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Canonical formula calculator

Runway

How many months of operating cash you have at your current burn rate.

Worked example

How the number is worked out

A studio with money in the bank and more going out each month than coming in.

Starting from

Cash on hand$48,000
Net burn each month$6,000

Working

Cash ÷ monthly burn$48,000 ÷ $6,000
Runway8.0 months

Eight months at today’s burn — and the number moves the moment either figure does. It assumes this month repeats, which is the assumption most worth testing rather than trusting.

What this tells you

Runway is the simplest cash health number: how many months you can keep operating at your current burn rate before you run out. It is the metric every early-stage operator should know to the week.

When to use it

Check runway monthly. Recalculate any time burn changes — when you hire, when you sign a new lease, when you cut a contractor. A six-month runway is a different operating reality than a sixteen-month runway, and the actions that follow are different too.

What it doesn’t tell you

Runway assumes burn stays constant, which it usually doesn't. It also doesn't account for revenue coming in — if you have inbound cash, your effective runway is longer. Use this as the worst-case floor, not the operating ceiling.

Reckon it, don’t just calc it

A calculator gives you today’s number. Reckon takes your plan to make your own money and checks it against what’s real — your margin, your price, what it takes to hit the take-home you want. No AI, no guessing — the same input always gives the same answer.

Runway Calculator — Moonshot