Owner tool · diagnosis

You're profitable. So why is the bank account empty?

It's the most common — and most frightening — feeling in business: the P&L says you made money, but there's never any cash. You're not imagining it, and you're not bad at this. The money went somewhere specific. This finds exactly where.

First, in 30 seconds

Profit and cash are not the same thing.

Profit is a number on a report: sales minus costs. Cash is what's actually in your bank. They drift apart for real, fixable reasons — and a profitable business can run completely out of cash and fail. (It happens constantly; it even has a name: "growing broke.")

When you sell something, you book the profit now — but the cash might not arrive for 60 days. Meanwhile you've paid for stock, paid your suppliers, taken money out for yourself, and made a loan payment. All of that is cash leaving, and most of it never shows up on your profit report. Enter your numbers below and we'll show you where your profit is hiding.

Receivables
Money customers owe you but haven't paid yet. It's "profit" you can't spend.
Inventory
Stock sitting on your shelves. It's cash you've already spent, frozen until it sells.
Owner draws
Money you took out for yourself. Real cash gone — but it never appears as a business cost.
Loan principal
The part of a loan repayment that pays down the balance. Cash out, invisible on your P&L.
1

What you earned

From your profit & loss for the last year (or your latest 12 months).
The bottom line on your P&L for the year.
$
A "paper" cost for wear on assets — no cash leaves. Add it back. (0 if unsure.)
$
2

Where cash gets trapped

How much these grew over the last year. Compare today to a year ago — rough numbers are fine.
Increase in unpaid invoices (receivables) vs a year ago.
$
Increase in stock on hand vs a year ago. (0 if you don't hold stock.)
$
If you now owe suppliers more than a year ago, that freed up cash — enter a positive number. If you paid them down, enter a negative number.
$
3

Cash that left quietly

Real money out the door that never appears as a cost on your P&L.
Owner draws / dividends over the year.
$
The balance you paid down (not the interest).
$
Machines, vehicles, fit-out — paid for this year.
$
Where your profit went

Now you know where it went. The harder part is getting it back.

Freeing trapped cash is a plan, not a calculator: tighter terms, deposits up front, leaner stock, the right financing for the gap. I do this with owners every week — and the first conversation is free. Bring me these numbers and I'll tell you the one move that gets your cash back fastest.

Get the one move that fixes it →
How the math works (for the curious)

This is a simplified cash-flow bridge — the same logic an accountant uses to reconcile your profit to your bank balance. We start with your profit, add back depreciation (a cost where no cash leaves), then subtract every place cash actually went: into unpaid invoices, into inventory, out as owner draws, out as loan principal, out as equipment. Owing your suppliers more adds cash back; paying them down uses it.

Cash to bank ≈ Profit + Depreciation − more receivables − more inventory + more owed to suppliers − draws − loan principal − equipment.

It's a plain-English estimate to show you the shape of where your cash goes — not a formal cash-flow statement. For the real thing, your bookkeeper's software (or I) can produce it from your accounts.

An estimate for planning — not accounting, tax, or financial advice. Uses the numbers you enter; pull them from your P&L and balance sheet for the best read. Nothing leaves your browser. Logic current as of June 2026.

Unfolding Values · founder tools · all founder tools · unfoldingvalues.com
A plain-English cash diagnosis. An estimate for planning only — not accounting or financial advice.