Is there a non-katakana word for "cash flow"?


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?




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




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.

