Financial Management System for SMEs: Real-World Deployment of Accounts Receivable and Cash Flow Prediction

TL;DR

This paper introduces a practical financial prediction system tailored for SMEs, combining invoice delay prediction and cash flow forecasting, successfully deployed as a web app for real-world SME financial management.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated system specifically designed for SMEs, addressing their unique data limitations and operational constraints.

Findings

System effectively predicts invoice delays with high accuracy.

Cash flow forecasts are reliable despite limited historical data.

Deployment demonstrates real-world applicability for SME financial management.

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly freelancers and early-stage businesses, face unique financial management challenges due to limited resources, small customer bases, and constrained data availability. This paper presents the development and deployment of an integrated financial prediction system that combines accounts receivable prediction and cash flow forecasting specifically designed for SME operational constraints. Our system addresses the gap between enterprise-focused financial tools and the practical needs of freelancers and small businesses. The solution integrates two key components: a binary classification model for predicting invoice payment delays, and a multi-module cash flow forecasting model that handles incomplete and limited historical data. A prototype system has been implemented and deployed as a web application with integration into Cluee's platform, a startup providing financial management tools for freelancers, demonstrating practical feasibility for real-world SME financial management.