Source-led educational method. All example amounts are invented planning inputs, not offers, borrower data, lender rules or market estimates. No provider ranking.
Commercial status: There are no affiliate links in this edition. Providers did not pay for inclusion or approve this copy.
A repayment can fit the month's sales and still fail on collection day. This business finance cash-flow stress test turns settled receipts, operating commitments and financing collections into a small inspectable weekly model. Use it to identify the week that needs an answer before accepting finance.
The downloadable cases are synthetic. They are not customer outcomes, current offers, a market sample or an affordability assessment. All inputs are invented as at 20 October 2026; the public source checks explain financing structures without supplying the model's amounts or collection percentages.
Start with two distinct collection structures
Stripe's current US documentation distinguishes loans with periodic obligations from merchant cash advances based on purchased receivables. For its US loan example, sales withholdings can count toward a periodic minimum, with a shortfall collected separately. Those product terms are country-specific and are not a universal rule for receipts-linked finance.
The US Small Business Administration says most 7(a) term loans use monthly principal-and-interest payments from business cash flow. It separately notes that a variable rate may change the payment. This illustrates why the actual repayment schedule matters; it does not establish an offer, approval or a UK lending rule.
Our model compares an invented fixed collection with an invented receipts-linked collection. The latter includes a deliberately stated period-end minimum. Neither case reproduces a named lender's agreement. Currency is GBP for the arithmetic; the US examples above are structural context only.
Download the inputs before reading the result
Keep the dated synthetic input file, weekly result table and reproducible calculation together. A separate Decimal calculation independently checks the table. Keep the input and output versions together so a changed assumption remains visible.
Each scenario starts with £1,000 of available cash after any initial financing transaction. No new advance enters during the four-week window. Record such advances separately in your own forecast: counting borrowed cash as customer receipts would overstate the business's trading performance.
Opening cash plus settled receipts, less operating outgoings and financing collected, equals closing cash. The next week starts from that closing number. A negative balance is the model's unresolved cash gap; the arithmetic does not create an overdraft or permission to defer an obligation.
Run the same four weeks twice
The base case has £3,000 of settled receipts and £2,400 of operating outgoings each week. The fixed structure collects £500 weekly. It ends at £1,400, after £2,000 of financing collections. Every base-case week has positive closing cash.
The invented receipts-linked structure withholds 10% of settled receipts and requires £1,600 over the four-week period. Base-case withholdings total £1,200, so a £400 top-up falls in week four. Total collections are £1,600 and closing cash is £1,800. This is a timing comparison, not evidence that this structure is cheaper over its whole life.
In the weak case, receipts are £3,000, £2,000, £2,000 and £3,000. Operating outgoings stay at £2,400 each week. Fixed collections leave closing balances of £1,100, £200, minus £700 and minus £600. The first negative closing balance is week three.
Receipts-linked withholdings in that weak case total £1,000. The £600 period-end top-up brings collections to £1,600. Closing balances are £1,300, £700, £100 and minus £200. Lower interim collections postpone the first negative week to week four; the minimum still creates a shortfall. Flexible withholdings have not eliminated the obligation.
Change timing without inventing more revenue
A delayed-receipt case moves £1,000 from week two to week four, leaving total four-week receipts unchanged at £12,000. Under fixed collections, closing balances are £1,100, £200, £300 and £1,400. The final balance matches the base case, but the smallest weekly closing cushion falls from £1,100 to £200.
That is why an end-of-month surplus cannot replace a collection calendar. Weekly buckets can hide a Tuesday collection before a Friday receipt. For an actual decision, repeat the same bridge daily around material dates and check what is available before each debit.
Include refunds, delayed settlements and essential payments explicitly. Do not reduce operating outgoings automatically because sales are lower; some commitments may stay fixed. If you change an input, preserve the original case and label the new assumption so another reader can reproduce the comparison.
Assign the cash gap to a dated decision
Keep a short decision log beside the downloaded model. Record the scenario name, the first negative week, the amount missing and the person responsible for checking it. Then name the exact collection or settlement date that could change the result. A forecast marked “reviewed” without that unresolved item can conceal the reason the test was run.
For the weak receipts-linked case, the log starts with the £200 gap at the end of week four. Moving a receipt earlier is a proposed assumption until the customer or processor confirms its settlement. Preserve the original result while checking the alternative. If the cash source is another borrowing facility, record its charges and collection dates separately rather than treating the transfer as additional sales.
Know what this test does not settle
The four-week horizon does not calculate lifetime finance cost, interest, APR, taxes, changing minimums, covenant compliance or the consequences of default. It excludes overdraft availability and emergency owner funding. A higher closing balance may merely reflect slower repayment, so it cannot identify the better-priced offer.
The original synthetic worksheet is available for independent use without a required link or endorsement. There are no affiliate arrangements in this edition. Obtain actual total charges, guarantees, collection definitions and remaining balance from the provider before comparing commercial terms.
Leave with a dated forecast and one stop condition: no acceptance while a collection-day gap lacks a documented funding source or agreed alternative. Ask, reduce, delay or obtain appropriate support. A spreadsheet that exposes a shortfall has done useful work even when the decision is to wait.
From comparison to calculation
Check the terms in the offer you actually receive.
Credit Over Debt’s Offer X-Ray compares the amount financed, fees, payment schedule and modeled cost using the figures you enter.
Open the free toolkitPrimary sources and product pages
- Stripe: How Stripe Capital works — US section (checked 2026-11-04)
- US Small Business Administration: 7(a) loans (checked 2026-11-04)
Product details last checked Nov 4, 2026; next scheduled review Dec 4, 2026. This US-focused guide is educational information, not individualized financial, legal or tax advice. Product terms, offers and eligibility can change.