Is there a non-katakana word for “cash flow”?

Question

If you look up "cash flow" in most dictionaries, it seems the concept is expressed in katakana, キャッシュフロー.

However, I was speaking with a Japanese person earlier, and the term was not immediately understood. I ended up having to explain in a roundabout way that I was referring to my income and outflow of cash, and how it effected the amount I had available at one time.

Two questions:

Is キャッシュフロー not in common use by everyone?

In any case, is there a clearer native Japanese term I can use to express the same concept?

Answer 1

The problem with 'cashflow' in English is that it has a business meaning (which I think is income generated from a business or investment) and a colloquial meaning (referring to liquidity or general financial situation).

If you're looking for an equivalent to the business term, I think キャッシュフロー is probably ok. But if you're just trying to refer to your impecuniousness in a mock-business sort of way, you should look for something else. キャッシュフロー hasn't made it into ordinary Japanese vocabulary in the same way that 'cashflow' has in English. I might suggest 金銭状態 as a possible equivalent, but there are probably snappier and more appropriate ways of saying it.

Note: I just thought of the expression 金回り, which might also fit the bill -- although 金回り could suggest a rather more serious situation than the casual use of 'cashflow' would imply. At any rate, this page (http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E9%87%91%E5%9B%9E%E3%82%8A) gives a lot of interesting synonyms for 金回り that might be useful:

1. 個人・会社などの金回り
   収支 ・ 財政状態 ・ ふところ具合 ・ 台所事情 ・ 金繰り ・ 資金繰り ・ 金融（調査） ・ （金の）流れ

2. 金回りがよい
   羽振りがよい ・ 金がうなっている ・ 潤っている ・ 金持ち ・ バブル（紳士） ・ 潤沢な資金をもつ～

3. 金回りがよくない
   経済的苦境（にある） ・ 手元不如意 ・ しけている ・ 苦しい ・ （台所は）火の車 ・ 金欠病 ・ 金詰まり

Answer 2

You could use 収支【しゅうし】 (which is a contraction of 収入【しゅうにゅう】 and 支出【ししゅつ】). It means "earnings and expenses", which is basically the same as "cash flow". Although it's not informal like "cash flow", so if you are looking for something informal or slang-y, this wouldn't be a good choice.

Answer 3

キャッシュフローis rather formal and isn't used in everyday conversation I think.

maybe you could consider using 家計

not sure tho