Timing Engine Overview
This article gives a high level overview of the Timing Engine in Model Reef.
You will learn:
How the timing engine separates when things happen from when cash moves.
How it drives P&L, Balance Sheet, Cashflow and the Cash Waterfall.
What you control in the UI, and what Model Reef calculates automatically.
The timing engine is what makes Model Reef a proper three statement modeller rather than a spreadsheet of disconnected numbers.
1. Core idea: occurrence vs payment
2. What the timing engine controls
The timing engine is responsible for:
Splitting each variable into:
P&L accruals.
Balance Sheet timing differences.
Cashflow movements.
Handling:
Accounts Receivable for revenue delays.
Accounts Payable for cost and staff delays.
Tax Payable and Interest Payable where payment lags accrual.
Keeping the model consistent so that:
Cash always reconciles to the Cashflow Statement.
The Balance Sheet always balances.
You do not write any of these three way reconciliation formulas. The engine does it for you based on timing settings.
3. What you configure in the timing engine
For each variable you control:
Start date and end date.
When the variable starts and stops accruing.
Frequency or schedule.
How often it accrues (for example monthly, quarterly, annual).
Whether it uses a CRON like recurring pattern or a range spread across the period.
Delay or payment terms.
How long after accrual cash is received or paid (for example 0 days, 30 days, 60 days, 1 month).
The combination of these settings defines the occurrence stream, the payment stream and the path between them.
4. How it shows up in each statement
The timing engine determines:
P&L
Shows accruals only.
Revenue, COGS, Opex, Staff, tax, depreciation and interest appear when they are earned or incurred.
Balance Sheet
Stores timing differences between accrual and cash.
Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Staff related payables, Tax Payable and Interest Payable.
Stores assets and liabilities over time and ensures Assets = Liabilities plus Equity.
Cashflow Statement
Shows cash inflows and outflows when money moves.
Receipts from customers, payments to suppliers and staff, tax paid, capex, debt movements, equity movements and dividends.
Cash Waterfall
Uses P&L figures down to EBITDA.
Then uses cash flows for working capital, capex, debt and equity.
Provides a clean bridge from operating performance to changes in cash for investors.
All of this is driven from variable timing settings and the timing engine rules.
5. Where you work with timing in the UI
You will typically touch the timing engine through:
The Timing section or modal inside each variable.
Payment terms fields for revenue, COGS, Opex and Staff.
Capex timing fields for asset variables.
Loan drawdown and repayment timing for liability variables.
You do not need to think about journal entries. You just specify when things happen and the engine handles the accounting mechanics.
6. When to care about timing settings
You should pay particular attention to timing when:
Payment terms or collection patterns matter for cash runway.
Working capital (receivables, payables) is an important driver.
Capex and debt drawdowns are large and lumpy.
You are doing valuation, project finance or debt capacity analysis.
In other words, most serious models. Getting timing right often matters as much as getting the absolute levels right.
Related articles
Last updated