Corporate cash-flow decision guide
Banking readiness begins with the business cash-flow model. Map how funding reaches the operation, how customers and suppliers are paid, how trade flows connect to evidence and how a future profit distribution would be supported. Only then should the company move to account-opening or transaction procedures.
A foreign company should prepare a flow map covering capital, operating receipts and payments, payroll, tax, trade and potential profit distribution. Assign an owner and evidence source to every flow. This guide does not provide an account-opening procedure, bank recommendation, approval promise or fixed timeline.
Create one row for each expected flow. Identify the payer, recipient, purpose, currency assumption, contract or decision that supports it, required internal approval, expected accounting record and the person responsible for exceptions.
| Flow | Planning question | Evidence owner |
|---|---|---|
| Initial and later funding | Which entity provides funds, which entity receives them and what will the money support? | Finance and governance |
| Customer receipts | Which entity contracts, invoices and receives payment? | Commercial and finance |
| Supplier payments | Which entity buys, approves and records the cost? | Procurement and finance |
| Payroll and operating costs | Who supplies approved inputs and how do records reach accounting? | HR and finance |
| Trade receipts and payments | How do contracts, invoices, customs evidence and bank records reconcile? | Trade and finance |
| Potential profit distribution | What accounting, tax, governance and cash evidence would need to align? | Finance and governance |
Show how planned funding supports the approved business activity and operating budget. Record the proposed source, receiving entity, use of funds, internal approvals and evidence owner. Do not assume that an ownership diagram alone proves a payment path is available.
For each customer and supplier flow, identify the contracting party, invoicing party, payment recipient or payer, commercial purpose and accounting owner. If those roles do not align, flag the issue before implementation rather than expecting the bank or accountant to repair the model later.
Use the China tax and operating model guide to connect these flows to invoicing and accounting records.
When goods move across borders, connect the payment path to the commercial and customs record. Assign responsibility for contracts, invoices, goods descriptions, transport records, customs information, bank evidence and reconciliation. Current transaction requirements must be checked for the actual flow before execution.
The import and export guide provides the related trade-role framework.
A future distribution should be treated as a dependency map, not a promise that cash can be moved on demand. Record the expected decision owners, accounting records, tax work, governance approvals and bank evidence that may need to align. Current legal, tax and foreign-exchange requirements require a scoped recheck before action.
This page deliberately excludes account-opening steps, document lists, bank selection, KYC procedures, fees, timing and approval expectations. Those questions depend on the company, bank, people, activity and current requirements. They enter a separate factual and implementation workstream after the cash-flow model is coherent.
Use the China market-entry strategy to place banking and FX inside the full entry decision.
No. It prepares the cash-flow model and questions needed before an account-opening workstream begins.
No. This draft makes no approval, timing or outcome promise.
The operating team needs a consistent record across commercial, trade, banking and accounting workstreams. The exact requirements depend on the transaction and must be checked before execution.
When the flows, parties, purposes, evidence owners, accounting interfaces, exceptions and current factual checks are clearly assigned.
Bring the proposed entity, contracts, funding, operating payments, trade flows and profit-flow questions into one corporate planning review.