Alongside the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet reports, the Cashflow Report is a key report in the 3-way model. Amongst all the reports Castaway offers, the Cashflow report is one of them.
1. Accessing the Cashflow Report
You can access the Cashflow report by going to Analysis > Report > Key Reports > Cashflow.
2. Cashflow Report Layout
The Cashflow Report has 3 main sections; the Cash Inflows of your Project, followed by the Cash Outflows with a bank reconciliation at the end.
If you're after a report layout that sections the cash movements into Operations, Financing, and Investing, the Funds Flow report may be more suitable for you.
3. Report Calculations
Castaway's Cashflow Report is calculated based on the element settings and the setup of your project. There are two components to this - the Actual Cashflow and the Cashflow Forecast.
- The Actual Cashflow is calculated from the movements of the elements in the Profit and Loss and the Balance Sheet. For example, if your Loan Payable Balance is $60,000 this month and $50,000 last month, Castaway will logically assume that the increase in the Loan Payable Balance is a cash injection of $10,000 and will report it as a Cash Inflow. If the balance reduces, it's considered a repayment to the Loan which is a Cash Outflow.
- The Cashflow Forecast is based on the element settings of your forecast. Every element has a Cashflow Setting block, which determines when your receipts or payments are due, which then creates your Cashflow Forecast.
If your Cashflow values are not as what you expect, you'll need to review those items in more detail.
Special Consideration
There are a few elements from your Actuals that have an additional setting for you to apply that will affect your Cashflow Report. One of which is your General Trade Debtors. You can learn more about the setting and how to apply it HERE.
For example, the calculation of your General Trade Debtors in your Cashflow is as follows:
Depending on where you are with your Project, the Opening General Trade Debtors can include your Actuals as well, determined by the setting applied as in the above link.
4. Common issue
We've received a fair number of questions regarding certain cash flow movements in the report that are unexpected in your Actual Cashflow. One of which is in regard to Non-Current Assets Sales or Non-Current Assets Purchases.
The element that drives this cash flow output is the Fixed Asset element, so you'll need to review the setup of your account to understand why these cash movements are generated.
As per Castaway's design, creating a Fixed Asset element will generate its partner elements - Accumulated Depreciation and Depreciation Expense. You'll need to ensure that the Actuals you import are being imported to the partner elements and not the element that you created yourself so that Castaway is able to recognize and connect the movements to the same fixed asset account.
If you create another Fixed Asset element for your Accumulated Deprecation like the one below, Castaway will take it as a separate Fixed Asset and will not be able to connect the Actual movements to the asset.
If the balance of the Fixed Asset and Accumulated Depreciation does not match the Depreciation Expense, Castaway calculates the difference and considers that as either an asset sale or purchase, giving rise to the unexpected value.
To remove the unwanted cash flow number, you'll need to review your element setup and the Actuals associated with it.
5. Conclusion
Castaway is designed to be quite logical, so if you have any concerns regarding the Cashflow report, you can almost always tie it back to your setup and to your element cashflow settings.
If you're unable to understand why the report is generating a specific value, please reach out to our Customer Success team for further guidance.
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