Turn cash balance and burn into a survival plan
Estimate how many months the company can operate with the current cash balance, monthly revenue, cost base, and growth assumptions, then compare simple cost-cut scenarios.
Inputs and outputs stay in this browser unless you copy, download, print, save, or share them.
Primary task
- Enter cash balance, monthly revenue, monthly spend, and growth assumptions.
- Calculate gross burn, net burn, cash-zero timing, and runway status.
- Use scenarios to see how cost cuts or revenue growth change survival time.
Result and export
- Runway months, burn-rate figures, cash-zero date, revenue gap, and scenario table.
- Copy and TXT download actions for founder updates or investor prep.
- Planning note that keeps the estimate local-first and non-official.
Before you use it
- Separate booked revenue from collected cash.
- Add payroll taxes, contractor commitments, loan repayments, and founder draw if applicable.
- Re-run after every material hire, layoff, funding event, or revenue miss.
Assumptions and freshness
Planning utility only. It is not an official filing, legal, tax, accounting, security, finance, platform, lender, or live-data service.
What is startup runway?
Runway is the number of months the current cash balance could cover a positive monthly net burn, assuming the entered cash collections and costs stay constant. It is one planning signal, not a prediction or investor requirement.
What's the difference between gross burn and net burn?
Gross burn is your total monthly expenditure — all costs before any revenue. Net burn is gross burn minus revenue. If you spend ₦2M/month and earn ₦800k/month, your net burn is ₦1.2M/month. Runway is calculated using net burn.
How do African startups typically extend runway?
Test actions you can control: remove unused subscriptions, renegotiate vendor commitments, delay discretionary spend, shorten collection cycles, and model a smaller hiring plan. Check employment and contract obligations before changing pay or staffing.
What runway should I target before raising funding?
There is no universal target. Set an internal minimum that covers the time needed to reach the next financing or operating milestone, plus a contingency for slower collections and unexpected costs.