What Your PE Sponsor Actually Wants to See in a Cash Report

If you're a CFO reporting to a private equity sponsor, you already know the dynamic. Your sponsor has a portfolio of companies. They've seen every kind of cash flow surprise — the ones that were flagged early and managed, and the ones that showed up unannounced. They have a strong preference for the first kind.

They want weekly, not monthly

Monthly cash reporting is fine for the P&L. For cash, it's too slow. A 13-week cash flow forecast with weekly granularity gives your sponsor the resolution they need to spot issues early. If week six shows a potential shortfall, there's time to act.

They want scenarios, not just your best guess

A single-point forecast tells your sponsor what you think will happen. Three scenarios tell them you've thought about what could go wrong. The downside case is the one they'll spend the most time on.

Present Base, Upside, and Downside with clearly stated assumptions. The assumptions matter more than the numbers — they show your sponsor that you understand the drivers of your business.

They want actuals vs. forecast, every week

Nothing builds credibility faster than a track record of forecast accuracy. When your sponsor sees you were consistently within 5-10% of actuals over six months, they trust your numbers. And trust buys you flexibility when you need it.

Conversely, nothing erodes credibility faster than a forecast that consistently misses in the same direction. Track your variances. Explain the misses. Show the trend.

They want to understand your receivables

For most businesses, accounts receivable is the biggest variable in the cash forecast. Your sponsor wants to know who owes you money, how much, how long it's been outstanding, and how confident you are that it's coming in.

An AR aging report gets you part of the way there. A collection forecast that projects when receivables will convert to cash — based on actual payment behavior, not contractual terms — gets you the rest of the way.