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Startup Runway Calculator

Find how long your cash will last at your current burn rate.

How it is calculated

Runway is the number of months of cash left at the current rate of loss. The tool first computes net burn, net burn = monthly spending − monthly revenue, then runway = cash balance / net burn. Revenue is optional and treated as 0 if left blank, so then the runway is simply cash divided by gross spending. If revenue equals or exceeds spending, net burn is zero or negative, the company is not losing cash and the tool shows ∞ instead of a number. Cash and burn must not be negative. The result assumes spending and revenue stay constant; in reality they change, and payment delays or fundraising lead times are not modelled. Amounts display in dollars.

Worked example

A startup holds 240,000 in cash, spends 35,000 a month and brings in 15,000 a month in revenue. Net burn: 35,000 − 15,000 = $20,000.00 per month. Runway: 240,000 / 20,000 = 12.00 months. Without any revenue the same company would last only 240,000 / 35,000 ≈ 6.86 months, which shows how much revenue extends the runway.

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Common mistakes

  • Entering net burn in the monthly spending field and revenue as well, which subtracts revenue twice.
  • Using annual figures for burn or revenue while expecting the answer in months.
  • Counting a funding round or receivable that has not arrived as cash.
  • Forgetting that growing costs shorten the runway, so the constant-burn answer is optimistic.
  • Reading the ∞ result as safety forever, when it only means revenue currently covers spending.

Sources

About this calculator

This calculator finds a startup's cash runway — how many months the company can operate before running out of money — as cash on hand divided by net burn rate (monthly expenses minus monthly revenue). If revenue covers or exceeds expenses, burn is zero or negative and runway is effectively infinite.

Founders, CFOs, and venture capital investors use runway to decide when to start the next fundraise (a common rule of thumb is to begin 6–9 months before cash runs out), to judge whether spending needs to be cut, and to compare a startup's survival timeline across scenarios.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    A runway figure is most useful next to a deadline. Subtract the time you expect a fundraising round or a break-even plan to take, and the remainder is how long you have before you must act. With 12.00 months of runway and a raise that takes six, the real decision point is around month six. Try a second run with the spending you expect after hiring. What is your next milestone?

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