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    CASH & SURVIVAL

    How long will your cash last?

    Compare monthly cash receipts with payments to estimate runway and the time left before a reserve floor is reached. Change either side to see the cash balance move immediately.

    Manual scenarioLive chart and accessible valuesBrowser calculation

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    Your planning assumptions

    Start with the example, then change the inputs.

    Your planning assumptions
    Use one currency for every amount. Enter 5,000 for five thousand; changing the currency label does not convert your inputs.
    Unrestricted cash only, in actual currency units.
    Money actually collected, not invoiced revenue.
    Include operating payments, debt service, tax and planned capital spending consistently.
    Cash you want to keep untouched. The tool shows when this balance is reached as well as when cash reaches zero.
    Whole months from 1 to 120. The horizon does not cap the calculated runway.

    Calculated in this browser. Your inputs stay in memory and are cleared on reload.

    Methodology

    Cash runway depends on net cash burn.

    Net cash burn is payments less receipts in the same month. With a positive burn rate, divide unrestricted opening cash by that burn to estimate the time until cash reaches zero. A reserve floor creates an earlier planning deadline.

    This is a constant monthly scenario. The line assumes receipts and payments occur uniformly within each month, which permits a fractional crossing date. Negative future balances represent unfunded cash needs; they do not mean a bank will allow an overdraft.

    Net burn = monthly payments − monthly receipts
    Cash at month m = opening cash − net burn × m
    Months to zero = opening cash ÷ positive net burn
    Months to reserve = max(0, opening cash − reserve) ÷ positive net burn

    Illustrative worked example

    Opening cash of $120,000, monthly receipts of $20,000 and payments of $35,000 produce a $15,000 net monthly burn. Cash reaches zero after 8 months. A $30,000 reserve is reached after 6 months, leaving a two-month gap between the reserve deadline and exhaustion.

    Worked example values
    MeasureIllustrative result
    Net monthly burn$15,000
    Reserve deadlineMonth 6
    Cash reaches zeroMonth 8
    Cash at month 12−$60,000

    Assumptions and limits

    • Receipts equal to or above payments produce no finite depletion date under these assumptions. This says nothing about a payment due before the next collection.
    • Opening cash of zero is already exhausted, even if later monthly net cash is positive. A reserve above current cash is already breached.
    • Seasonality, uneven billing, restricted cash and changing financing need a dated cash forecast. Do not substitute this straight line for a 13-week payment plan.

    Why can a profitable business still run out of cash?

    Accounting revenue can precede collection, while inventory, tax and debt repayments consume cash. Enter expected collections and payments rather than revenue and profit; then check their actual due dates before relying on the runway estimate.

    Primary methodology references

    BDC: cash planning and burn rate. Cash collections, payments and a rolling forecast are the relevant liquidity inputs. The constant-rate formula and uniform monthly timing are this calculator’s explicit simplifications.

    Worked examples explain the calculation, not expected business results.