# Case: can Klasna grow Teams without a loan?

> Three profitable corporate deals and a summer cash low: test invoice payment terms, invoicing, prepayment and pace against the buffer, and decide whether working capital financing needs a loan.

- Course: [Finance for Product People: From Unit Economics to Business Cases](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product.md)
- Module: How much cash does growth need?
- Lesson 16/32, ~42 min
- Source: https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/teams-growth-case

## Three profitable deals

**Alex Tutor:** Leo wants to sign three deals on Friday, and Klasna's product team, you included, checks them first.

**Leo:** Three companies are ready to sign Teams contracts: a logistics firm from March, an IT services company from April and a retail chain from June. I want to sign all three on Friday. Can our own cash carry them, or do I call the bank?

**Hanna:** The deals are good: 800 per lesson, 430 to the tutor, 31 for video and AI. What worries me is the calendar. I've put them into the 2027 plan on the terms sales is offering: one invoice a quarter, paid 60 days later. We pay tutors from March; the first money arrives in July.

**Dataset (CSV):** [The three deals in Klasna's 2027 cash plan](https://productovi.com/datasets/finance-for-product/teams-growth-case/klasna-teams-growth-2027.csv)

One row per month, UAH, on today's terms: invoices on the last day of February, May, August and November, paid 60 days later. base_closing_cash is the plan from the previous lesson; the buffer is 1,000,000 at every month end.

- `new_lessons`: Lessons of the three deals this month
- `tutor_payouts_paid_uah`: Cash out: tutor payouts
- `video_ai_paid_uah`: Cash out: video and AI, a month later
- `invoiced_uah`: Invoices sent this month (not cash)
- `collected_uah`: Cash in: invoices paid this month
- `cumulative_effect_uah`: The deals' cash effect since January
- `base_closing_cash_uah`: Month-end cash in the plan without the deals
- `closing_cash_with_deals_uah`: Month-end cash with the deals

**Alex Tutor:** Start with what the deals earn. new_lessons counts their lessons month by month.

> **Exercise:** Use the cash plan with the deals. How much **contribution** do the three deals earn in 2027? Contribution per lesson is the price (800) minus the tutor payout (430) minus video and AI (31).

## What the bank sees

**Sofia:** 3.34 million of contribution. That should make the summer easier, not harder.

**Alex Tutor:** Each month's balance with the deals is the old plan plus the deals' effect so far. Find the month that matters.

> **Exercise:** Use the cash plan with the deals. What is Klasna's **lowest month-end cash** in 2027 with the three deals on today's terms?

## Profit this year, cash next year

**Leo:** Minus 105 thousand in August, fine. But by December we're back at 4.6 million anyway.

**Alex Tutor:** Compare December with and without the deals: 4,647,317.50 against 4,705,267.50. The deals earn 3.34 million this year, and the bank ends the year 57,950 lower.

> **Exercise:** The deals earn 3,339,150 UAH of contribution in 2027, yet with them Klasna ends the year with 57,950 **less** cash than without them. Why?

## Shorter terms?

**Leo:** Then I ask for 30 days instead of 60. They pay a month sooner, done.

**Hanna:** I tried that. June improves by 1.44 million. August doesn't move: still minus 105,217.50.

**Alex Tutor:** Before I explain, try to work it out. Look at the date the summer invoice goes out.

> **Exercise:** Leo asks: "If the clients pay in 30 days instead of 60, why is August still at −105,217.50?" The deals are invoiced once a quarter, on the last day of February, May, August and November. Answer in 2–4 sentences.

**Alex Tutor:** August is a quarter end: its invoice goes out on 31 August and is unpaid that day on any terms. Terms decide when an invoice is paid; the invoice calendar decides how much work waits for one.

## Invoice payment terms: invoice every month

**Sofia:** So instead of shorter terms, shorter periods. Send an invoice every month.

**Alex Tutor:** Try it with 30-day terms. Tutors and video are paid exactly as before, so only the collections change: each month's invoice is paid the following month.

> **Exercise:** New contracts are invoiced on the last day of every month and paid 30 days later. Tutor payouts and video are paid as before. What would Klasna's cash be at the end of **August 2027**?

**Alex Tutor:** Before Hanna's comparison, price the simplest option: borrow to cover the summer on today's terms.

> **Exercise:** On today's terms, Klasna would draw on a credit line at 24% a year (2% a month) to bring each month-end back up to the 1,000,000 UAH buffer. Use the month-ends with the deals for June, July and August. About how much **interest** would that cost, at 2% of each month's shortfall?

## Working capital financing options compared

**Hanna:** I ran the other ideas through the plan too: every way to finance the working capital these deals tie up, from a credit line to client prepayments and a slower start. Here they are side by side.

> **What-ifs for the three deals**
>
> | Option | Lowest month-end in 2027 | Months below 1,000,000 |
> |---|---|---|
> | No deals (the base plan) | August 592,132.50 | 2 |
> | Today's terms: quarterly invoices, 60 days | August −105,217.50 | 3 |
> | Quarterly invoices, 30 days | August −105,217.50 | 2 |
> | Monthly invoices, 60 days | July 748,730 | 2 |
> | Monthly invoices, 30 days | January 1,224,590 (before the deals start) | 0 |
> | Retail chain from September (quarterly, 60 days) | August 349,582.50 | 2 |
> | Each client prepays its first month (920,000 in all; quarterly, 60 days) | August 814,782.50 | 1 |
>
> A credit line at 24% that keeps the buffer on today's terms: about 41,724 of interest (2% a month on June's, July's and August's shortfalls).

**Hanna:** A loan works on paper, and 41,724 is cheap next to 3.34 million. But the bank decides in spring, and in August it would be lending to a company at minus 105,000.

**Leo:** And if we slow down? The retail chain could start in September.

**Alex Tutor:** Put a price on slowing down before we judge it.

> **Exercise:** The retail chain would buy 400 Teams lessons a month at a contribution of 339 UAH per lesson. If it starts in September instead of June, how much **contribution** does Klasna give up in 2027?

**Alex Tutor:** That gives up 406,800 of contribution, and August still ends at 349,582.50. Pace is the most expensive lever here, and it doesn't even close the gap.

**Sofia:** And the prepayment asks clients for 920,000 up front and still leaves August under the buffer.

**Alex Tutor:** Two levers, one summer. Pick the one that works.

> **Exercise:** With the three deals on quarterly invoices and 60-day terms, August 2027 ends at −105,217.50 UAH. Which lever keeps every 2027 month-end at or above the 1,000,000 UAH buffer?

## Your turn: the answer for Leo

**Leo:** Friday is close. Can we sign all three without a loan, and what exactly do I offer the clients?

**Hanna:** And don't forget: our summer is below the buffer even without Teams.

**Alex Tutor:** The verdict goes in the first line. Then the numbers that prove it, the terms for the clients and a fallback if one of them says no.

**Alex Tutor:** One last check before you write: the order of the argument.

> **Exercise:** Put the steps for testing whether profitable growth needs a loan in order.

> **Exercise:** Write Leo's answer: can Klasna sign all three Teams deals without a loan, and on what terms?

> **Key ideas**
>
> - Profitable growth isn't funded growth: the deals earn 3,339,150 UAH in 2027, yet on quarterly invoices with 60 days August falls to −105,217.50 and 3,680,000 is still with clients on 31 December.
> - Test growth month by month against the buffer, not the year against zero.
> - Shorter terms move cash between months; the invoice calendar decides how much work waits for an invoice. On quarterly invoices, 30 days leave August where 60 days do.
> - Monthly invoices with 30 days keep every month above the buffer (lowest: January, 1,224,590) at the cost of an invoice a month.
> - Compare levers by cost and by whether they close the gap: a slower start costs 406,800 and misses; a credit line (about 41,724) is a backup, not the plan.

**Alex Tutor:** That's the module: growth that customers pay for up front funds itself, and growth on credit has to be funded by someone. Decide who before you sign.

- Previous lesson: [A twelve-month cash flow forecast](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/twelve-month-cash-plan.md)
- Next lesson: [Price vs volume: how many customers can a discount lose?](https://productovi.com/courses/finance-for-product/price-vs-volume.md)

---
Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.