Rolling Forecast: Cash flow forecasts and budgeting finally converging?

Against the backdrop of recurring crises and rising interest rates, cash flow forecasting and budgeting have become much closer. While traditional annual budgets are becoming less important, cash flow forecasts, which are more frequent and more dynamic, are gaining in importance within companies.

This change is based on the introduction of the “rolling forecast”

“This is a method whereby the budget is updated on an ongoing basis, with forecasts spanning 15 to 18 months, making it possible to anticipate turning points and allocate funds more dynamically. According to our study “Innovation in the Finance Function”, conducted among large companies, one in five companies already uses rolling forecasts and another fifth plan to do so,” explain Pierre Gauthier, Partner, and Florian Jouvenot, Director at Eight Advisory.

Technological tools facilitate this convergence between budgeting and cash forecasting by providing short and medium-term transparency.

“Enterprise performance management (EPM) tools are currently of great interest to CFOs as they allow the reconciliation of cash flow forecasts and budget forecasts based on the income statement,” add Gauthier and Jouvenot.

Despite the keen interest shown by CFOs, there is still significant room for improvement, especially for mid-sized companies (ETIs) that still rarely use long-term forecasts. Inaccurate forecasts can increase risk, e.g. due to currency fluctuations. Artificial intelligence, new standards (e.g. ISO 20022) and the DSP3 directive are expected to revolutionise real-time financial management and pave the way for improved treasury functions.

Read the full version of this article by Frédérique Garrouste published in L’Agefi  on May, 22 2025 (available in French),  and the Innovation in the Finance Function study.

If you would like to receive this study (available in French) as well as a customised benchmarking report from Eight Advisory’s experts, click here!