Day 19: Build the money model your business actually needs.
No finance degree required, you build a real model. Cash flow, a P&L read, or your pipeline. Pick one.
Welcome to Day 19 of the challenge.
Some of us run our business on a feeling and a glance at the bank balance and a speed-dial to our accountant.
We know roughly what’s coming in. We know it’s been a good month or a tight one. We can feel when something’s off. What we often don’t have is a clear picture of where the money actually comes from, where it quietly leaks, and what next month really looks like if nothing changes.
If you’re not at the stage of having a fantastic CFO, and you don’t have a finance degree, you can still show Claude (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) your numbers and ask the right questions.
Today you don’t just talk about the money. You build something that does the maths and shows you the picture.
A word before we start
This is where Claude stops being a writer and becomes an analyst.
Give it a pile of numbers and a clear question, and it will find the pattern, build the model and explain what it sees in plain English. The same thing a good finance person does, except it doesn’t sigh when you ask it to redo it a fourth time.
One honest line before we start. What Claude builds today is a model and a read on your numbers. It is not regulated financial advice, and it isn’t a substitute for your accountant. Use it to see clearly and ask better questions. Sense-check the big decisions with a professional. With that said, let’s build.
Step by step
Step 1. Pick your track. Choose the one that matches what’s actually on your mind.
The cash-flow forecaster. Best if the question keeping you up is “will there be enough?” Claude builds a simple month-by-month forecast of money in and money out.
The P&L read. Best if you have a profit and loss statement but never really interrogate it. Claude reads it and tells you where margin is eroding, where costs have crept and how dependent you are on one client.
The pipeline analyser. Best if you sell to clients and carry deals. Claude turns your list of live opportunities into a weighted forecast and shows you where deals stall.
Pick one. You can do the others another week.
Step 2. Gather your numbers. Keep it rough, Claude will tidy it up.
Cash flow: your regular money in (clients, retainers, products) and money out (salaries, rent, subscriptions, tax set-aside), with rough amounts and how often.
P&L: your most recent profit and loss, exported as a spreadsheet or copied as text.
Pipeline: your live deals, each with a rough value, the stage it’s at and how likely it is to close.
Step 3. Open Cowork in your desktop app, pointed at your Switched-On folder. Opus for this one.
Step 4. Brief it. Here is the cash-flow version. Adapt the first lines for whichever track you picked. Paste this to Claude:
I want to build a simple twelve-month cash-flow model for my business. Here are my regular money-in and money-out items with rough amounts and frequency: [paste]. Ask me anything you need to fill the gaps, one question at a time. Then build me a clear month-by-month model as a spreadsheet, show me the running balance, and tell me in plain English the three things this reveals, including any month that looks tight.
For the P&L read, paste this to Claude:
Here is my latest profit and loss [paste or attach the file]. Read it like a sharp finance director who’s on my side. Tell me where my margin is being eaten, where costs have crept up, how reliant I am on any single client or product, and the three questions I should be asking that I’m probably not.
For the pipeline, paste this to Claude:
Here are my live deals, each with rough value, stage and likelihood: [paste]. Build me a weighted forecast, show me total committed versus best-case, tell me where deals are stalling, and which two I should chase this week to move the number most.
Step 5. Make it something you’ll actually look at. A spreadsheet you never open is no better than a feeling. So, paste this to Claude:
Now build me a single-page dashboard as an HTML file I can keep open. Big clear numbers at the top, one simple chart, and a short what this means line under it. Clean, uncluttered. Save it as money-dashboard.html in my Switched-On folder.
Step 6. Capture the honest summary. The by-product of today is a clear-eyed note on the business itself. Save it. Paste this to Claude:
Based on everything we’ve just done, write me a short, honest business.md: what I sell, who actually pays me, what’s working, what’s leaking, and what I’m quietly worried about. Plain and direct, the version I’d never put in my marketing. Save it at the top of my Switched-On folder and reference it in CLAUDE.md.
Then, paste this to Claude:
Add to MEMORY.md: Day 19, Claude built a cash-flow model (or P&L read, or pipeline forecast) and a dashboard from my real numbers. business.md now holds the honest version.
A safety note
This is the most sensitive file you’ve made so far. Treat it that way.
NEVER paste in bank account numbers, card numbers, sort codes or logins. Claude needs amounts and categories, not credentials. Round numbers are fine.
These files live on your laptop, in your folder. business.md and the dashboard are for your eyes. Don’t email them around or drop them in a shared drive without thinking twice.
What you’ll notice
The leak you half-knew about, now in black and white. The client who feels big but isn’t, or the small one quietly carrying you. The month that’s going to be tight, far enough ahead that you can do something about it.
And the relief of seeing it. Money worry thrives in the fog. A clear model doesn’t make the numbers bigger, but it makes them knowable, and knowable is calmer.
Why this works
You’ve been carrying the maths in your head, which is exhausting and inexact. Claude does the calculation without judgement and explains it without jargon. You keep the decisions. It does the arithmetic and the picture.
This is also the file that quietly upgrades everything else. Once Claude knows how your business actually makes money, its help on pricing, offers, even content gets sharper, because it knows what you’re really trying to grow.
Key takeaway
You don’t have to be a numbers person to see your numbers clearly.
A pile of figures in. A working model, a dashboard and an honest business.md out. The money side of the business, finally out of the fog.
Where this is heading
Tomorrow we hand Claude its first proper job to do on a schedule. The morning catch-up that puts itself together before you’ve had your tea.
Tomorrow on Switched On
Day 20: Build the morning brief that runs itself.
Your first agent. A job you hand over once and get back every day.
Nishma x
P.S. How did today land? Three buttons, thirty seconds. Tap here
Catching up? Days 0 to 18 are on the Switched On Substack archive HERE.
Got a friend or a colleague who this might be useful for? Send her to nishma.co/30daychallenge
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