Burn rate
Monitor your cash burn and see how many months your current cash reserves will last at your current spending rate.
Burn rate
Monitor your cash burn and see how many months your current cash reserves will last at your current spending rate.
“Burn rate” just means how fast your business is spending cash. If you’re spending more than you’re bringing in, your cash balance shrinks a little every month — this calculator tells you how many months you have left before it runs out, so you can act early instead of being caught out.
It can help you answer questions like:
- How much time do I have before I need to find more income or cut costs?
- Is now a safe time to invest in new equipment or staff?
- If I don’t change anything, when do I run into trouble?
What you’ll need to enter:
- Current cash balance — the money actually sitting in your bank account right now. (Example: $50,000.)
- Monthly expenses — everything leaving the business each month: wages, rent, subscriptions, stock. (Example: $12,000.)
- Monthly revenue — what’s actually coming in from sales each month. (Example: $4,000.)
How it works
We subtract your monthly revenue from your monthly expenses to find your “net burn” — how much cash you lose each month — then divide your cash balance by that number.
What the result tells you
With the example numbers, you’re losing $8,000 a month, which gives you about 6 months of cash left. If revenue is higher than expenses, you’re not burning cash at all — your runway is effectively unlimited.
A few ways to use this calculator to buy yourself more time:
- Chase overdue invoices. Money owed to you doesn’t help your cash balance until it’s actually paid. Example: collecting $5,000 in overdue invoices adds $5,000 straight to your runway.
- Trim non-essential spending. Look at subscriptions, tools, or services you’re not fully using. Example: cancelling $300 a month in unused software adds a month of runway over a year.
- Bring revenue forward. A promotion, a follow-up call to warm leads, or asking for deposits upfront can speed up money coming in.
- Know your trigger point. Decide in advance what you’ll do if your runway drops below, say, 3 months — raise prices, cut costs, or look for extra funding — so you’re not deciding under pressure.
In short: this number is your early warning system. The earlier you know your runway, the more options you have.
Figures and results from these calculators are a general guide only and are not financial or professional advice. Consider getting professional advice, such as from a bookkeeper or accountant, before making decisions based on these results.