How to Build a Cash Action Plan for Next 90 Days

Cash pressure isn’t theoretical — it’s an operational emergency. When collections slip, burn outpaces plan, or a board asks for runway, you need a concise, executable cash action plan for the next 90 days. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone — and it’s fixable with the right structure.

Summary: A focused 90-day cash action plan gives you clear priorities: shore up near-term liquidity, align stakeholders to realistic scenarios, and buy time to execute strategic fixes. Apply a short-cycle operating rhythm, targeted cost and collections actions, and one clean scenario model to move from reactivity to control within a quarter.

Primary keyword: cash action plan. Commercial intent variations: 90-day cash action plan for CFOs, cash action plan template for SaaS companies, virtual CFO cash action plan services.

What’s really going on?

When cash feels tight it’s rarely one single failure — it’s a combination of visibility, timing, and incentives. Finance teams are asked to do more with data that’s fragmented, managers act with different priorities, and the forecast is stale by the time leadership sees it.

• Symptom: Last-minute cash shortfalls and surprise overdrafts that force emergency conversations.
• Symptom: Collections and AR aging slipping while sales push revenue recognition forward.
• Symptom: Forecasts that miss the mark because they don’t reconcile to the bank or the A/R ledger.
• Symptom: Repeated manual rework month-to-month to produce board slides instead of answers.
• Symptom: Operational teams lack simple, cash-focused incentives (e.g., payment terms, milestone holdbacks).

Where leaders go wrong

Leaders often respond to cash stress with well-intended but unfocused actions. That creates noise and undercuts confidence.

• Overreaction: Cutting across-the-board without distinguishing fixed vs. discretionary spend; this can damage revenue-driving functions.
• Siloed fixes: Treasury, FP&A, and Sales run parallel playbooks that aren’t aligned to one scenario-driven plan.
• Tool confusion: Buying dashboards without simplifying inputs or owning a single source of truth.
• Timing mismatch: Strategy meetings quarterly, but cash demands weekly decisions.

Cost of waiting: Every week you delay a focused 90-day cash action plan increases the risk of forced, value-destructive choices.

A better FP&A approach

Finstory recommends a tight, practical framework you can deploy in days and iterate over the quarter. Keep it pragmatic — limited scenarios, clear owners, and measurable triggers.

1. Rapid diagnostic (days 1–5). What: Reconcile bank balance, committed outflows, and top 20 receivables. Why: You need a single cash truth to make decisions. How: Run a 7‑day rolling cash view and list cash-critical events (payroll, loan covenants, vendor deadlines).

2. One forward-looking 13-week cash model (days 3–10). What: A scenario-driven, weekly cash model aligned to the GL and AR. Why: Weekly granularity surfaces timing mismatches. How: Build three scenarios (base, downside, recovery) with explicit assumptions for collections, new bookings, and spend delays.

3. Targeted cash levers (days 5–30). What: Prioritized actions split across collections, payables, and spend. Why: Small, tested levers yield outsized near-term impact. How: Execute top 3 levers: accelerate collections (early payment discounts, milestone invoicing), extend payables (negotiated 30–45 day terms), and suspend non-essential discretionary spend.

4. Weekly operational rhythm (week 2 onward). What: A 30-minute cash huddle with finance, sales, and ops. Why: Rapid decisions beat monthly reviews. How: Review 13-week model, cash triggers, and assigned actions; escalate issues with one decision owner.

5. Close the loop and embed (weeks 6–12). What: Turn temporary levers into policy where appropriate. Why: Sustainable improvements require process change. How: Create simple KPIs (days sales outstanding, cash conversion lag) and embed into leadership scorecards.

Example: A mid-market B2B services company we advised moved from weekly cash surprises to a stable 13-week forecast within three weeks. Collections calls and two negotiated vendor extensions improved the 90-day runway by several weeks — enough time to close a strategic customer deal.

If you’d like a 20-minute walkthrough of how this could look for your business, talk to the Finstory team.

Quick implementation checklist

• Reconcile bank, cash ledger, and top 20 AR items within 72 hours.
• Stand up a 13-week weekly cash model with base and downside scenarios.
• List and prioritize top 6 cash levers; assign owners and deadlines.
• Implement a weekly 30-minute cash huddle with clear agenda and RACI.
• Negotiate short-term payment terms with top vendors and key customers.
• Launch a collections blitz for invoices >30 days with templated scripts.
• Pause or re-scope discretionary projects that don’t contribute to immediate cash.
• Define 3 cash KPIs and add them to the executive dashboard.
• Prepare a concise board note summarizing the 90‑day plan and runway impact.

What success looks like

Successful execution produces tangible control and optionality for the business:

• Improved forecast accuracy: weekly cash variance tightened to a small, predictable band (e.g., routine misses reduced to single-digit percent).
• Faster decision cycles: move from monthly firefights to weekly decisions, cutting emergency response time by half.
• Stronger board conversations: present a single 90‑day runway and scenario-ready asks instead of ad hoc escalation.
• Visible runway improvement: practical levers extend runway by several weeks, giving time to close strategic deals or secure financing.
• Operational discipline: collections and payables policies become repeatable, reducing future volatility.

Risks & how to manage them

Top objections are predictable — address them with pragmatic mitigations:

• Risk — Data quality: disparate systems produce inconsistent numbers. Mitigation: Reconcile bank to AR/GL first and treat the reconciled cash position as the single source of truth for decisions.
• Risk — Adoption: Sales or ops resist collections or payment term changes. Mitigation: Use short, targeted pilots with customer-friendly offers and align incentives (commissions, bonuses tied to cash outcomes).
• Risk — Bandwidth: Finance is already stretched. Mitigation: Apply a ‘triage and escalate’ model — focus finance bandwidth on the top 20 items and delegate routine follow-ups to trained ops or outsourced support.

Tools, data, and operating rhythm

Tools matter, but only as enablers. You need three core elements: a reconciled data layer (bank + AR + GL), a simple 13-week cash model, and a compact dashboard updated weekly. Common tools include spreadsheet-based rolling cash models, lightweight BI dashboards, and templated trackers for AR outreach.

Remember: the tool isn’t the strategy. Establish the weekly cadence first; then decide whether to automate with a platform. We’ve seen teams cut fire‑drill reporting by half once the right cadence and owner structure are in place.

FAQs

Q: How long does it take to see impact? A: You can stabilize near-term cash within 7–21 days; measurable runway improvements typically appear within the first 30–60 days as levers take effect.

Q: How much effort is required from finance? A: Initial setup is intensive (1–2 weeks). After that, weekly maintenance is lightweight if responsibilities and templates are in place.

Q: Should we build this internally or hire external help? A: If you lack bandwidth or recent crisis experience, an external virtual CFO can accelerate setup and coach the team — internal ownership is critical for sustainability.

Q: Will this hurt customer relationships? A: Not if you lead with options and empathy — early payment discounts, milestone invoicing, or staged delivery can preserve relationships while improving cash.

Next steps

Start by reconciling your true cash position and standing up a one-page 13-week model. Run one cash huddle per week for 30 minutes, and prioritize the top three levers that buy you runway. The improvements from one quarter of disciplined FP&A compound — better forecasts, calmer boards, and more strategic choices.

If you want help getting this right for your business, book a consult with Finstory to map a tailored 90-day cash action plan that fits your operations and constraints. The sooner you start, the faster you regain control.

Work with Finstory. If you want this done right—tailored to your operations—we’ll map the process, stand up the dashboards, and train your team. Let’s talk about your goals.

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