For small and mid-sized manufacturers
Long lead times, long payment terms. Short on surprises.
Materials are paid for months before the customer settles, and a single machine can move the cash line more than a year of overheads. Uniflow models orders, materials, capex and payment terms together so working capital is planned rather than discovered.
- Private-label, contract manufacturing, licensing and service revenue as separate streams
- Materials and per-unit costs against orders, capex on its own timeline
- Corporation tax and VAT reserves shown next to the cash balance
Free before revenue. No credit card. Read-only accounting access.
Manufacturing finance
Why manufacturing cash needs its own model
Margin on paper and cash in the bank drift apart on every large order. The forecast has to carry the timing of materials, production, delivery and payment as separate events.
Materials go out before revenue comes in
Supplier terms, production time and net-60 customers can leave four months between paying for steel and being paid for the finished part. That gap scales with growth.
Capex changes the shape of the year
Equipment purchases are lumpy, often financed, and sit outside the operating cost lines. They need their own timeline and their own funding plan.
Mix decides the margin
Contract manufacturing, private label, licensing and maintenance carry different margins and different payment patterns. Blending them hides which work to chase.
Inside the product
How Uniflow models a manufacturer
Choose manufacturing at onboarding and the workspace starts from manufacturing streams, per-unit cost drivers and wholesale customer segments.
- 01
Revenue streams
Pre-loaded with private-label manufacturing, contract manufacturing, licensing, maintenance services, product customisation, training and consulting.
Example: Contract work at £120k a quarter on net-60 terms, maintenance contracts at £8k a month.
- 02
Cost of sales
Costs per sale, as a percentage of sales, hourly or fixed by period, so materials, direct labour and freight are separate lines.
Example: Materials 41% of sales, direct labour at £28 an hour, outbound freight £340 per shipment.
- 03
Capital expenses
Equipment and facility spend is planned as dated capital expenses, separate from operating costs, with a five-year cost overview.
Example: £95k CNC line in March, £22k tooling in September.
- 04
Team
Departments for production, quality, engineering, sales and operations, each hire with a start date and on-costs.
Example: Two machine operators once the second shift starts, a quality lead in Q3.
- 05
Cash and tax
Cash balance, burn, corporation tax and VAT reserves, and a rolling forecast update from your ledger, with wholesale buyers and distributors as customer segments.
Example: The June working-capital peak shown against the overdraft limit.
What to watch
The numbers investors and lenders will ask for
Gross margin by product line
Contract, private-label and licensing revenue modelled as separate streams so margin is visible per line.
See the definitionCash conversion cycle
Days from paying suppliers to being paid by customers. The number that sets how much working capital growth will need.
See the definitionCapex as a share of revenue
Equipment spend planned on its own timeline and compared with the revenue it is meant to unlock.
See the definitionBreak-even volume
Units or orders a month needed to cover fixed costs at the planned margin. A free calculator is available.
Try the free calculatorLabour cost per unit
Direct labour modelled hourly against production volume rather than as a flat overhead.
See the definitionPeak funding need
The lowest projected cash balance and when it occurs, so a facility or a term loan is arranged in advance.
Try the free calculatorConnections
Tools that feed the forecast
Connecting is free on every plan and read-only. Paid plans change how often data syncs.
How it works
Set up in an afternoon
- 01
Pick your business type
Onboarding asks what kind of company you run and loads the revenue streams, cost-of-sales drivers and departments that fit it. You rename or delete what does not apply.
- 02
Connect what you already use
Accounting, payments and CRM connections are read-only and free on every plan. Historic figures come in; the forecast starts from real numbers rather than a blank sheet.
- 03
Run the month from one screen
Cash, burn, tax reserves and the rolling forecast update as data syncs. Scenarios, hiring plans and fundraising sit next to the actuals so decisions are made on the same page.
FAQ
Manufacturing questions
Yes. Revenue streams carry billing frequency and timing, so a contract on net-60 terms shows cash arriving two months after the sale. The cash forecast reflects those terms rather than the invoice date.
Capital expenses are entered as dated purchases in the expenses section, separate from operating costs, and appear in the five-year cost overview. The cash forecast shows the outflow in the month you pay.
Both. Cost of sales can be a percentage of sales or a fixed amount per period, and large one-off material purchases can be added as dated expenses.
No. Uniflow is the financial plan on top of those systems. Production and inventory stay where they are; the ledger and CRM feed the cash, margin and funding view.
Free before revenue. Once trading, Scale is priced on monthly revenue in bands from £39 or $49 a month, with team planning up to 200 people at the top band.
Keep reading
Other business types
Not on the list? The templates are a starting point. Tell us what you run
Plan the working-capital peak, not the average
Connect your ledger, load the manufacturing template and see materials, capex and receipts on one timeline.
No credit card. First forecast in about 30 minutes.