# AP Forecast Dashboard

Track vendor payment timing across 12 months with weighted DPO, peak AP balance, AP intensity, closing AP, annual purchases and payments, and the distribution of cash paid in each timing bucket.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/excel-dashboard/ap-forecast
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/templates/ap-forecast.xlsx

## About this dashboard

The AP Forecast dashboard turns a monthly purchases plan into a clear view of vendor cash timing. It surfaces weighted-average DPO, peak AP balance and the month it occurs, AP intensity at peak, closing AP at M12, annual purchases, and annual payments. DPO and AP intensity carry traffic-light status against user-set thresholds.

Supporting workbook schedules provide the vendor-level terms and annual spend view, a 12x12 payment matrix, a post-period spill column, and a monthly AP roll-forward. Those schedules explain how purchases become payments and how opening AP, purchases, and payments produce closing AP; the dashboard presents the resulting operating metrics.

Use the dashboard to read cash-out timing for treasury, understand vendor financing held in AP, and assess terms changes through their effect on DPO and peak balance. Payment timing is grouped into same-month, plus-one, plus-two, and plus-three-month buckets, giving a practical view of when planned purchases leave cash.

## What's included

- Weighted-average DPO across the vendor panel
- Peak AP balance and peak month
- AP intensity at peak purchases
- Closing AP balance at M12
- Annual purchases and annual payments
- Payment timing distribution with DPO and AP-intensity status

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the AP Forecast dashboard show?

It shows weighted-average DPO, peak AP balance and its month, AP intensity at peak, closing AP at M12, annual purchases, annual payments, and the distribution of payments across timing buckets. Traffic-light indicators compare DPO and AP intensity with the thresholds set for the forecast.

### How should I read weighted DPO?

Weighted DPO reflects the vendor panel’s annual-spend mix. Each vendor’s terms days receive weight according to that vendor’s share of annual purchases, so larger vendors influence the headline more than smaller vendors. It describes the panel’s cash-timing centre of gravity.

### What is AP intensity at peak?

AP intensity at peak divides the highest AP balance by monthly purchases in that period. It indicates how many months of purchases are represented by the largest payable balance, helping users assess the amount of vendor financing carried during the forecast window.

### Why can payments extend beyond M12?

Purchases made late in the forecast may be paid one, two, or three months later under the bucket timing approach. The supporting payment schedule records that deferred amount in a post-period spill column, while the dashboard keeps the timing distribution visible for the annual plan.

### Can this dashboard replace a cash flow forecast?

The dashboard focuses on accounts payable and vendor cash timing. Its payment outputs can inform a broader cash flow, runway, or three-statement forecast, but it does not present receivables, operating expenses, financing flows, or the other schedules required for a complete cash forecast.

## Related dashboards

- [Financial Health Dashboard](https://finamodel.com/excel-dashboard/financial-health)
- [Board Reporting Pack Dashboard](https://finamodel.com/excel-dashboard/board-reporting)
- [Cash Flow Dashboard](https://finamodel.com/excel-dashboard/cashflow)
- [Income Statement Dashboard](https://finamodel.com/excel-dashboard/income-statement)