# How many weeks of payroll does your cash cover? The 13-week view that answers it.

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/13-week-cash-flow-for-founders · Last updated 20 October 2026

The 13-week cash view is a forward look at cash, week by week, that founders keep inside Ivanka Menken's Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring and 1:1 Mentoring, priced at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST over six months. The founder fills it in, and it produces the first number on the monthly scorecard: weeks of payroll covered by cash in the bank. Ivanka reads it with the founder and asks the questions. It is not accounting or financial advice; your accountant does the accounts.

## When the bank balance is the only cash number you have

- I check the bank balance before every payroll
- I cannot say how many weeks of payroll are covered this week
- My accountant reports last quarter and I need the next one
- A slow-paying client surprises me every time
- I find out about a cash gap when it arrives.

## Seven columns, one row a week

Thirteen rows, filled in by you. Simple enough to keep up, specific enough to act on.

1. Week starting
2. Cash at the start of the week
3. Money expected in
4. Money going out, other than payroll
5. Payroll due
6. Cash at the end of the week
7. Weeks of payroll that the closing cash covers

## How it fits the fortnight

The view is yours. The sessions use it.

1. You update it: Once a week: last week's actual numbers in, one more week added at the far end.
2. The one thing: At the session, the week that looks tightest is often the one thing that matters this fortnight.
3. The story: Ivanka asks what you are assuming about the money coming in, and whether it is evidence or hope.
4. The commitment: One decision tied to that week: a price, a payment term, a hire or a delay, written down.

Once a month the closing figure becomes scorecard metric 1, weeks of payroll covered by cash, reviewed with Ivanka at month 3 and month 6.

## Questions about 13-Week Cash View

### What is the 13-week cash view?

The 13-week cash view is a simple forward look at cash, one row per week for the next thirteen weeks, that founders keep inside Ivanka Menken's mentoring. Each row shows cash at the start, money expected in, money going out, payroll and closing cash. The last column turns closing cash into weeks of payroll covered, the first number on the monthly scorecard.

### Why thirteen weeks?

Thirteen weeks is a quarter: long enough to see a cash gap coming, short enough to fill in honestly week by week. Ivanka Menken uses the 13-week cash view because it turns a vague worry about money into a specific week, and a specific week can be planned for. Further out, the numbers turn into guesses.

### Is this accounting or financial advice?

No. The 13-week cash view is your own forward look, filled in by you, and your accountant still does the accounts and gives any financial advice. Ivanka Menken reads the numbers with you and asks the questions that turn them into one decision each fortnight. If something needs professional advice, that is where it goes.

### Do I have to build the spreadsheet myself?

You fill it in yourself, because the point is that you know your own numbers. Ivanka Menken walks through the seven columns of the 13-week cash view with you, and you can keep it in whatever you already use: a spreadsheet, an export from your accounting software or a sheet of paper.

### Which programs include it?

The 13-week cash view is part of Ivanka Menken's Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring and 1:1 Mentoring, both AUD $1,500 a month ex GST for six months, with no extra fee. It is also useful to bring to the Growth-vs-Financials Clarity Intensive, a single 90-minute session, when the decision is whether to pause growth, hire now or stay the course.

### What does it change?

It moves the money conversation from the bank balance to the weeks ahead. With the 13-week cash view, Ivanka Menken and the founder can see which week looks tight before it arrives and choose one action for it: a price, a payment term, a hire or a delay. The aim is fewer surprises and a clearer head.

## Start

Email ivanka@ivankamenken.com and say which week in the next thirteen worries you most.

- Part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring: https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder
- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka