StretchLearn Course

See Your Cash Crunch Coming Weeks Before It Hits

Build the 13-week and annual forecasts, read burn rate and runway, and close the gap before it becomes a missed payroll.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 40 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course takes a complete beginner from never having built a forecast to confidently projecting and managing the cash position of a real business. You will learn why a profitable company can still run out of money, build a 13-week short-term forecast using the direct method and an annual forecast using a driver-based approach, calculate burn rate and runway, and run best, base, and downside scenarios that reveal exactly when and how large a cash gap will be. Every module is built on worked examples with real numbers, named tools such as Float, Pulse, and Fathom, and the concrete moves an owner or finance lead uses to keep cash on hand: accelerating collections, stretching payables responsibly, sizing a line of credit, and managing a cash crunch step by step.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Explain why profit and cash differ and trace how the cash conversion cycle ties up money in a business

Build a rolling 13-week direct cash flow forecast from receipts and disbursements

Construct a driver-based annual cash flow forecast and link it to a starting cash balance

Calculate burn rate, runway, and the cash conversion cycle, and interpret them against real benchmarks

Run best, base, and downside scenarios to size and time a future cash gap

Close a forecast gap using receivables, payables, inventory, and financing levers, and manage a cash crunch

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Why Cash Is Not Profit: The Foundations

Understand why a profitable business can still run out of money, how the cash conversion cycle traps cash in operations, and why a separate cash forecast exists alongside the income statement.

3 lessons

The Difference Between Profit and CashContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

The Cash Conversion CycleContent · 50 min

LMS Access

The Three Statements and Where Cash LivesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Building the 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast

Construct the short-term forecast that treasury teams and turnaround specialists rely on: a rolling, week-by-week projection of every dollar in and out, built with the direct method.

3 lessons

Why 13 Weeks, and How the Direct Method WorksContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Populating Receipts and DisbursementsContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Rolling the Forecast and Tracking VarianceContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: The Annual Forecast, Burn Rate, and Scenarios

Move from the short-term to the strategic: build a driver-based annual cash forecast, measure burn rate and runway, and stress-test the plan with best, base, and downside scenarios.

3 lessons

Building a Driver-Based Annual ForecastContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Burn Rate and RunwayContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Scenario Planning and Stress TestingContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Closing the Gap and Managing the Crunch

Turn the forecast into action: pull the receivables, payables, inventory, and financing levers that close a cash gap, and run the step-by-step playbook for surviving a genuine cash crunch.

3 lessons

The Working Capital LeversContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Financing the GapContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Cash Crunch PlaybookContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

cash flow forecasting13-week cash flowworking capitalburn raterunwaycash conversion cyclescenario planningbusiness finance