Saving Clients with Cash Flow Planning

Written by: Ken Yager, Founder & President, Newpoint Advisors Corporation

“What we have here… is a failure to communicate.” 
— Cool Hand Luke (1967) 

It’s a line that gets a laugh—until it doesn’t. For factoring professionals, that communication gap between lender and borrower is often where risk metastasizes. I have spent decades bridging that gap with one deceptively simple tool: the weekly cash flow model. 

The 13-week cash flow model isn’t just a forecasting tool. It’s a language. It’s a bridge. And it’s one of the most powerful ways to move a struggling client from chaotic decisions to coordinated action. When used correctly, a cash flow model does more than track dollars—it creates accountability, improves communication, and establishes trust. 

Unlike GAAP statements (which are backward-looking and often delayed), a 13-week model gives clients and funders a common framework for forecasting and measuring outcomes. It captures near-term liquidity risk. It translates business intuition into financial reality. It turns gut instincts into spreadsheets, and those spreadsheets into actionable communications. 

So, how do you introduce this tool in a way that clients will accept and adopt? It starts with listening. 

Why a Weekly Cash Flow Model Matters 

Factoring clients often don’t fail because they’re out of money. They fail because they don’t know where the money went—or how to explain where it’s going. Many don’t lack drive or hustle—they lack a shared language for financial reality. 

That’s where the weekly cash flow model comes in. 

The weekly cadence matters. A 10% variance (an important metric for tracking success) in operating cash flow caught in a week sets up course correction communications. The same variance, caught 45 days later in dated financials, is often delivered with just an apology. 

Diagnosing the Real Problem 

Before you introduce this planning model, you have to diagnose what kind of failure you’re dealing with. Here's a short list of common red flags we see in struggling clients: 

- Borrowers asking for short-term funds with no business justification 

- Loan requests not tied to working capital 

- Payments missed due to avoidable errors (like overpaying owners or buying equipment prematurely) 

- Borrowers constantly in NSF status, or stringing together merchant cash advances (MCAs) 

- Staff or inventory added under the belief that “more things, means more sales” 

Each of these behaviors is a signal. But beneath all of them lies one central theme: communication has failed. 

The Cash Flow Quiz: Start the Conversation 

You can use a “cash flow quiz” to spark the conversation with clients in a non-threatening way. These aren’t math problems—they’re mindset diagnostics. Here are a few sample questions we ask: 

- “Does it feel like your tools solve problems—or create more of them?” 

- “Are you called the founder and leader—or the boss who’s become the problem?” 

- “Is truth something you shape—or something built on evaporating trust?” 

These questions aren’t just clever—they’re revealing. They show us whether the client sees their business clearly. More importantly, they give the client space to reflect—without shame or jargon. 

Making the Case to the Client 

Once you’ve identified the communication breakdown, it’s time to introduce the tool. Not as a mandate, but as an opportunity. 

Here’s how we recommend positioning it: 

1. Point to the pattern of failure—not to accuse, but to reveal. 

2. Reframe the planning model as a bridge—not control, but shared understanding. 

3. Emphasize ownership—it’s their model, in their language. 

4. Position the model as empowerment—not surveillance. 

5. Reinforce timeliness and accountability—the faster they see what’s working, the faster they adapt and the more you can help them. 

Overcoming Objections 

Some clients bristle at the idea of outside help. Some see it as a cost. Others feel exposed. 

That’s why you need to emphasize: 

- It’s their model—they own the numbers. 

- It’s flexible—built around how they think. 

- It’s weekly—so it keeps pace with reality. 

- It’s trust-building—because when they can explain, they gain credibility. 

Why It Works for Factors Too 

For factoring professionals, the cash flow model is your universal translator. 

You get: 

- A reliable picture of cash needs and timing 

- Clearer conversations about risks, uses, and sources 

- Early warnings about future liquidity crises 

- A transparent tool for aligning your exposure with the client’s reality 

It also positions you as a proactive partner—not just a transactional lender. 

Who Should Lead It? 

I recommend that management own the model. But if they can’t—or won’t—outsource to a fractional CFO or turnaround advisor. Just don’t hand it off to a bookkeeper or a CPA expecting it to “fix” the problem. 

This is a management tool, not a paper-pushing exercise. 

How to Pay for It 

Yes, coaching costs money. But you’re already paying—for missed payments, broken trust, and emotional energy. Fund the first few weeks if necessary. Treat it like an investment in preserving your collateral and your future earnings. 

Strategy: Want vs. Need 

Ultimately, this is about assessing your pain. 

- Want: “We’d like fewer emergencies.” 

- Need: “We’re in contract default. We’ve seen fraud. MCAs are appearing. We’re sliding into liquidation.” 

If it’s just a “want,” frame the cash flow model as a performance tool. If it’s a “need,” it’s a condition of survival. 

Either way, it’s your best shot at flipping the script from firefighting to forward motion. 

Final Thoughts: Communication is the Strategy 

It is often said that cash flow models aren’t just about math—they’re about meaning. They bring clarity, accountability, and action to businesses that desperately need all three. 

The real win? You create a shared language between the funder and borrower. That’s where trust grows. And trust is the currency that really matters. 

“Failure to communicate is fatal to your portfolio.” 
Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

Here are three case studies to help you see the process. 

Trucker Lifts Burdens, Moves Forward 

Long standing Midwest transportation company had seen ups and down during COVID and was suffering from client lower volume combined with an old accounting standard that did not allow them to do proper route profitability.  Vehicle lease payments were months behind and now the leasing company was looking for resolution as the working capital lender wanted out after the company took on an MCA.   

A consultant prepared a 13-week flow model and provided introductions to potential alternative finance companies as possible solutions to moving credit from its existing asset-based lender.  Additionally, the consultant reviewed and commented on largest vendor's proposal for relief on trailer rental amounts due through an equipment financing arrangement. Ownership had very little capital but found a way to make payments that were meaningful to the situation after building confidence in the potential for new lenders.  

The client has a new factor, finalized equipment financing agreement, and saved jobs. A long-standing close relationship between the Client and its equipment lender provided a bridge to a solution that was outside of traditional market parameters. Good financier communication was key to success in this matter. 

Planting a Healing Solution 

A California-based wholesale nursery had several years of operating losses, a significantly over-levered balance sheet, years of payroll tax withholding non-payment, customer over-payment issues, and a loss of trust with its factor and inventory lender. The factor and inventory lender requested a cash flow model, liquidation analysis, and budget for a potential Article 9 UCC foreclosure transaction as a way forward. 

A consultant worked with the company and lenders to do a deep analysis of the growing stock inventory and business viability of the company and its cash flow. During the analysis, the cash flow coach used a 13-week cash flow to document several material issues with the company's financial reporting and commercial viability. 

Given the low anticipated recoveries in a liquidation scenario, the company's financiers chose to pursue an Article 9 UCC foreclosure transaction. Approximately 38 jobs were saved for the foreseeable future and the financiers planted the seeds for a better recovery. 

13-Week Cash Flow Softens Hard Choices 

Company imported water softeners and was running into issues due to a lack of cash management that got the company behind with vendors; also took out MCA loans and had a couple of lawsuits/issues with warranty's, UPS-shipping, and landlord  

A consultant developed a cash flow model with management and was asked to stay with the company to continue to coach. The consultant also advised company on discounted settlements and workouts based on the cash flow tool  

By implementing a custom cash flow model, discounted settlements, and coaching with the 13-week cash flow model, enabled business recovery. The company regained profitability, resolved key issues, and achieved a period of financial stability and growth and continued operating through the pandemic. 

About Ken Yager

Ken Yager is the founder and President of Newpoint Advisors and has 25 years of executive leadership experience in stakeholder communication. He has worked with clients in a variety of industries in over 150 engagements. Ken regularly takes on profit and loss and risk-management responsibility for cash-constrained companies in growth, leveraged-buyout and turnaround situations. He also has successfully worked on implementing hundreds of initiatives involving, operations and project management, team building, marketing, and sales and joint-venture management. He is a fierce advocate for capital preservation and saving jobs.

The views expressed in the Commercial Factor website are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the International Factoring Association.