Free not-for-profit cash reserve planner
Will you have the cash when you need it? Work out how much cash your not-for-profit should hold in reserve, from the timing of your own income rather than a blanket three months. You finish with a cash forecast, a draft reserves policy and a board summary.
Example resultSample organisation
Green · next 6 monthsAmber · full 18 months
Cash looks reasonable for the next 6 months, but tightens later
You have a planner in progress in this browser.
Who it's for
Most not-for-profits know their annual budget. Fewer know whether the cash will be there in the month a big payment is late. That's what this planner is for.
Charities, community services and member associations, whether you're funded by grants, fees, memberships or donations. It's built for the CEO, finance manager or treasurer who reports on cash to the board.
A blanket "three months of expenses" can leave you holding too much cash or too little. Setting the floor from your own income timing gives the board a number it can stand behind, and agreed steps for when cash drops.
Two ways to start
5 minutes, from totals
Enter rough monthly totals for money in and money out. You still get a full draft reserves policy and a board summary.
20 to 30 minutes, line by line
List every grant, income stream and cost with its own dates. The policy is built from each one, including three-pay months and the grants that end.
See a sample result first
Riverbend Community Services is a made-up organisation. From its result, you can step back through how each version was filled in.
Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can stop and come back.
What you get
Green, amber or red for the next six months and the full forecast, and when cash first dips below your cash floor or goes below zero.
What to do first, ranked from your own figures, such as starting a renewal conversation or finding a specific amount before a specific month.
A reserves policy with your floor and target filled in, and a one-page board summary. Download them as a PDF or paste them into Word.
Your figures
Your figures stay in this browser as you fill it in. Visory only receives them if you ask for the full results.
You type in rounded totals. There's nothing to connect and no files to upload.
We use your details to talk to you about your results.
Every result shows how it was worked out, month by month, so your treasurer can test it. For the method behind it, read how to build a cash flow forecast for a not-for-profit.
Reserves explained
A not-for-profit should hold enough unrestricted cash to get through its leanest month with a buffer. The ACNC sets no required level for charities. The floor depends on income timing, reliance on one source and how fast costs can fall. This planner sets it at half a month to four months of essential costs, plus obligations.
It adds up months of essential costs (committed costs and costs that can be delayed but must still be paid) from six factors. Your board can set its own figure instead.
| Factor | What it looks at | Adds |
|---|---|---|
| Risk appetite | Lean, balanced or conservative | 0.5, 1 or 2 months |
| Reliance on one source | Largest source over 50% of income (or over 30%) | 0.5 (or 0.25) months |
| Lumpy income | One month brings in over 40% of the year's income | 0.25 months |
| Unconfirmed income | Over 20% of income not yet confirmed (or over 10%) | 0.5 (or 0.25) months |
| Renewal risk | Largest source up for renewal: yes or not sure | 0.5 or 0.25 months |
| Speed of cost cuts | Over three months, or one to three months | 0.5 or 0.25 months |
The total is kept between half a month and four months. Leave owed and other obligations your board protects are added on top. General information only, not financial advice. Method as at November 2026.
The cash floor is the least unrestricted cash you aim to hold at any point. The reserve target is the floor plus the cash your own income cycle draws down between big payments, so you stay above the floor through the leanest month.
No. Restricted cash is tied to a purpose, such as an unspent grant, so it never counts towards reserves. Unrestricted cash is everything you're free to use, and it's what the floor is measured against.
A reserves policy is the board's written rule for how much unrestricted cash to hold and what happens when cash runs short. The draft covers purpose, what counts as reserves, the cash floor, the reserve target, monitoring and reporting, green, amber and red triggers with actions, using and rebuilding reserves, and an annual review. Each is filled in from your figures and marked where the board needs to confirm.
To go further, watch the cash flow and reserves webinar, read how to build a cash flow forecast for a not-for-profit, or see how Visory works with not-for-profits.
Sample policy
This is the draft the planner writes for Riverbend Community Services, a made-up organisation, from its quick version figures. Yours is filled in from your own figures, for your board to review and adopt.
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION. Generated by the Visory cash reserve planner as a starting point. Not legal or financial advice. Amounts, timeframes and thresholds are suggestions: items marked (board to confirm) are decisions for your board, in line with your constitution and delegations. It must be reviewed and formally adopted by the board before use.
This policy sets the minimum level of unrestricted cash Riverbend Community Services (sample) holds so it can meet its commitments to staff, clients and suppliers through the timing gaps in its income, and respond to a funding delay or loss without disrupting services.
Reserves are unrestricted cash: bank balances and term deposits available within 30 days, less restricted funds. Restricted funds are legally or contractually tied, such as unspent tied grants, conditional bequests and money held on behalf of others. They are excluded from reserves and reported separately. Amounts the board sets aside for its own purposes (designated or earmarked funds) remain unrestricted and are reported as such. Restricted receipts and the spending they fund are tracked in a separate ledger for each restricted fund or project. Money held for one purpose is not counted against spending for another purpose unless the funder allows the transfer and the board approves it. A restricted funding shortfall is reported to the board, and is not covered from unrestricted reserves without a board decision.
Riverbend Community Services (sample) aims to hold at least $283,250 in unrestricted cash at all times, including within each month (board to confirm the amount). This equals 3 months of essential operating costs ($243,250), meaning committed costs and costs that can be delayed but must still be paid, plus $40,000 to cover staff leave entitlements and other obligations the board has chosen to protect.
The number of months is an indicative starting point based on the board’s balanced risk appetite and the organisation’s income profile, including the share of income from its largest source (54%) and how quickly costs could be reduced. The board should confirm or change it.
Because a large share of income (56%) arrives in a single month, Riverbend Community Services (sample) will aim to hold $824,250 immediately after its major receipts. This is the cash floor plus the $541,000 the organisation expects to draw down between major payments over a 12-month cycle, excluding any ongoing deficit. The target manages timing. It does not fix an ongoing operating deficit, and a lower target does not by itself mean cash risk has improved.
Reserves may be drawn below the floor only with board approval, for a defined purpose and period. Any draw must come with a plan to rebuild to the floor, normally within 12 months (board to confirm), funded from operating surpluses.
The board will review this policy at least once a year alongside the budget, and whenever a source of income worth more than 20% of the total (board to confirm) starts, is renewed, changes or ends. This includes funding agreements, membership fee structures, major sponsorships and large regular donors.
Questions
No single number of months suits every not-for-profit. Three to six months of operating costs is a rule of thumb, not a requirement. An organisation paid evenly can often hold less, and one paid mostly in one month may need more. The planner works it out from your income timing, reliance on one source and how fast costs can fall.
No. The ACNC does not set a required level of reserves. Its guidance is that no single level suits every charity, and that the board should decide what fits the charity's own risks. A board-approved reserves policy records that decision. This planner drafts one from your figures for your board to review and adopt.
Yes. Peak bodies publish Word and PDF templates to fill in by hand. This planner drafts a reserves policy with your own cash floor, reserve target and triggers already filled in from your figures, for your board to review and adopt. It is free, and the full policy shows once you add your name and email.
A blanket rule ignores when your money arrives. An organisation paid one large grant in December needs a different buffer from one paid evenly every month. The planner forecasts your cash month by month, sets the floor from your risk and income profile, and sets the target from the low point in your own cycle.
Every result shows its workings month by month, so you can check them against your own records. Behind that, the calculations are covered by more than 240 automated checks, including hundreds of random scenarios that confirm no money is created or lost along the way. Like any forecast, it is only as good as the figures you put in.
While you fill it in, your figures stay in your browser. Visory only receives them if you ask for the full results. We then keep your contact details and figures so our team can talk to you about your results. The notice beside the form explains this before you decide.
Yes. Membership fees, service fees, donations, events and sponsorship all count as income. If most of your money arrives at one time of year, such as membership renewals, the planner allows for that.
Yes. Your progress is saved in the browser you are using, so you can pick up where you left off on the same device.
Yes. The planner is free to use. Your cash health result shows straight away, and we ask for your name and email to show the full policy, board summary and actions.
No. It is a planning aid that produces a draft for your board to review and adopt. The amounts and thresholds are suggestions based on the figures you enter.
Get started
Talk to our team
A senior member of the Visory team can walk through your forecast and draft policy with you or your treasurer.
You are using the sample organisation. The figures are made up. Change anything you like, or step through to see the result.
Start with what's in the bank today. Enter amounts as they hit the bank, including GST.
List each grant or project whose money can only be spent on its own purpose, with what you hold for it today. Restricted lines in the next steps can then be checked fund by fund, so money for one purpose is never counted against another.
Together, these can't be more than your restricted cash above.
Rough totals are fine. The planner turns them into a month-by-month forecast.
List each income stream: how much arrives each time, how often, and when the first and last payments land. If something ends, such as a grant, pick its last payment month. Nothing after it is counted, so you see what happens if it isn't renewed.
Have the detail to hand?
Short on time?
Fees, NDIS or service claims, membership dues and regular donations that arrive most months.
Your biggest payment that doesn't arrive every month, such as an annual grant, membership renewals billed once a year or a major sponsorship. Leave blank if most income arrives evenly.
Fundraising, events and smaller grants.
Monthly totals and any once-a-year bills. Use the cash you pay out, not the expense in your profit and loss.
List your regular and lumpy costs. For each one, say what you could do if cash got tight: nothing (committed, such as wages, rent and BAS), push it back for a while, or stop it altogether.
Have the detail to hand?
Short on time?
Enter at least one of these. Both are treated as committed.
Bills you could push back if cash got tight, such as some supplier payments. Leave blank if none.
Insurance renewal, audit fees and similar. Leave blank if none.
Three questions that set how big the buffer should be. Pick the closest answer.
Saved in this browser as you type.
Your result
This is the result for a made-up organisation, so the full policy and actions are open to read.
What this means: on these figures you don't run out of cash, but you would sit below the safety line a reserves policy would set. That's the question for your board: raise income, time it differently, trim costs or rebuild the reserve, and in what order.
Indicative, based on the figures you entered.
Next
Top three actions
Draft for your board
Talk it through
A senior member of the Visory team can walk through your forecast and the draft policy with you or your treasurer, and talk about what would help. See how Visory works with not-for-profits.
A planning aid, not financial advice. Results are indicative and depend on the figures entered. The draft policy must be reviewed and adopted by your board before use. Calculations by the Visory cash reserve planner engine .
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