We all have cash come in (hopefully) and cash go out. At the end of the day, the accrual system shows us what assets we have and what liabilities we owe, but not our cash position. That is what the statement of cash flow is for.
Anytime you use cash, write a check, or use your debit card (not credit), cash changes hands. The following template helps you sort out the details of where your cash is going and what the net change is.
The goal here is to minimize cash outflow from operations (living expenses). You also want to see the final “Total Cash Flow” be positive.
I have saved this as a Google Spreadsheet that anyone can access. Feel free to copy it to your own spreadsheet or into Excel on your PC. The only cells that you need to fill in are the grey ones. Everything else is automatic.
Make sure to put cash in as a positive number and cash out as a negative number.
You should now have a Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flow. Soon we can find out what we are really worth using financial valuations.
