Free tool
Cash Runway & Burn Rate Calculator
How many months of cash you actually have — and what happens to that number if you trim costs or bring money in.
Salaries, rent, suppliers, EMIs, everything
Collections actually received, not invoices raised
Model a change
Result
- Net monthly burn
- ₹0
- Current runway
- —
- Cash-out date
- —
- Runway after changes
- —
Runway is a cash question, not a profit question
A business can be profitable on paper and still run out of money. Profit is an accounting result; runway is a bank balance divided by a rate of depletion. The gap between them is timing — receivables not yet collected, payables about to fall due, loan principal that never touches the P&L.
Use collections, not invoices
The most common error in a runway model is entering revenue rather than cash received. If your customers pay in 75 days, invoices raised this month are not this month’s inflow. Model what actually lands in the bank.
What to do when runway gets short
- Below 12 months — start the funding conversation now if you intend to raise. Processes take three to six months and lenders price desperation accurately.
- Below 6 months — attack the cash conversion cycle before cutting headcount. Collecting 15 days faster is often larger and quicker than a cost programme.
- Below 3 months — this is a weekly cash forecast, not a monthly one, and it needs a named owner.
A 13-week rolling cash flow is the standard tool for this, and it’s part of our virtual CFO service. If collections are the constraint, the working capital calculator will show you where the cash is trapped.
Cash runway — common questions
How do you calculate cash runway?
Runway = cash in hand ÷ net monthly burn, where net burn is monthly cash outflow minus monthly cash inflow. If you hold ₹60 lakh and burn ₹5 lakh net each month, you have 12 months of runway.
What is the difference between gross burn and net burn?
Gross burn is everything going out in a month — salaries, rent, suppliers, interest. Net burn is gross burn less cash coming in. Net burn is what determines runway; gross burn tells you how exposed you are if revenue stops.
What is a healthy amount of runway?
Twelve to eighteen months is the usual comfort zone for a business that intends to raise, because fundraising itself takes three to six months. Below six months, options narrow sharply and you negotiate from weakness. Profitable businesses think in terms of months of fixed costs covered instead.
Should runway be calculated on profit or cash?
Cash, always. Profit includes non-cash items like depreciation and ignores the timing of receivables, payables and loan repayments. Businesses rarely fail because of an accounting loss; they fail because cash runs out while the P&L still looks acceptable.
Does runway include money owed to us?
Not directly — runway is built on cash you actually hold. Strong receivables shorten your effective burn once collected, which is why the model here lets you enter expected monthly collections as inflow rather than treating the debtor book as cash.
Serving businesses across India
A forecast you can actually steer with.
We build and maintain a 13-week rolling cash flow so you see the tight week while there’s still time to do something about it.
Delivered within 24 working hours, or next month is on us. 24 working hours from the moment we have your complete data. The clock runs Monday to Saturday and pauses on Sundays and public holidays. Terms