Sales are growing but cash is falling: what to review

Sales exist, but the supplier payment is due before customer money arrives. Review inflow and outflow dates, not sales totals alone.

Build a weekly cash forecast with your accountant. Separate confirmed receipts from expectations and speak with suppliers early if a gap appears. More credit sales may widen the gap rather than solve it. Review the calculation with your accountant this week.

Recorded sales are not available cash

Review supplier payment dates, courier remittances and inventory movements. Sales can look good while collections lag, or stock purchases can outpace turnover. Separate the profitability calculation from the liquidity schedule: they answer different questions.

A practical step to try

Build a weekly cash-in/cash-out schedule and compare confirmed commitments with expected collections. Review ageing receivables and slow stock, and assign an owner to each follow-up. Update the forecast as conditions change.

Should you increase advertising spend?

Advertising may need payment before cash-on-delivery orders are collected. Tie spend planning to the cash cycle and ability to finance fulfilment. A high platform ROAS alone does not establish whether you can finance next week's orders.

Review checklist

• When does money arrive? Record who pays and when; separate confirmed from expected receipts.
• When does money leave? Date payroll, supplier payments and other commitments. Discuss gaps early.
• Where is money tied up? Slow stock, deposits and overdue customers require different actions.
• Review weekly: opening cash + collections − payments = forecast closing cash.

Read next

• Media Buying campaign management
• Increase average order value with useful cross-selling

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Prepared by the SNS team. Examples are educational, not a promise of results or a published client case.