Cash flow statement template: Examples, format, and how to build one

A cash flow statement template gives you a repeatable, structured way to track where money enters and leaves your business, turning financial uncertainty into confident decisions. Cash flow sits at the heart of every business decision, from paying bills to making strategic investments, and a reusable template helps you stay on top of it without starting from scratch each period.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to build a cash flow statement in 5 steps, understand the 3 core sections that organize your money movement, and discover how teams use monday.com to turn static templates into live, shared financial dashboards. You’ll also see examples across business sizes and explore how the right tools transform monthly reporting into proactive cash flow management.

Key takeaways

• A cash flow statement template organizes money in and money out across operating, investing, and financing activities so you can calculate net cash flow quickly.
• Cash flow statements follow a 3-section format, and you can build one in 5 steps from starting balance to ending balance.
• The direct and indirect methods both reach the same result, so your choice depends on the detail you have and the effort you want to spend.
• Reusing one template across periods doubles as a cash flow analysis tool, helping you spot trends before they become problems.
• On monday AI Workspace, dashboards, formulas, and automations turn a static statement into a live, shared view of your financial health.

What is a cash flow statement template

A cash flow template is a document that helps you create a “statement of cash flows,” also called the cash flow statement. It’s one of the 4 key financial statements and details how much cash came into and went out of your business over a specific period of time.

Cash that comes in is called cash receipts, and cash that goes out is called cash disbursements. Subtracting your outflows from your inflows tells you your net cash flow. A cash flow statement template includes critical information in a reusable document, which makes it much easier to create and share cash flow statements every reporting period.

3 main sections of a cash flow statement

Every cash flow statement follows a 3-section format: operating, financing, and investing activities. Operating activities cover the day-to-day, investing activities cover long-term assets, and financing activities cover how you fund the business. Reading them together shows you not just how much cash you have, but where it’s coming from and why.

The table below breaks down what each section captures and gives a concrete example line item, so you can see how a real statement of cash flow takes shape.

Operating activities usually carry the most weight, because they show whether the business can sustain itself without outside help. A healthy company tends to generate positive cash from operations, even when investing and financing swing negative in a given period.

Investing activities often look negative for growing businesses, and that’s expected. When you buy equipment or acquire another company, cash leaves the business now in exchange for value later, so a negative investing number can be a sign of investment rather than trouble.

Financing activities round out the picture by showing how you’re funding everything. Taking on a loan brings cash in, while repaying debt or paying dividends sends it back out, and tracking this section helps you see how dependent the business is on external capital.

Why use a cash flow statement template

A cash flow statement tells you how much cash you have on hand and what’s causing cash to flow in and out of your business for a time period. This is important under the accrual method of accounting, where your revenues and cash flows aren’t equal. Given the importance of the cash flow statement, you want to make sure it’s consistent and organized each time.

Here are a few more reasons to start using a template to document your cash flow.

Save time with premade sections

With a template, you don’t have to remake sections or set up formulas each time. Just plug your numbers into the right spots to generate a brand new cash flow statement.

Keep it accurate and professional

Plus, a cash flow statement template will make this financial statement accurate and professional each time. This goes a long way in helping you secure financing from lenders and investors. Using a consistent template also makes it easier to identify mistakes when they occur.

Templates also offer standardization. The statement will look the same every time, so everyone in your organization can learn what your statements look like.

Lay the foundation for smarter investment planning

The template will make your business investment planning a breeze, too. You can use your template to project various cash flow scenarios, such as the cash returns a project could generate, simply by dropping numbers into the correct spots on your template.

A reusable template also doubles as an ongoing cash flow analysis tool. When you fill in the same structure period after period, you build a running record you can compare side by side, which makes it easy to spot trends like a slow decline in operating cash or a seasonal dip before it turns into a shortfall. That turns a one-time report into a way to watch the health of your business over time and act while you still have options.

Here are a few more reasons to start using a template to document your cash flow.

Save time with premade sections

With a template, you don’t have to remake sections or set up formulas each time. Just plug your numbers into the right spots to generate a brand new cash flow statement.

Keep it accurate and professional

Plus, a cash flow statement template will make this financial statement accurate and professional each time. This goes a long way in helping you secure financing from lenders and investors. Using a consistent template also makes it easier to identify mistakes when they occur.

Templates also offer standardization. The statement will look the same every time, so everyone in your organization can learn what your statements look like.

Lay the foundation for smarter investment planning

The template will make your business investment planning a breeze, too. You can use your template to project various cash flow scenarios, such as the cash returns a project could generate, simply by dropping numbers into the correct spots on your template.

A reusable template also doubles as an ongoing cash flow analysis tool. When you fill in the same structure period after period, you build a running record you can compare side by side, which makes it easy to spot trends like a slow decline in operating cash or a seasonal dip before it turns into a shortfall. That turns a one-time report into a way to watch the health of your business over time and act while you still have options.

How to create a cash flow statement in 5 steps

To do a cash flow statement step by step, you start with your opening cash balance, work through the 3 activity sections, and finish with your ending balance. Each step builds on the one before it, so the numbers flow in order rather than all at once. The 5 steps below walk through the full build, and a template or formulas can auto-total the subtotals as you go.

1. Determine the starting balance: Begin with the cash your business held at the start of the period. This figure comes straight from the ending balance of your previous statement, so your periods connect cleanly and nothing gets double-counted.
2. Calculate cash flow from operating activities: Add up the cash your core operations brought in, then subtract the cash they used, such as supplier payments, salaries, and rent. The result tells you whether daily operations are funding the business or draining it.
3. Calculate cash flow from investing activities: Total the cash spent on long-term assets like equipment or property, then subtract that from any cash you brought in by selling assets. A negative figure here often reflects growth investments rather than a problem.
4. Calculate cash flow from financing activities: Track cash from funding sources, including loans and owner contributions, then subtract repayments, dividends, and interest. This shows how much you’re leaning on outside capital during the period.
5. Determine the ending balance: Add your net cash flow from all 3 sections to the starting balance. The total is your ending cash position, and it becomes the starting balance for your next statement.

Once each section is subtotaled, you total the 3 subtotals to get your overall net cash flow, then apply it to your opening balance. If your net cash flow is positive, your ending balance grows; if it’s negative, your ending balance shrinks. Working the steps in this fixed order keeps the statement accurate and repeatable every period.

Direct vs. indirect method: Which to use

There are 2 accepted ways to build the operating activities section, and they differ only in how they get to the same operating cash flow figure. The direct method adds up actual cash receipts and payments, while the indirect method starts from net income and adjusts for non-cash items and changes in working capital.

Both are accepted under GAAP and IFRS, and both land on the identical result, so the choice comes down to the data you have and the effort you want to spend.

This table compares the 2 methods across how they work, who they suit, and the effort involved, so you can decide which fits your process.

Most companies choose the indirect method because it connects directly to the accrual books they already maintain, which makes it faster to prepare. The direct method gives a clearer view of exactly where cash came from and went, so some owners prefer it for internal planning even when they report using the indirect approach.

Whichever you pick, the operating cash flow total stays the same, and only the operating section changes; the investing and financing sections look identical under both methods.

Cash flow statement template examples for different business needs

Now that we’ve covered the benefits of using one, let’s explore a few different examples of cash flow statement templates.

Simple cash flow statement template

This is a simple cash flow statement template. It cuts out the detailed subcategories in favor of listing only the totals for operating, investing, and financing activities.

A business might use this simplified cash flow statement template to create one on the fly to highlight some numbers in-house. They may only need a high-level view of their cash flows, and a simple, neat template like this one would serve their needs without overcomplicating things.

Small business cash flow statement template

Here is a standard cash flow statement template for small businesses. It details the subcategories of cash flows within operating, investing, and financing activities.

Large enterprise cash flow statement template

Large organizations typically use more detailed cash flow statements that include many line items within operating, investing, and financing activities. These statements often compare multiple years of financial data to help finance teams identify trends, monitor performance, and meet reporting requirements.

This cash flow statement example, adapted from Kimberly-Clark’s annual financial reporting, shows how a large enterprise organizes its cash flows across three reporting periods. Like many public companies, it also uses parentheses to indicate negative amounts, a standard accounting convention.

Quarterly cash flow statement template

Cash flow statements can be generated for quarterly results, too. Creating quarterly cash flow reports helps you stay closer to how money moves in and out of your business, enabling you to make course corrections as needed.

Unlike most annual cash flow statements, this quarterly cash flow statement template splits things up by month and quarter. This template is designed for small businesses, so it doesn’t split up cash flows into operating, investing, and financing activities. Instead, most of its cash flows are operating cash flows, and you can add formulas to total each month automatically.

3 financial templates that work alongside a cash flow statement

A cash flow statement works best alongside the other documents that describe your finances. These related templates from monday.com help you map your full financial picture and plan what comes next, and each one stays customizable so you can shape it to your business.

1. Financial statement template

The cash flow statement is just one of the 3 main financial statements. An income statement shows your company’s financial performance, a balance sheet summarizes your assets and liabilities, and the statement of retained earnings helps you see how much money you’re leaving in the company.

Regardless of which statement you want to map out, this financial statement template is highly customizable, making it easy to create these financial statements with just one template.

Plus, you can add notifications and assign multiple people so relevant teams, such as accounting, can get their tasks done on time. Then you can export your finished financial statements to Excel if you’d like. monday.com’s collaboration features also make it easy to share your statements with anyone who needs them.

2. Pro forma template

Generating your financial statements gives you a good idea of where you stand. From there, it’s time to project potential future cash flow and financial performance with a pro forma template.

On monday.com, you can arrange your pro forma template for all financial statements in whatever way fits your needs. With formulas, you can quickly calculate various financial ratios to analyze future performance in specific situations. It’s also easy to generate different versions of the same pro forma statement, helping you compare scenarios side-by-side.

3. Startup budget template

Startups lean heavily on financial statements to persuade investors to put money into the company. But you’ll also need a budget alongside your financial statements. This startup budget template is a great place to start.

Like all of monday.com’s financial templates, the startup budget template offers full customization, letting you pick and arrange your budgetary categories as you see fit.

How to manage cash flow on monday AI Workspace

Stock cash flow statement templates may require heavy or cumbersome modification to work with your organization, and others might be too rigid or impose limitations that impede your workflows.

With the monday AI Workspace, you get a balance of customizability and intuitive ease of use, so you can build a statement once and keep it live. Instead of a document you revisit at month-end, your cash flow data becomes a shared, always-current view that the people who need it can act on.

Here’s how the platform’s capabilities apply to cash flow work, grounded in what each one does:

• Dashboards: Build no-code, real-time dashboards that pull budget, goals, and resource data into one place with drag-and-drop widgets, numeric goal tracking, and AI-generated summaries. They give you a single source of truth for cash inflows and outflows across boards, so you see your financial health at a glance rather than stitching spreadsheets together.
• Formulas and Excel import: Add formulas and monday.com will auto-calculate net cash flow for you every time. If you’re shifting from Excel, you can import your existing cash flow sheet straight onto monday.com, so nothing gets rebuilt from scratch, and 200+ integrations with tools like Gmail and Slack keep the surrounding work connected.
• Automations: Set up no-code recipes for approval notifications and date reminders so monthly and quarterly statement reviews never slip. The automations handle the repetitive follow-ups, which keeps your reporting cadence on schedule without manual chasing.
• monday vibe: Describe a need in plain language and build a custom finance app in minutes, such as a cash flow tracker, a sales forecasting app, or an executive overview, all on enterprise-grade infrastructure. It lets you shape a tool around how your business actually handles money rather than bending your process to fit rigid software.
• monday agents: The Org Health Agent spots revenue risks and cost leaks, and a Risk Analyzer flags issues early. Together they turn a static statement into proactive analysis, surfacing concerns while you still have time to respond.
• monday MCP: Connect AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT to securely read a finance board and answer questions or run analyses, all within your existing permissions. Your team can ask plain-language questions about the numbers without exposing data outside the controls you already set.

The table below shows how these capabilities compare to the 2 most common alternatives, so you can weigh the tradeoffs honestly.

Connect all your financial statements and budget boards into one unified accounting workflow, and your cash flow statement stops being a monthly chore and starts being a decision-making tool your whole team can rely on.

Turning cash flow data into confident decisions

A cash flow statement template gives you the structure to see your money clearly, but its real value shows up when the data stays current and shared. Understanding the format, the 3 activity sections, and the 2 methods turns a required report into something you actually use to plan.

When that same information lives on monday.com, it moves from a static snapshot to a live view your team can act on. You go from recording what already happened to spotting what’s coming, which is where cash flow work shifts from bookkeeping to strategy.