Shortfall Detection
An alert triggered when RunwayCal's cash forecast projects your bank balance dropping below zero on a specific future date. Includes the cause and suggested mitigation.
Shortfall detection flags the exact date and cause of projected cash gaps.
What is Shortfall Detection?
Shortfall detection monitors your 60-day cash position forecast and flags any day where the projected balance drops below zero. When triggered, it shows:
- The exact date the shortfall occurs - The exact cause (e.g., "Payroll of $74K due before TechNova payment arrives") - Suggested mitigation (e.g., "If TechNova pays by July 25, balance stays positive") - A direct link to Scenarios for modeling alternatives
Shortfall detection turns a passive forecast into an active early warning system.
Why it matters
Discovering you can't make payroll 3 days before it's due is a crisis. Discovering it 30 days out is a planning problem. Shortfall detection gives you the lead time to negotiate faster payment terms, delay a hire, draw on a credit line, or accelerate collections.
The difference between reactive and proactive cash management is often the difference between surviving and shutting down.
Example
Forecast flags July 14: projected balance -$61,600. Cause: Payroll of $74K due July 15, TechNova $14K expected July 18. Mitigation: If TechNova pays by July 25, balance stays positive. Link to Scenarios to model delaying a hire.
How RunwayCal helps
RunwayCal's shortfall detection runs automatically on every cash position forecast update. Alerts appear on Mission Control with severity ratings, and each alert links to Scenarios so you can model mitigation options before committing.
Common mistakes
- 1Checking cash position only at month-end instead of monitoring daily forecasts
- 2Ignoring timing gaps between large outflows and expected inflows
- 3Not modeling mitigation options when a shortfall is detected
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Catch cash shortfalls before they become crises
RunwayCal's shortfall detection flags negative balances 30+ days out with cause and mitigation suggestions.
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