Cash flow reflects money going in and out of your business and has a central focus on timing. While a budget is essentially setting targets for income and expenses, a business cash flow forecast goes several steps further, also considering assets and liabilities, and the timing of how all of these interact. An effective cash flow forecast (and this can be as simple as a well-made spreadsheet model) means you can effectively identify when your business might run out of cash, based on the times of month/year that your liabilities and expenses might exceed your income and stretch your cash reserves.