Sales are growing but cash is disappearing.

The business is growing and the profit and loss looks acceptable, yet cash keeps tightening. Inventory has grown faster than sales, terms have stretched, and promotional investment is showing up somewhere other than where it was budgeted.

Growth is consuming cash faster than it is generating it.

• Growth is funded from working capital without anyone modelling the cash cost of it.
• Gross margin is measured at an average, hiding loss-making products, channels and customers.
• Forecasting is built from ambition rather than from demand and lead times.
• Inventory decisions are made to protect service levels at any cost.
• The problem is treated as a finance issue when it is created in commercial and operations.

• What is the true cash conversion cycle, and how has it moved?
• What is real margin by product, channel and customer after all trade costs?
• Where is inventory actually sitting, and how much of it will sell in the next quarter?
• What does a thirteen-week cash forecast look like on current settings?
• What is the funding headroom, and what covenants apply?

• Build a thirteen-week cash forecast the business can run every week.
• Rebuild margin visibility by product, channel and customer.
• Act on price, range, promotional spend and cost of goods where the economics do not work.
• Reset inventory targets, replenishment and supplier terms.
• Establish the operating cadence that keeps cash on the management agenda.