The budget says how much, cash needs to know when
Every year the company approves a budget with a ceiling by category and month. That budget is approved on an accrual basis: it says when the expense is recognized, not when the money leaves the bank. With only the annual ceiling, treasury doesn't know which month it will need the funds: it may go looking for financing too late, or fund too early and pay interest on idle money.
The areas have the answer, because they know when they'll pay and when they'll collect. FLIQO has them plan cash inside the same tool and compares what they forecast with what they were approved.
Each area loads what it knows
The company is organized into departments and areas, and each forecast item carries the unit responsible for it. Areas load their estimates by hand, from an Excel template or as recurring items, and treasury sees the company's full forecast.
Each person edits what they loaded. When a small team shares the work, the company can let its members correct what a colleague in the same area or department loaded, and every change is recorded with who made it.
A shared calendar for updates
Each period has an opening date and a deadline for areas to load or review their figures. FLIQO watches for estimates that haven't been touched in a while and whose payment date is getting close, writes to their owner and, if there's no response, notifies the leader of their area or department.
Approved budget against what already has a date
Treasury loads the approved budget from an Excel file, by category, month and, optionally, area. FLIQO compares it month by month with the cash the areas have already forecast and shows, for each category:
- Approved: the ceiling for the year and for each month.
- Forecast in cash: what the areas have already placed with a payment or collection date.
- Gap: what was approved and nobody has yet placed on the calendar.
- Coverage: how much of the ceiling already has a date.
The gap is the signal: an area has approved funds and hasn't yet said when it will use them.
From the accounting month to the cash month
An expense recognized in January with a supplier on 30-day terms gets paid in February. That's why FLIQO compares what was approved for a month with the cash in the month that money actually moves. The company sets that lag in general, and each category can have its own: payroll is paid the same month, while an import can take several. Changing the lag doesn't require loading the budget again.
Each department, with its leader
Besides the by-category view, compliance is shown by department and area, which is how people are organized. Each row shows its leader, how much was approved, how much has been placed, how many months already have their estimate, and a status: on track, partial, not distributed, or with forecast spending that had no approved ceiling. The lowest coverage shows up first.
The analyst loads and the leader answers. Leaders are assigned in the organization structure, and an area without its own leader inherits its department's. The table exports to Excel to take to a committee.
The company can turn on automatic alerts: every morning FLIQO reviews compliance and writes to the leader whose unit was left undistributed, spent without an approved ceiling or has a gap above the threshold that was set.
Each unit sees its share
A site, a plant or a store can operate with a role that only sees its own unit's accounts and transactions. Even so, liquidity belongs to the whole company. The unit view shows its manager, month by month, what the unit contributes to and draws from the forecast, and the company's status against its liquidity band, without showing the total balance or the thresholds.
That way whoever runs a site knows whether its cash is putting pressure on the company's, without seeing what isn't theirs to see.
Asking Aria
You can ask Aria which categories have approved budget that hasn't been distributed, how a department is tracking, or which of an owner's estimates haven't been updated in a while. Aria answers with the same data as the screens and within the permissions of whoever is asking.
Frequently asked questions
Can an area's owner change the approved budget?
No. The budget is loaded and edited by treasury or the company administrator, because it reflects a governance decision. Areas load their cash forecast.
Does the budget have to be loaded by area?
It's not required. It can be loaded by category and month only. To see compliance by department and area, the budget has to include the area.
What happens if the same budget is loaded twice?
Nothing gets duplicated. If a line already exists, FLIQO asks whether to replace it or keep it, and rows with codes that don't exist are reported without stopping the rest of the load.
Are the alerts to leaders turned on by default?
No. Each company decides when to turn them on and with what gap threshold.
Can one area see the others' cash?
It depends on its role. A role can see the whole company or only its department or area, and restricted accounts are visible only to roles that have access.