Cash Flow Forecast vs Budget vs Profit and Loss

Your budget is a plan. Your profit and loss is a report card. Your cash flow forecast is the fuel gauge that tells you whether you’ll make it to the next petrol station. Three documents. Three different jobs. And yes — confusing them is exactly how good South African businesses end up profitable on paper while bouncing debit orders in real life. Here’s what each one actually does, when to use it, and why you need all three running at the same time.