When the bank balance will not cover the next day, replace guesswork with a short cash picture and clear decisions about immediate commitments.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
Tomorrow’s bills exceed available cash
A small civil contractor finishes the day with less cash than the bills due tomorrow. The owner expects a progress payment, but the customer has not confirmed release. Staff, fuel and supplier commitments cannot all be covered if it fails to arrive.
Start with cleared funds and any genuinely available facility, not the total value of invoices issued. Check pending debits and transactions that have not yet appeared. A customer saying an invoice is approved is different from money arriving in the account. Treat an unconfirmed receipt as uncertain and show its effect separately.
Write down each amount due, the recipient, why it is due and what happens if it is not paid. Include payroll obligations, rent, finance and automatic subscriptions rather than remembering them as calls arrive. Identify formal demands and legal documents for immediate specialist attention. Communication urgency is not the same as deciding who should receive payment first.
Pause discretionary purchases and commitments that have not yet been made. Check cancellation terms before stopping an existing order or contract. Keep the team informed about who can approve spending so that another purchase does not undo the plan. Do not take new customer deposits to fill the hole without checking whether the promised work can actually be delivered.
Contact affected parties before they have to chase. State the amount and date you can support, or say that the position is being assessed and give a time for the next update. Ask for a written response to any proposed arrangement. A promise made purely to end an uncomfortable call creates another failure point tomorrow.
A dated cash forecast shows whether the gap closes with a realistic receipt or simply moves to the following week. Business.gov.au identifies ongoing cash shortages as a warning sign of financial trouble. If debts cannot be met as they fall due, company directors should obtain prompt insolvency advice and avoid treating tomorrow’s scramble as an ordinary operating routine.
