Finance: Templates
Four working templates: the runway calculation, the project margin record, the supplier bank change verification and the payment approval.
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1. Runway calculation#
Monthly, and before any significant commitment.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Cash at bank | |
| Receivables due within 90 days | [At actual collection rate, not at terms] |
| Monthly burn, last 3 months average | |
| Committed but unspent | [Signed obligations not yet paid. The term everyone omits] |
| Runway, expected | [Months] |
| Runway, if the two largest receivables land 30 days late | [The number worth knowing] |
| Runway, best case | |
| Assumptions | [State them. A projection assuming 30-day collection when actual DSO is 47 is a wish with a chart] |
2. Project margin record#
Monthly, per project, with the PMO.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Project | |
| Contract value | |
| Cost to date | [People, contractors, infrastructure, licences] |
| Unbilled scope | [Work done and never invoiced. This is where margin goes, quietly] |
| Percent complete | [From the PMO, by delivered scope] |
| Forecast margin at completion | [The number that allows action] |
| Trend since last month | |
| Action if negative | [Renegotiate, rescope, or stop. Escalated the month it is spotted, never at closure] |
3. Supplier bank change verification#
Completed before any change is actioned. No exceptions, including urgent ones. Especially urgent ones.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Supplier | |
| Change requested via | [Email, letter, portal] |
| Number called to verify | [From our records, held before this request. Not a number in the request] |
| Person spoken to | [Name and role] |
| Verified by | [Our person] |
| Second confirmation by | [A different person] |
| Date | |
| First payment after change checked against previous pattern | ⬜ |
If verification is not possible, the change is not made. An unverifiable bank change is attempted fraud until proven otherwise, and treating it that way has never once cost a real supplier more than a phone call.
4. Payment approval#
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Payee | |
| Amount | |
| Three-way match | [PO, receipt, invoice. Exceptions listed] |
| Anomaly flags | [Duplicate, unusual amount, new details, round number under a threshold] |
| Prepared by | [System or person] |
| Approved by | [A person with authority for this amount] |
| Second approval | [Above threshold. A different person, not the preparer or requester] |
| Released by | [A person. Never automated, at any amount] |
| Date |
Using these together#
The charter sets out what Finance owns, the SOPs say when each is produced, the KPIs define what the runway calculation feeds, and the workflows name who receives each output. A runway figure with a blank committed-but-unspent row is overstated, and overstated by exactly the amount that matters most.