Airlines lacking in effective cash-flow forecasting solution

Over 90 per cent of airlines know cash-flow forecasting and working capital optimisation are priorities for their organisation, according to recent research by Sapphire Innovation. Despite that, over 70 per cent don’t have an effective cash-flow forecasting solution in place. Sapphire Innovation’s survey, carried out among 39 global carriers, also identified that nearly half of the airlines continue to rely almost entirely on spreadsheets to predict cash-flow, which is highly inefficient. Furthermore, over 70 per cent per cent do not simulate and predict when they could pay suppliers, or when they could and should collect cash from customers. Paul Smith Eldridge, general manager and president of Sapphire Innovation, said, “Manual cash-flow forecasting is highly complex, error-prone and very time-consuming. External changes such as fuel costs, foreign exchange fluctuations, and even the weather, compound the challenge. Having the right tools in place gives you access to accurate, automated cash-flow forecasting across the entire business, irrespective of the data sources, at the click of a button.”