Burn rate calculator

Use this burn rate calculator to find gross and net monthly burn from your costs and revenue, and the runway in months that your cash in the bank allows.

Free, no sign-up. Runs in your browser, with no AI calls.

Your result

Gross burn
$50,000

Gross burn = cash spent per month

Net burn
$20,000

Net burn = gross burn - monthly revenue collected

Runway
12.0 months

Runway = cash in the bank / net burn

Revenue increase to stop burning
$20,000

Revenue increase = net burn, when net burn is above zero

Highest net burn for the target runway
$13,333.33

Highest net burn = cash / target months

Monthly cut needed for the target
$6,666.67

Cut needed = net burn - highest net burn

What this means

At this pace, the cash in the bank lasts about 12.0 months.

Next step

To reach 18 months, lower net burn by $6,666.67 a month through lower costs, more collected revenue or both. Raising money or arranging a loan takes time, so start before the cash runs low. Find the break-even point

Worked example. Change the inputs to use your own data. Currency follows the page language; no exchange-rate conversion is applied.

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Gross burn is the cash a business spends each month. Net burn subtracts the cash it brings in. Spending 50,000 a month with 30,000 of revenue is a net burn of 20,000, so 240,000 in the bank lasts 12 months. When revenue covers costs, operations stop shrinking the cash.

How to use this tool

Gross burn
Gross burn = total cash spent in a month on salaries, rent, software, marketing and other operating costs, as Carta defines it. Use an average of recent months if spending moves around.
Net burn and runway
Net burn = gross burn - monthly revenue collected. Runway in months = cash in the bank / net burn. Use cash actually received, and leave out invoices that are still unpaid.
Plan a target runway
Highest net burn for the target = cash / target months. The cut needed is current net burn minus that figure, through lower costs, more revenue or both. The runway assumes costs and revenue stay at their current level.

Carta: burn rate, published July 11, 2025

Questions before you start

Net burn, when revenue comes in reliably each month. Gross burn shows how long the cash would last if revenue stopped, a useful worst case for a business that depends on a few large clients.

Then net burn is zero or negative and operations add cash instead of using it, so the calculator reports no runway limit from burn. Tax bills, loan repayments and large purchases can still drain cash, so add them to monthly costs in the months they fall due.

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