Finance Intermediate 17 min

Owner finance — cash flow, expenses and the questions to ask your CA

The problem

Your P&L shows a profitable quarter. Your bank balance has fallen. You do not know why, and the explanation involves inventory build-up, a lengthening receivables cycle and an advance to a supplier — none of which appears in the P&L.

The workflow
1Build the 13-week grid
2Populate known items
3Estimate the rest
4Update weekly
5Cluster expenses quarterly
6Compute the cycle
7Formulate CA questions
Act

What you need

Kitchenware D2C, ₹1.4 crore. Opening balance ₹6,80,000.

The tool

Excel or Sheets, updated weekly

The prompt

Subscribers. The full prompt is part of the SMEMinds AI Playbook. See plans.

What comes back

2. THE LOWEST POINT — week 8, closing balance ₹1,40,000.

Verify before you use it

Human review required. Check every line below before this leaves your screen.
  • The distributor's 60-day behaviour is the key input. Check the last four payments and use the actual average, not the agreed terms.
  • Verify the inventory order timing is genuinely fixed. Splitting it is the cheapest of the four options and should be tested with the supplier first.
  • The 67-day working capital cycle deserves a separate conversation. It is the structural issue behind the weekly symptom.
  • Send the two CA questions as written. They are precise, which is why they will get a precise answer.