For agencies, consultancies and studios
Your revenue is people's time. Plan cash around it.
Retainers, projects, workshops and referrals each pay on a different rhythm, and every one of them depends on who is on the bench. Uniflow puts revenue, payroll and cash on the same timeline so you know when to hire and when to hold.
- Retainers, project fees, workshops and referral income as separate streams
- Hiring plans tied to the revenue each role can deliver
- Late-paying clients reflected in cash, not just in revenue
Free before revenue. No credit card. Read-only accounting access.
Professional services finance
Why service businesses run out of cash while profitable
Revenue looks steady on a P&L and lumpy in the bank. The gap between doing the work, invoicing it and being paid is where most agency cash problems live.
You are paid weeks after the work
Project milestones and net-45 terms mean payroll goes out long before the invoice is settled. A forecast that books revenue when the work happens hides the real cash dip.
Capacity is the constraint, not demand
Winning a big account is only good news if you can staff it. Hiring ahead of signed work burns cash; hiring behind it burns the team. Both need to be modelled before the pitch.
Utilisation decides the margin
The same headcount at 62% billable and at 78% billable is the difference between a thin year and a strong one. Margin has to be planned per role, not as a single blended rate.
Inside the product
How Uniflow models a service business
Choose a service-based business at onboarding and the workspace starts from the streams and departments agencies and consultancies actually use.
- 01
Revenue streams
Pre-loaded with retainer agreements, subscription services, consulting, workshops and training, referral and affiliate income and digital products such as guides.
Example: Six retainers averaging £6,500 a month, project work at £42k a quarter, two workshops a month.
- 02
Cost of sales
Direct delivery costs can be per sale, a percentage of sales, hourly, or fixed weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual amounts.
Example: Freelance overflow at 18% of project revenue, software seats per delivery hire.
- 03
Team
Departments for delivery, client services, business development and operations. Each hire has a start date, salary and on-costs so payroll moves with the plan.
Example: Two account managers in Q2 if the pipeline converts, a strategist once retainers pass ten.
- 04
Growth
Campaigns and target customer segments (clients, retainer clients) drive new business, with seasonality for quiet months.
Example: Referral-led growth at four new clients a quarter, August and December at 60% of normal.
- 05
Cash and tax
Cash balance, monthly burn, VAT and corporation tax reserves and a rolling forecast update from your ledger.
Example: VAT due next quarter shown as a reserve so it is not mistaken for spare cash.
What to watch
The numbers investors and lenders will ask for
Revenue per head
The fastest test of whether a hire pays for itself. Uniflow shows it as revenue streams and headcount change together.
See the definitionGross margin per service line
Retainers, projects and workshops carry different delivery costs. Model each as its own stream to see which to grow.
See the definitionRetainer coverage
What share of monthly fixed cost is covered by recurring retainers. Above 70% and a slow quarter is survivable.
See the definitionDays sales outstanding
The gap between invoice and cash. It drives the working-capital line in the forecast.
See the definitionBreak-even revenue
How much billable work the current team needs each month. A free calculator is on the site.
Try the free calculatorRunway
Months of cash at the current burn, useful even for profitable firms during a client transition.
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
Professional services questions
Yes. Project income is a revenue stream with its own billing frequency and amount, so a three-milestone project can be entered as three dated payments. The cash forecast then reflects when the money lands, not when the work is done.
Add hires with start dates in the team section and compare an expected, upside and downside case. Each case can carry different new-business assumptions, so you can see which one supports the hire.
Uniflow is a financial planning tool rather than a timesheet system. You model billable capacity as revenue per role and delivery cost per role; the margin and revenue-per-head views then show the effect of utilisation changes.
Because profit and cash diverge in a service business. A large client leaving or paying late can create a cash gap in a profitable year. The forecast shows how many months the current balance covers if new business stalls.
Yes. Invite them as collaborators. Advisors managing several clients can run all of them from a single advisor account.
Keep reading
Other business types
Not on the list? The templates are a starting point. Tell us what you run
Plan the next hire against real cash
Connect your ledger, load the service template and see whether the pipeline supports the team you want.
No credit card. First forecast in about 30 minutes.