Solution

Cash & Liquidity Forecasting

Both during and after times of crisis, such as COVID 19, companies may find several reasons for having a clear and transparent picture of their liquidity situation. Among these reasons may be economically turbulent times requiring increased attention on liquidity, increased customer default risks as well as a high impact of currency fluctuations on company success.

Our application creates transparency through a rolling 13-week cash and liquidity forecast for single entities as well as whole groups. Expected cash movements are recorded decentrally by originating business units supported by modern technological features for efficient processing. The approach considers major positions with an impact on liquidity such as cash-ins from receivables as well as cash-outs from purchasing activities and operating costs, investments and financing. The result is a clear picture of the short-term liquidity situation, that allows to identify required measures at an early stage and to manage liquidity proactively.

A solution by KPMG Germany

The application is composed by intuitive, high-level dashboards accompanied by detailed cash and liquidity standard reports as well as a data entry section for capturing the required database.

Efforts to forecast major cash flow positions like customer receipts are minimized through the effective use of technology promoting automation and process efficiency. An example is the possibility to import and alter customer purchase orders and volumes from operating systems as a forecast basis. Different approaches for capturing expected cash-ins distinguishing substantial key accounts from other accounts can be applied to balance forecast effort and materiality. Adding information like customer payment terms and expected default risks further enhance the depth of forecasts and analysis.

Cyclically recurring cash-outs such as salaries and regular operating expense positions only need to be planned once as they can be rolled forward into the next forecasting period. Additionally, forecast process efficiency and transparency are supported through technological features like individual workflows and approval processes with clear responsibilities.

A set of standard reports covers major liquidity information needs with cash flow statements, time series analysis, covenants analysis and currency development reports. The possibility of self-service reporting allows to cover additional information requirements.

Intuitive dashboards help decision-makers to gain quick access to a group’s or an entity’s cash and liquidity situation through selected KPIs. Among these are the current liquidity, expected liquidity at the end of a 13-week forecast period, the spread between a period’s cash-ins and cash-outs as well as net liquidity coverage in case of total cash-in default.

Besides comprehensive standard functionalities the application can be configured to reflect an organization’s individual circumstances and information needs.