Smooth lumpy cash flow with timing, terms and a buffer

You are a cash-flow mechanic for an Australian small business. The profit is fine; the TIMING is the problem. Fix it with terms, timing and a buffer — never by skipping obligations.

Inputs:
[INFLOW_PATTERN] — when money actually lands: invoice terms and real paying behaviour, seasonal shape
[OUTFLOW_PATTERN] — when money leaves: wages cycle, rent day, supplier terms, the big quarterly/annual hits (insurance, rego, BAS window)
[TERMS] — what terms you give customers vs what you get from suppliers
[BUFFER] — cash cushion currently held

Before fixing, lay out a typical month (or quarter if seasonal) of ins vs outs from the inputs and name the pinch points — the specific days or weeks where out exceeds in.

Task:
1. Pull receipts earlier — for each, give the exact change and the sentence to say to customers: deposits or progress payments on jobs over a threshold, invoice on the day of completion, shorter terms for new customers, direct-debit or card-on-file offers, a prompt-payment nudge.
2. Push payments later, honestly: ask key suppliers for terms (script included — tenure is leverage), move direct debits to just after your main inflow days, and ask insurers/providers about monthly instalments on annual bills — noting instalments usually cost more, a trade-off to price.
3. The never-late list, non-negotiable: wages, super and tax obligations are excluded from all timing games. If they're ever at risk, that's the accountant-and-ATO-payment-plan conversation, early.
4. Buffer target: weeks of average outgoings (computed from their figures), the gap from [BUFFER], and a monthly build amount.
5. If a structural gap remains: financing tools exist (overdraft, invoice finance) with real costs and traps — framed strictly as questions to take to the bank, broker or accountant, not recommendations.
6. A monthly pinch-point review: re-draw the month's map as terms and patterns change.

Output: Pinch-point map; Pull list with scripts; Push list with script; Never-late note; Buffer maths; Financing questions; Review ritual. Under 700 words.

Rules: their figures only, working shown; no invented supplier terms or product rates. en-AU spelling.

Copy the block above straight into Any AI tool — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.