What is the primary purpose of a liquidity forecast?

The primary purpose of a liquidity forecast is to project future cash flows and assess fund availability. This is crucial for businesses to ensure they have adequate cash on hand to meet upcoming obligations, such as paying suppliers, employees, and other expenses. By anticipating the timing and amount of cash inflows and outflows, a liquidity forecast helps organizations manage their financial health effectively. This proactive approach enables businesses to identify potential shortfalls or surpluses ahead of time, allowing for better planning and decision-making.

In contrast, determining stock investment strategies focuses on how to allocate resources into equity markets, which is not directly related to liquidity management. Analyzing historical sales performance is more concerned with past data and does not provide the forward-looking insights that a liquidity forecast offers. Calculating the return on investment measures the profitability of specific investments rather than assessing overall cash flow dynamics. Thus, the correct answer reflects the fundamental role of liquidity forecasting in maintaining a business's operational effectiveness.