This Week’s Cash Story
◇ Starting Cash
Operating checking — bank balance
⌚ Cash Runway
◫ Spendable Headroom
🔥 Weekly Burn Rate
↧ Lowest Projected
Σ 18-Wk Net Cash Flow
⌁ Weeks Below Floor
↓ Total 18-Wk Outflows
Cash Trajectory
Revenue Mix
18-week total, by source
Spend Simulator test a purchase or new hire against your 18-week cash position
Enter a dollar amount to see how the purchase would affect your cash position. Try a $90,000 office buildout, or a recurring $2,400/wk for a new senior hire.
Weekly Inflows vs Disbursements stacked by category
Retainer Revenue
Project Revenue
Other / Financing
Direct Project Costs
Operating Expenses
Debt Service
Top 5 Expense Categories 18-week totals, ranked by spend
Debt Schedule
| Loan / Obligation | Type | Outstanding Balance | 18-Wk Service | Implied Monthly | Status |
|---|
Weekly Cash Flow Detail
Meridian Studio (Sample) · 18-Week Cash Flow Dashboard · Felstow Bookkeeping & Consulting
Generated
The Question These Projections Answer
Meridian can win a $35K/month enterprise retainer starting Q4 — but it needs two senior hires now, ahead of the revenue. Does the cash math work, and is a line of credit needed to bridge the gap? Toggle the levers below to compare against simply staying with the current book of business.
Revenue
Hiring
Capital
Cost Discipline
◇ Starting Cash
Operating checking today
↧ Lowest Projected
⌚ Cash Runway
🏁 Ending Cash (12 mo)
Cash Trajectory — Next 12 Months
Ending balance by week. Your selected plan vs. staying with the current book.
Weekly Cash Components stacked inflows above zero, outflows below
Retainer Revenue
Project Revenue
Enterprise Retainer
Line of Credit In
Recurring Outflows
New Hire Cost
Line of Credit Service
Capital & Financing line of credit to bridge the hire-ahead gap
| Item | Amount | Timing | Notes |
|---|
Key Milestones
| Date | Milestone |
|---|
Model Assumptions
| Assumption | Value |
|---|
Meridian Studio (Sample) · Projections
Illustrative data only
The Locked Plan
The 18-week window runs Net −$10,850 — fixed payroll against lumpy project revenue. The fix isn’t cutting to the bone; it’s growing into the fixed cost. Win the enterprise retainer, staff it now, bridge the gap with a $150K line of credit, and hold costs. With the bridge in place, cash never dips below your starting line — lowest — — and grows to — in 12 months. Without the bridge, hiring ahead of the client pulls you to ~$107K (and through the floor with no cost discipline). Works only if all three legs hold: the client signs, the hires perform, and spend stays tight.
↧ Lowest Projected
🏁 Ending Cash (12 mo)
Locked plan trajectory
▲ Net Monthly Improvement
$12,400
Operating run-rate at full enterprise billing
☰ The Plan
12 steps
This month · Q3 · Q4 · Next year
This Month
- Close the enterprise retainer. Get the SOW signed at $35K/month, 12-month term, Net 30. Everything downstream depends on this signature. +$35,000/mo
- Open a $150K line of credit before you need it. Draw $150K in week 6 to bridge payroll until enterprise cash lands. ~$1,500/wk service
- Make the two senior hires (account director + senior designer). Start them now so they’re ramped before Q4 delivery. +$4,600/wk
- Tighten discretionary spend — pause non-essential software, scale back travel, defer the office buildout. +$2,500/wk
Q3 (Jul – Sep)
- Onboard and ramp the new hires on existing accounts first, so they’re productive before the enterprise work begins.
- Pull project receivables forward. Offer a small early-pay discount to smooth the late-July trough — the tightest point in the year.
- Stand up enterprise delivery — scope, staffing plan, and kickoff so Q4 billing starts on time.
Q4 (Oct – Dec)
- Enterprise billing begins. Revenue ramps to the full $35K/month run-rate over the quarter.
- First enterprise cash arrives (Net 30 on the first deliverables). This is the week the whole plan has been building toward.
- Begin repaying the line of credit once enterprise cash is reliably flowing — target a zero balance within the year.
Next Year
- Line of credit repaid, cash building. Revisit owner distributions and the deferred office buildout from a position of strength.
- Lock in a second enterprise account using the proven delivery model — now you have the team and the playbook.
Net Monthly Cash Impact
| Lever | $/mo |
|---|---|
| Enterprise retainer (full run-rate) | $35,000 |
| Cost discipline (tighten) | $10,833 |
| Gross monthly improvement | $45,833 |
| Less: two senior hires | −$19,933 |
| Less: enterprise delivery costs | −$7,000 |
| Less: line of credit service | −$6,500 |
| Net monthly improvement | $12,400 |
If Any of These Skip
| Scenario | Impact |
|---|---|
| Client doesn’t sign | Carrying new payroll for nothing |
| Skip the line of credit | Breaches the floor in the trough |
| Hire phased instead of now | Team not ramped for Q4 delivery |
| Skip cost discipline | Trough deepens ~$30K |
| Client churns early | Back to drawdown + debt service |
Bottom Line
This is a growth squeeze, not a survival one. You borrow to staff ahead of a signed client, carry the two new salaries through the summer on the bridge, and come out the other side at a $12,400/month better operating run-rate — ending the year around —, versus bleeding toward your floor if you simply coast. If the client signature slips, pause the hiring and re-plan before drawing the line of credit — not after.
Meridian Studio (Sample) · Path to Positive Cash Flow
See the Projections tab → Enterprise Win + Hire Now + $150K + Tighten