Profit looks good. Cash flow tells the real story.

Profit is an opinion about a period. Cash is a fact about a day. Businesses close on the second one.

A contractor can finish a profitable job in June, pay staff and materials in June, and only receive payment in August. On paper: a good month. In practice: two months of funding someone else's project.

The mismatch is structural. Wages are weekly or monthly, rent is monthly, stock is upfront — but customer payments arrive on their terms, not yours.

Most owners only see the gap when a debit order bounces, which is the most expensive moment to discover it.

Seeing the gap two weeks early gives you options: chase a specific invoice, delay a stock order, ask a supplier for terms, or draw on a facility deliberately instead of accidentally.

Seeing it on the day gives you one option, and it usually costs money.

Profyn's banking and cash flow view combines cash on hand, expected receipts from open invoices, and committed outgoings such as salaries, recurring expenses and supplier bills.

Because invoices carry due dates and payments are matched to them, expected inflow is based on real documents rather than optimism.