Free tools / Runway calculator
Free toolRunway calculator
How long can your business keep going on the cash it has? This is the number that decides how much time you have to fix things, and most owners have never worked it out.
Your numbers
Nothing you type here is stored.
Your runway will appear here
Fill in your cash, income and spending, then press Calculate.
How to buy yourself more time
How runway works
The formula
Runway = cash ÷ monthly net burn
If you have 6,000,000 and you lose 600,000 a month, you have ten months. That is the whole calculation. The hard part is being honest about the two numbers you put into it.
When runway does not apply
If you bring in more than you spend, your cash is growing and there is no countdown to measure. Some calculators show infinity or a negative number here. Both are useless, so this one explains your position instead.
What this does and does not include
- It assumes today's rate continues. A new hire, a lost customer or a price rise all change it.
- It uses cash, not profit. Money invoiced but not yet received will not keep the lights on.
- It does not know about a tax bill, a loan repayment or an annual renewal ahead. Fold those into your monthly spending.
- Growth assumptions are a plan, not a forecast. The straight calculation with no growth is the number to make decisions on.
- Most businesses want to start raising or fixing things when runway drops under six months, because both take longer than people expect.
Questions people ask
There is no universal number, but the honest guide is this: however long it would take you to fix the problem, plus a margin. Raising money realistically takes three to six months. Turning a business cash positive usually takes longer. If your runway is shorter than the fix, you are already late. Under six months is the point most people should be acting rather than watching.
Collecting what you are already owed, almost always. It needs no new customers and no cuts, and the money is legally yours. After that, raising prices moves the number faster than cutting costs, because a price rise lands on every sale while a cost cut is a one off. Cutting costs works, but it is usually the slowest and most painful of the three.
Not in the cash box. Put in what is actually in the bank. If a large receipt is genuinely certain and imminent, you can add it to next month's income, but be strict with yourself. Counting money you have not received is exactly how businesses with healthy looking figures miss payroll.
Because runway is a division, and dividing by a small number moves fast. When your income is close to your spending, the gap between them is tiny, so a small change to either sends the runway swinging. That sensitivity is real, not a flaw in the maths, and it is worth knowing about your own business.
If that number worried you, it should be a conversation.
A free financial health check on your real numbers, with an accountant, not a calculator.
Get your free health check