Cash Problems Aren't Financial. They're Operational.
February 2, 2026
Most founders don't wake up thinking: "We're mismanaging cash."
They wake up thinking:
- Revenue is growing, but the bank balance feels tight
- Runway suddenly looks shorter than expected
- We need to be careful… but we're not sure where
The instinctive reaction is to look at margins.
Pricing. Gross profit. Cost structure.
But in growth-stage companies, cash problems rarely come from margins. They come from operations. More specifically: timing, ownership, and reality.
The pattern behind most cash surprises
In $3M–$15M businesses, the pattern is remarkably consistent:
Sales is focused on pushing growth
Accounting is focused on closing the books
Founders assume AR will "catch up"
On paper, everything looks fine. But underneath that:
- AR aging is quietly growing past 60 days
- Collections don't have a clear owner
- Sales and accounting aren't talking about cash — only revenue
No single decision breaks the business. What breaks it is delay. By the time the issue shows up in cash, the options are already gone.
Why founders misdiagnose the problem
Most founders believe one (or more) of these things:
None of these beliefs are irrational. They're just incomplete. Because AR doesn't turn into cash by existing. It turns into cash through action. And action requires visibility before month-end.
AR is where timing breaks first
The earliest signal of a cash problem is almost never spend. It's accounts receivable drifting out of control. What that looks like in practice:
- Invoices over 60 days increasing quietly
- Large balances sitting with no follow-up plan
- "It should come in" replacing actual dates
- No single person accountable for collections
Meanwhile, leadership meetings focus on:
- Revenue targets
- New deals
- Growth bets
So growth is pushed harder… while collections stagnate. That's not a finance issue. That's an operating system issue.
The simplest fix: a weekly AR reality check
The fastest way to regain control isn't a new forecast or dashboard. It's a weekly cadence that forces reality into the open. Every founder should be able to see this once a week:
Top 5 overdue invoices (60+ days)
Next action for each invoice
Clear ownership
No aging waterfalls. No theoretical collectability analysis. Just reality, owners, and next steps.
Why weekly matters more than perfect
Monthly AR reviews are too late.
By then:
- Spend decisions are already made
- Growth bets are already committed
- Hiring plans are already in motion
Weekly visibility changes the timing of decisions. Founders start to ask better questions:
"Which of these invoices are we actually collecting this month?""Who owns this follow-up?"
Those questions don't just improve cash. They improve confidence.
What not to do
When cash feels tight, resist these moves:
Don't assume accounting "has it"
Don't wait for month-end
Don't build a bigger forecast to feel better
Forecasts don't fix timing problems. Process does.
The bottom line
Cash problems aren't financial. They're operational. They come from:
Seeing reality too late
Letting AR drift without ownership
Confusing revenue with cash
Fix the cadence. Fix the ownership. Fix the timing.
Cash stops being emotional when reality shows up early enough to act.
Sridhar Kuppa
Helping founders turn cash from a monthly surprise into a weekly operating signal.
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