← All templates

Finance

Xero Cash Position Watch

Most small businesses discover a cash problem when a payment fails, which is several weeks after it became knowable. This workflow reads the bank position out of Xero on a schedule, writes it into an Excel history so the trend is visible, posts the weekly position into Teams, and raises an alarm the moment the balance falls below the floor you set — which should be payroll plus tax, not zero.

7 stepsRequires Zapier Starter or higher25 minMedium
XeroMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft TeamsMicrosoft To DoSchedule by ZapierFilter by Zapier

What you get

The cash position is a weekly habit rather than a monthly surprise.
Balance history accumulates in Excel, so the trend line is visible.
A floor breach raises an alarm while there are still options.

Workflow blueprint

SC
When this happens
Schedule by ZapierEvery Week
1XE
XeroFind Bank Transaction Summary
2ME
Microsoft ExcelAdd Row to Table
3MT
Microsoft TeamsSend Channel Message
4FI
Filter by ZapierOnly continue if
5MT
Microsoft TeamsSend Chat Message
6MT
Microsoft To DoCreate Task

The full blueprint — every field mapping, example value and the written copy for each message — is included with purchase.

Getting it into Zapier

Build this one from the recipe. The blueprint gives you the exact trigger, action events and field mapping for all 7 steps, so it is a copy-and-paste job rather than a design job.

You need your own Zapier account. Zapier’s Free plan runs single-step Zaps only; multi-step Zaps need a paid plan, and Paths and Webhooks need Professional. How this works →

Not on Zapier?

n8n — import and go

An n8n workflow JSON ships with this template. Import it and all 7 steps arrive on the canvas wired in order, and 4 of the 7 nodes arrive with their fields already filled in — the subject lines, the message copy, the delays, the column names. Every step maps to a native n8n node.

What an import cannot carry is your credentials, and the IDs that only exist inside your own account — which spreadsheet, which channel, which board. Those stay in a sticky note under the node, listing what is already done so you do not retype it, and what is left so you can see it.

Make — build guide

A Make-specific guide ships with this template: every module in order, every field value, and the concept translations that catch people out — filters live on the links between modules, and the schedule lives on the scenario rather than in a trigger module.

Self-hosted n8n has no per-task fee, which is worth knowing if this workflow runs at volume. Platform coverage →

Setup steps

1
Run every Monday

Configure this step using the field mapping in the blueprint.

2
Read the bank position from Xero

Configure this step using the field mapping in the blueprint.

3
Append it to the balance history

Configure this step using the field mapping in the blueprint.

4
Post the weekly position

Configure this step using the field mapping in the blueprint.

5
Alert if the balance is below the floor

Configure this step using the field mapping in the blueprint.

6
Raise the action task

Configure this step using the field mapping in the blueprint.

Implementation notes

  • Set the floor at payroll plus the tax you have set aside, never at zero. A balance of zero is already a crisis; a balance of one payroll is a decision.
  • Chase the oldest three receivables by telephone. Email chasing an invoice that is already sixty days old is a formality, not a collection.
  • Xero’s available Zapier actions differ by region and subscription. Check what your organisation actually exposes before building past step one — QuickBooks and FreeAgent both offer closer equivalents in some markets.
  • A weekly cadence is right. Daily cash checks produce anxiety without producing decisions, and monthly is the interval at which surprises happen.