Cash flow forecasting is another name for cash forecasting: the process of estimating the money that will come into and go out of an organisation over a coming period, so that shortfalls can be funded and surpluses invested in good time. The longer form of the name is common in accounting and corporate finance, where it links to the cash flow statement, while treasury teams tend to use the shorter one.
Two methods are usual. The direct method builds the forecast from expected receipts and payments, such as customer collections, payroll, supplier runs, tax and debt service, and suits horizons of days to a few months. The indirect method starts from projected profit and adjusts for non-cash items and changes in working capital, and suits longer horizons and planning.
In a bank, the same exercise feeds liquidity management and liquidity gap analysis, where contractual and behavioural cash flows are projected by time band. Forecasts are compared with outcomes to measure cash forecast accuracy, and they support daily cash positioning.