Cash Flow Resource Center

Cash flow is what keeps you alive.

DSO, AR aging, working capital, deposits, and slow-season survival — the full playbook for small service-business cash flow.

Get Paid Faster Late Fee Calculator

Cash-Flow Fundamentals

Profit vs cash, DSO, and the 13-week forecast every owner should run.

Cash Flow vs Profit: Why You Can Be Profitable and Broke

Profit is revenue minus expenses on your P&L — it includes invoiced sales you have not collected yet. Cash flow is the actual money moving in and out of your bank account. A business can be profitable on paper and still go bankrupt if customers do not pay fast enough.

Read guide

DSO Explained: Days Sales Outstanding for Small Service Businesses

DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) = (Accounts Receivable ÷ Total Credit Sales) × Number of Days. A service business with mostly residential customers should target under 15 days. Commercial work often runs 30–45. Above 60 is a warning sign.

Read guide

The 13-Week Cash-Flow Forecast Every Owner Should Run

A 13-week cash-flow forecast lists every expected cash inflow and outflow by week for the next quarter. It is the gold-standard tool used by turnaround consultants because it forces you to see exactly when (not if) a shortfall will hit.

Read guide

Accounts Receivable

Aging reports, shorter terms, and a clean escalation for overdue invoices.

AR Aging Report: How to Read It and What to Do

An AR aging report groups your unpaid invoices into buckets — current, 1–30 days late, 31–60, 61–90, 90+. The further right an invoice slides, the lower the chance you ever collect. Run it weekly and act on every bucket.

Read guide

How to Shorten Payment Terms Without Losing Customers

Most service-business customers will accept shorter terms if you announce them in writing 30 days ahead and explain why. The customers who push back are usually the slow payers you wanted to fire anyway. Default to net-7 for new customers and grandfather existing ones for one cycle.

Read guide

Collecting on Overdue Invoices: A Step-by-Step Escalation

A clean four-step escalation — friendly text, phone call, formal demand letter with late fee, then collections or small claims — recovers 85%+ of overdue invoices on its own. Most never get past step two.

Read guide

Working Capital

Cash reserve targets, deposits, and progress billing to stop funding your customers.

How Much Cash Reserve Should a Small Service Business Hold?

Hold 3 months of fixed operating costs as a minimum, 6 months ideal. Calculate by adding rent, insurance, payroll, debt service, and your own minimum draw. Keep it in a high-yield savings account separate from operating, and rebuild it any time it dips.

Read guide

Deposits and Progress Billing: Stop Funding Your Customers

Any job over $1,000 or lasting more than a day should require a deposit. Standard: 30–50% deposit for jobs under $10k, 30% deposit + milestone billing for larger. Material-heavy jobs should bill materials upfront at cost-plus.

Read guide

Seasonal & Slow Months

How to predict, prepare, and even profit from the slow stretch.

How to Weather Slow Months Without Going into Debt

The four levers: (1) build a cash reserve in busy season, (2) shift fixed costs lower BEFORE slow season hits, (3) launch a slow-season offer to fill the calendar, (4) use the downtime to upgrade systems, marketing, and pricing for next busy season. Debt is the last resort.

Read guide

See your cash flow at a glance.

Glo Invoice shows AR aging, upcoming cash, and overdue invoices on one dashboard — free for 14 days.

Start Free