Cash Forecaster for Mac OS X

An iOS (iPhone) version of Cash Forecaster is now available: Cash Forecaster App

The Cash Forecaster is an updated version of an earlier application from Object Craft. This version is simpler, faster and has an improved user interface. It doesn't implement some of the more complex forecasting types supported by the older application (eg, loan forecaster, discount forecaster, etc) though these don't appear to have been widely used. If you were using them and would like to see that functionality reinstated, please let us know.

Object Craft's Cash Forecaster is a simple application that forecasts your cash flow over a defined period. It is available through the Mac App store.

Our objective was to create an application that does something that we find very useful in the running of our business and personal finances.

Please contact us if you find errors or have suggestions for enhancements.

Installation

Use

To use the application, enter all your expected revenues and expenses, that is the amounts, their frequencies, start date, etc. To generate your cash flow forecast, click the 'Chart' tab, enter your current cash balance, start and end dates, and click the 'Show' button. I've been surprised how useful this simple application has been in our business.

Main Page

The main page has three tabs: 'Revenue/Expense', 'Calendar' and 'Chart'.

Revenue/Expense tab

Here you can see a list of all your individual revenues and expenses. Revenues appear as black in the table; expenses appear red. Some fields such as the amount and the description are directly editable by clicking on them. You can bring up a sheet to edit all the fields by clicking twice on the row.

Calendar tab

On the left hand side is a calendar - click on any date and you can see a summary of all the revenues and expenses for that date. You can drag out a range on the calendar which will list all the revenue/expenses that occur during that date range. Note that the date listed is not the date on which the expense occurred in that range, rather it's the starting date that the expense occurred on.

Chart tab

We enter the starting balance, begin and end dates for the forecast. Note that the starting balance is assumed to be the balance at the end of that day and that all expenses that occur on that date have been taken into account. The "Export to CSV" button is only enabled after the chart has been displayed. This can be particularly useful if you need to export the forecast into Excel for example. The csv file contains a table of each day's revenues and expenses for the period forecasted plus the final balance for each day.

License and Copyright

Thanks

CashForecaster uses the SM2DGraphView framework from Snowmint Creative Solutions LLC
Copyright 2002-2003 Snowmint Creative Solutions LLC.
http://www.snowmintcs.com/