QuickBooks Online Cash Flow Planner: How to Add, Edit, and Manage Items
The Cash Flow Planner in QuickBooks Online lets you project future cash flow using manual entries and linked accounts. Here is how it works and where the limits are.
QuickBooks Online includes a built-in Cash Flow Planner that pulls existing transaction data to project future cash positions — and it lets users layer in hypothetical income and expense items without touching the actual books. The tool is available under Reports, then Financial planning, then Cash flow planner. On first use, users select Start planning, then Let’s go to initialize the view.
Adding Manual Items
To project a future transaction that is not yet in the books, users select Add item from the planner page. Each entry is designated as Money in for income or Money out for an expense. Users then enter a description and a dollar amount. For recurring projections — a monthly rent payment, a weekly payroll run, or a quarterly tax estimate — selecting Repeating opens a frequency selector so the item populates on the appropriate cadence. Selecting Save commits the entry to the planner timeline.
Editing and Removing Items
Manual items are adjustable after creation. Selecting an existing item opens its detail panel, where the description, amount, or recurrence can be changed. Selecting Update saves the revision. To remove an item entirely, users select it, then choose Remove and confirm the deletion. These actions affect only the planner projection — the underlying QuickBooks transactions remain unchanged.
Configuring the Planner View
The gear icon on the planner page opens preferences. In the Linked accounts section, users choose which bank and credit card accounts feed into the projection. An option to Link bank account is available for adding additional institutions. The Threshold section lets users set a minimum cash floor — a dollar amount they do not want the projected balance to dip below — so shortfalls are visible before they happen.
Customizing the Data Source
The Customize button on the planner page offers two data modes. Selecting Show data from bank transactions limits the projection to live bank feed activity, drawing only from the accounts selected in the Linked accounts panel. A plus icon lets users surface additional accounts that are not yet displayed. Selecting Show data from QuickBooks transactions instead pulls from entered QuickBooks data — invoices, bills, and other recorded transactions — and users select one or more accounts to include in that view.
Availability Limitations
The Cash Flow Planner is not universally available across the QuickBooks Online product line. It does not appear in QuickBooks Online Accountant, and it is disabled in any QuickBooks Online company file where Multicurrency is turned on. Users who need multicurrency support or who are working inside an Accountant firm file will not have access to this tool and will need to project cash flow through manual reports or alternative methods.
What the Planner Does and Does Not Do
The core value proposition is scenario modeling. A business owner can enter a hypothetical equipment purchase in the planner, see how it affects the projected balance over the following 90 days, and decide whether to proceed — all without creating a single transaction in the actual ledger. When real transactions later replace those projections, the manual items can be edited or removed so the planner reflects reality rather than double-counting.
The planner draws on existing QuickBooks data automatically, so the accuracy of the baseline projection depends on the books being current. Outstanding invoices and unpaid bills factor into the timeline based on their due dates. Manual items fill in the gaps for expected transactions that have not yet been recorded — a deposit in transit, a loan disbursement, or a one-time vendor payment. For businesses managing tight margins, setting a realistic threshold and reviewing the planner regularly can surface a cash shortfall weeks before it hits the bank account.