Reach for the Statement of Cash Flows when you need to know how much cash actually moved in and out over a period, not just what you earned and owed on paper. It answers the question every executive director eventually asks: do we have the cash to make payroll and keep the lights on. That is your liquidity and your runway.
This report shows real cash movement. The Statement of Activities, your accrual income report, records revenue when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, whether or not the money has changed hands. The Statement of Cash Flows strips that back to cash. A grant you have been promised but not yet received shows up as income on the Statement of Activities, but it is not cash you can spend until it lands.
The report uses the indirect method. It starts from your Change in Net Assets (the nonprofit version of net income) and works back to cash by adjusting for the non-cash items in between.
Run it
Go to Reports and select Statement of Cash Flows.
If you manage more than one organization, pick the Organization you want to report on.
Set the Start Date and End Date for the period. The start date must come before the end date, and both are required.
Click Run Report.
Read it
The report is laid out in three sections, followed by a short reconciliation that ties back to your cash balance. Negative numbers show in parentheses, the standard accounting convention. So (1,200) means cash went down by 1,200.
Cash Flows from Operating Activities. This starts with your Change in Net Assets for the period, then lists the adjustments that reconcile it to actual cash from day-to-day operations. It ends with Net Cash from Operating Activities. This is the section that tells you whether your programs and core operations generate or consume cash.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities. Cash tied to longer-term assets, ending in Net Cash from Investing Activities.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities. Cash from financing the organization, ending in Net Cash from Financing Activities.
Below the three sections, the report reconciles to your cash position:
Net Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents sums the three sections.
Cash and Cash Equivalents at the start of the period.
Cash and Cash Equivalents at the end of the period.
The end figure is what you should be able to tie to your bank balance for that date. If operating cash is consistently negative, that is your signal to look at runway before it becomes a crisis.
Export it
Use Export PDF for a board packet or a funder, and Export Excel to work the numbers further. Both buttons sit at the top of the report once it has run.