GenerateRandomSearch

Cash Flow Scenario Generator

A business that ends the year with money in the bank can still run out in month seven, and a summary that only shows the closing balance will never tell you. This generates a month-by-month run from an average income, an average spend and a variability setting, carries the balance forward properly, and names the lowest point — because the trough, not the closing figure, is the number that determines how much funding a plan actually needs.

What this generator does

Draws each month's income and spend around your averages within the variability you set, carries the balance forward month by month, and reports the closing balance, the lowest balance and the month it occurs in. Every balance is re-added from the movements before it is shown.

How to use this tool

  1. Set the opening balance and how many months to project.
  2. Enter typical monthly income and spend.
  3. Raise the variability to see how far a lumpy month can swing the balance.
  4. Look at the lowest balance and the month it happens — not just the closing figure.

Understanding the controls

Opening balance
What is in the account before month one. Lower it to see how quickly a thin buffer turns a normal month into a problem.
Months
Between 3 and 36. Longer runs make it likelier that a bad month lands somewhere awkward.
Typical monthly income
The average that each month varies around, not a guaranteed figure.
Typical monthly spend
The average outgoing. Setting it close to income is where the interesting scenarios live.
Variability
How far either way a month may swing, as a percentage. At zero every month is identical and the run is a straight line.

Common use cases

  • Practising cash-flow forecasting with a realistic-looking run
  • Teaching why the closing balance hides the trough
  • Producing sample data to test a spreadsheet or dashboard
  • Showing how variability alone can push a viable plan negative
  • Sizing an overdraft or buffer against the worst month rather than the last one

How this generator works

Each month's income and spend are drawn independently within the variability band around your averages, so a good month for income can land on a bad month for spend. The balance is a genuine running total: each month's closing balance is the previous one plus that month's net movement, never recomputed from the averages. Before display the whole run is re-added from the opening balance and checked against the stated closing figure, and the reported trough is confirmed to be a month that actually appears in the table.

Randomness and fairness

Uses your browser's cryptographic random source by default. A seed switches to a reproducible sequence so the same scenario can be shared or re-examined — that seeded mode is deterministic and is not cryptographically secure.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

  • Months are drawn independently, so this shows no seasonality, trend or growth — a real business rarely has months that ignore each other.
  • There is no payment timing: money is treated as arriving in the month it belongs to, not 60 days later, which is where much real cash-flow pain comes from.
  • Nothing here models credit, interest or an overdraft; a negative balance is simply shown as negative.
  • These are illustrative scenarios for planning and teaching, not a forecast of your business and not financial advice.

Privacy and your data

The projection runs entirely in your browser. Your figures are never sent anywhere, stored, or included in analytics.

Related generators