Become a Personal Trainer
A Cash Flow Forecast Is Four Short Parts, And The Level 3 Course Has You Write One Before Your First Client So The First Year Has A Shape
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The honest route from scratch to qualified →
In short: Criterion F/617/8598 4.1 on the Level 2/3 personal training course asks a learner to define a cash flow forecast. The course describes it as a prediction of the cash coming into and going out of a business over a set period. It has four parts: inflows such as client fees and memberships, outflows such as rent, utilities and marketing, net cash flow (the difference between the two) and projections over a chosen time frame. A new trainer can write all four before the first paying client.
A forecast is a short list with dates on it
Plenty of people finish a personal training qualification with the skills and no picture of what the first twelve months will look like in money. The Level 3 course closes that gap early. Criterion 4.1 of the business unit defines a cash flow forecast, so the first year has a shape before the first client walks in.
One of the things you learn on our CIMSPA-recognised personal training course is how to turn "I hope this pays" into four short lists you can write down in an evening.
The four parts
The course describes a cash flow forecast as a prediction of the cash coming into and going out of a business over a set period. For a personal trainer it has four elements.
Inflows. Every source of revenue: client fees, membership revenue and anything else that brings money in.
Outflows. Every expense: rent, utilities, marketing and the other running costs.
Net cash flow. Inflows minus outflows. A positive number means the business is bringing in more than it spends. A negative number says so too, early enough to do something about it.
Projections. The same lists laid out over a specific period, month by month, so you can see where the money sits at each point.
The course says this helps a trainer understand their financial situation, spot cash flow problems and make informed decisions. It also quotes Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad), who says a lack of profit kills a business slowly and a lack of positive cash flow kills it quickly.
Why a new trainer can write it
None of the four needs a client. Estimate the sessions you hope to sell, price them, list the costs you already know about, subtract, and spread the result across twelve months. The numbers are guesses on day one. Real ones replace them as they arrive, and the shape stays.
How the course teaches it
The FASTER course is visual and interactive. You read the lesson, listen to it, and answer in writing or by dictating your answers if typing is not your thing. The forecast you write is about your own business, so the answer is yours.
Where to go next
PT Manager is free with any FASTER course and opens when you sign up. When your first clients arrive, it counts what has been paid, so the forecast has real numbers to meet.
The honest route from scratch to qualified is on the become a personal trainer page. The business unit sits in the Level 3 Personal Trainer course.
The FASTER Journal shares the next teaching point first. Sign up at /newsletter.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
The honest route from scratch to qualified — taught by the people who wrote it, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
Also worth a look: Level 3 Personal Trainer, where the business unit lives.
See what the course covers →Frequently asked
What does criterion 4.1 ask for?
To define a cash flow forecast. The course describes it as a prediction of the cash coming in and going out of a business over a specified period.
What goes into a cash flow forecast?
Four parts: inflows such as client fees and membership revenue, outflows such as rent, utilities and marketing, net cash flow, and projections over a chosen time frame.
Do I need clients before I write one?
No. Every part can be written as an estimate before the first paying client, and replaced with real numbers as they arrive.
What is net cash flow?
The difference between inflows and outflows. The course says it shows whether the business is generating positive or negative cash flow.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
Find a FASTER trainer →
