What good cash control looks like (and how to emulate it)

Many small to medium business owners believe they have good cash control, until an unexpected expense, delayed payment or supply chain disruption reveals otherwise. 

Effective cash control is essential for SMEs to gain resilience while pushing growth. But how do you know if your current approach to managing cash is good or just ‘good enough’?  

Let's break down what good cash control looks like in action, the red flags that signal gaps, and what you can do to strengthen your processes. 

Challenges to good cash flow 

Many businesses believe they have effective cash control simply because they know what’s coming, like payroll dates, supplier invoices or deals in the pipeline. Wages are being paid, BAS obligations are met, and their bank account hasn’t been overdrawn.  

However, real cash control comes down to whether those known and expected movements are being recorded, tracked and updated in a central system. Cash control comes from building confidence and predictability in your financial processes. 

Here are some of the most common challenges that undermine cash flow control: 

1. Overlooked or untracked obligations – Cash shortfalls often come from overlooked obligations, like super or BAS payments, rather than surprise costs. 
2. Forecasting based on assumptions, not likelihood – Relying on all deals closing or payments arriving on time inflates expectations and skews planning. 
3. Lack of time, structure, or systems – Cash flow often lives in the business owner’s head. Without proper systems, oversight becomes inconsistent. 
4. Reporting delays – Monthly reports are too slow in a fast-moving environment. By the time they’re reviewed, they’re already stale. 
5. Manual processes and siloed departments – When finance, sales and purchasing aren’t integrated, key changes, like delayed payments, go unnoticed until it’s too late. 

The result is a cash position that’s managed reactively, not strategically. 

What good cash flow looks like in practice

First, you need to move beyond balancing inflows and outflows. Strong cash flow requires a combination of clear visibility, forward planning and embedded financial discipline.  

Here’s what it looks like in a well-managed business: 

1. Real-time visibility – The business maintains an up-to-date view of its cash position, including what’s available, what’s committed, and what’s expected, captured and tracked in a central system. 
2. Purposeful cash reserves – A dedicated buffer is set aside for unexpected costs, separate from operating funds, with surplus cash strategically reinvested when appropriate. 
3. Proactive issue detection – The business is equipped to identify early indicators, such as changes in payment behaviour or margin pressure, before they impact cash flow. 
4. Reliable forecasting methods – Cash flow forecasts are dynamic, based on live data and adjusted for the likelihood of deals closing, offering a realistic outlook rather than optimistic assumptions. 
5. Automated processes – Key financial processes are automated and consistent, reducing manual effort and minimising the risk of oversight. 

Strategies to improve your cash position  

Strong cash control doesn’t happen by accident. It’s achieved with structure, good habits and the right systems to keep you a step ahead. Businesses that manage cash well run a tight process and take cash flow seriously before it becomes an issue. 

If you're looking to tighten up your approach, here are a few practical strategies worth considering: 

• Use ERP systems like SAP Business One to centralise operations and cash data. 

• Segment customers and suppliers by payment reliability and profitability (e.g. A-B-C rankings). 

• Forecast cash flow daily or weekly, not monthly. 

• Embed financial discipline into team routines rather than reacting when things go wrong. 

• Shift surplus cash into buffer accounts and reinvest excess beyond the buffer into business growth. 

• When costs rise or revenue slows – pivot. Learn to see what’s happening before it hits the bottom line. 

Visibility, predictability and efficiency: The power of digital tools 

Cash control is a whole-of-business priority, not a finance-only matter. When you can see what’s happening with your cash, you can make decisions earlier, adjust faster and run with more confidence. 

Visibility means knowing your position in real-time, including what’s in the bank, what’s coming, what’s committed and what’s at risk. 

Predictability means you’re not relying on guesswork. You can plan with confidence because your numbers are based on up-to-date data. 

Efficiency means your team isn’t wasting hours pulling reports or manually reconciling numbers. You’ve got systems doing the heavy lifting. 

That’s where a solution like SAP Business One makes a real impact.   

SAP Business One brings all your financial and operational data into one place, giving you real-time visibility of your cash position, including what’s available, what’s coming in and what’s due.  

Forecasting tools draw from live sales and purchasing data, so your forward planning reflects what’s actually happening, not what you hoped would happen.  

Built-in analytics help you spot issues early, such as margin pressure or delayed payments, before they affect your bottom line. With full integration across finance, CRM, sales and inventory, every part of the business is working from the same information. 

The result is less time spent crunching spreadsheets and more time making strategic decisions that grow your business. 

Strengthen your cash flow with SAP Business One’s integrated solutions 

You don’t need to wait for a crisis to start improving your cash control. In fact, you shouldn't. 

At Key Business Solutions, we work with SMEs to simplify and strengthen their financial operations. We help you put the right systems in place so cash flow becomes clear, predictable and easier to manage.  

Ready to unlock new possibilities in cash control for your business? Speak to our team about how SAP Business One can support smarter, stronger financial management.