, what goes out and where the balance dips lowest. Kept for fifteen minutes a week, it turns late-night scrambles into calm decisions.

Why ten business days?

Ten business days — two working weeks — hits a sweet spot:

• Long enough to see a problem a week or more away, while there’s still time to talk to customers, suppliers or a lender.
• Short enough that you know most of the numbers precisely: this week’s pay run, the invoices due, the supplier statements on your desk.
• Quick to update, because you’re only ever adding one new day and removing one old one.

Longer forecasts, such as 13-week cash flows, are useful for planning and for bigger decisions. Many businesses keep both. The ten-day calendar is the one you actually look at every morning.

How do I set one up?

Use a spreadsheet, a whiteboard or a notebook. Create one row for each of the next ten business days, skipping weekends and public holidays in your state. Then add these columns:

Column	What goes in it
Date	Each business day (skip weekends and statewide holidays)
Opening balance	Yesterday’s closing balance (start with today’s actual bank balance)
Cash in	Customer payments you realistically expect that day
Cash out	Every payment due that day
Closing balance	Opening + in − out
Notes	Who, what, and how confident you are

The business day counter and the 2026–27 public holiday calendar help you get the dates right for your state.

What goes in the “cash out” column?

Start with the fixed, non-negotiable outflows. These are the ones that create “due tomorrow” moments:

• Pay runs, including any overtime or leave.
• Super contributions. Since 1 July 2026, under Payday Super, the ATO requires contributions to be received by the fund within 7 business days after payday. Put them in the calendar a few days after each pay run, allowing for your clearing house.
• ATO payments. Quarterly BAS is due 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July; monthly BAS is due on the 21st. The ATO says payments can take up to 4 business days to reach it, so enter the payment on the day you’ll send it, not the due date.
• Rent and outgoings.
• Loan, lease and advance repayments, including any that come out daily or weekly.
• Key supplier accounts you can’t trade without.

Then add the flexible outflows: other suppliers, subscriptions, planned purchases. Mark these as “movable” so you know what can shift if the balance dips.

What goes in the “cash in” column?

This is where honesty matters most. For each expected receipt, enter the day you realistically expect the money, not the invoice due date.

• If a customer always pays on their fortnightly run, use the run date.
• If a customer is usually a week late, plan for a week late.
• If a payment depends on a milestone being signed off, only include it once the milestone is certain.
• For card or online sales, use your typical daily settlement.

business.gov.au suggests using automation and updated payment terms to collect money faster. The ten-day calendar shows you exactly which customers are worth chasing, and when.

How do I read the calendar?

Ignore the end total. Look for the lowest closing balance in the ten days. That’s your pinch point.

Here’s an illustrative excerpt for a small manufacturer:

Day	In	Out	Closing	Note
Mon	$12,000	$4,500	$31,500	Card sales, supplier A
Tue	$3,000	$2,000	$32,500
Wed	$2,500	$41,000	−$6,000	Pay run
Thu	$2,500	$0	−$3,500
Fri	$38,000	$5,200	$29,300	Big customer (usually on time)
Mon	$4,000	$6,600	$26,700	Super for Wednesday’s pay run

The fortnight ends comfortably, but Wednesday and Thursday dip below zero. Without the calendar, the owner would discover that on Wednesday morning. With it, they know a week ahead.

What do I do when I spot a shortfall?

With a week’s notice, you have options:

1. Bring forward a receipt. Invoice early, offer an easy payment method, or politely ask a reliable customer if they can pay a few days early.
2. Move a flexible payment. Shift a non-critical supplier by a few days, with notice. Our guide on asking a supplier for more time has wording.
3. Use a buffer. A standby line of credit is designed for exactly this kind of short dip.
4. Arrange short-term funding. If the gap is real and can’t be moved, a week’s notice lets you arrange funding calmly rather than at 9pm the night before. A 60-second enquiry is enough to start.

What you want to avoid is doing nothing and hoping. The calendar’s whole value is in the time it gives you.

How long does it take to keep up?

• Setup: about fifteen minutes the first time.
• Daily: two to five minutes — roll forward one day, update today’s actual balance, adjust any receipts that moved.
• Weekly: ten minutes to check the next fortnight’s pay runs, super and tax dates.

Some owners do it with their morning coffee. Others make it a Monday-morning ritual with their bookkeeper. Either works, as long as it happens.

An illustrative first fortnight

Illustrative: The owner of a two-van plumbing business in Canberra starts a ten-day calendar on a whiteboard in September. In the first week, it shows a $9,000 dip on the Wednesday after a pay run, because a builder client pays on the last business day of the month. She calls the builder, who agrees to pay a completed stage invoice five days early. The dip disappears. The following month, the calendar shows a larger dip over the October long weekend; she arranges a small standby limit two weeks ahead and never draws it.

Which mistakes make a cash calendar less useful?

A few habits quietly undermine the calendar:

• Using due dates instead of realistic dates. The calendar should reflect what will happen, not what should happen.
• Forgetting irregular outflows. Annual insurance, registrations, quarterly instalments and equipment servicing catch people out because they don’t happen every month.
• Leaving out small daily debits. Daily or weekly repayments on short-term advances add up quickly.
• Not updating after surprises. If a customer tells you their payment is delayed, change the calendar the same day.
• Treating the bank balance as available cash. GST collected and PAYG withheld are owed to the ATO. Some owners keep a separate column or account for them so the calendar shows only what’s genuinely spendable.
• Checking only when worried. The calendar’s value comes from looking every day, especially when things feel fine.

If you already keep a longer forecast, the ten-day calendar is the short-range view that checks it against reality. When the two disagree, trust the one with the most recent numbers — and then find out why they differ. For the dates that most often cause trouble, see payroll due tomorrow and BAS due tomorrow.

When the calendar shows a gap you can’t close

Sometimes the ten-day view shows a shortfall that no amount of shuffling will fix. That’s still a win: you’ve found it early, while there’s time to arrange the right funding instead of the fastest one.

Enquiring takes about 60 seconds and there’s no credit check when you first make contact. We don’t pass your details to a queue of lenders; one team looks at your numbers and a real person calls you. Please be as accurate as you can about the amount and the date the gap appears — your calendar already tells you both.

Close the gap before it arrives →