Summary

This burn rate calculator turns cash on hand, monthly revenue, and monthly opex into gross burn, net burn, and runway in months, the same math used across VC due diligence. Enter a proposed raise amount to see post-raise runway, and get a stage-scaled flag, pre-seed, seed, or Series A, when runway sits below the typical buffer needed before the next round. Built for analysts screening a deal or checking a portfolio company's cash position before the founder raises it with you.

Burn Rate Calculator: Model Runway Before the Next Raise

Enter cash on hand, monthly revenue, and monthly opex to get gross burn, net burn, and runway in months, then stress-test the number against a proposed raise size before it goes into the memo.

Try the calculator

Burn rate and runway calculator

Pull the three numbers from the data room or the founder's latest update. The runway read updates live as you change any field.

Gross monthly burn $0 / mo
Net monthly burn $0 / mo
Runway today 0 months

Enter the numbers above to see the runway read.

How it works

The math behind the runway number

Gross vs. net burn

Gross burn is total monthly opex, before any revenue is netted out. Net burn subtracts monthly revenue from that figure, and it is what actually depletes cash on hand and drives runway, so it is the number worth anchoring a screening call on.

Runway math

Runway in months equals cash on hand divided by net burn, the same division every fund and accelerator uses. When revenue clears opex, net burn turns negative and the company is cash-flow positive: runway stops being a limiting factor at all.

Stage-scaled screening flag

The flag scales with deal stage. Pre-seed, seed, and Series A companies face different typical fundraising timelines, so the tool applies a different runway floor to each, rather than one blanket number for every deal on your desk.

Why the floor matters

The buffer this tool applies, by stage

6-10 mo
Runway floor flagged by this tool, scaled to deal stage
2x
Buffer multiple applied to a typical time-to-close, per stage
$0
Cost to run the calculation, no signup required
40+
Sources Accorata's Scout cross-checks against a founder's cash claims
Workflow

From input to a screening call in three steps

  1. 1

    Enter the three burn inputs

    Cash on hand, monthly revenue, and monthly operating expenses, pulled from the data room, the cap table update, or the founder's latest monthly investor email.

  2. 2

    Read gross burn, net burn, and runway

    The widget computes both burn figures and converts net burn into a runway in months, live, as you adjust any input, along with a flag scaled to the deal's stage.

  3. 3

    Add the proposed raise

    Enter the round size under discussion to see the resulting post-raise runway, a fast sanity check before the number goes into the IC memo or gets read out on the partner call.

Common questions

Is this free to use?
Yes. The calculator runs in your browser, there is no signup and no data leaves the page beyond an anonymous tool-run ping used for our own product analytics.
Where does the runway formula come from?
Gross burn, net burn, and cash divided by net burn for runway are the standard definitions used across VC due diligence and startup finance, the same math accelerators and funds apply when screening a deal.
What counts as monthly operating expenses?
Total monthly cash outflow before revenue: payroll, rent, tooling, and contractors. Leave out one-off or non-cash items like stock-based compensation if you want a pure cash view.
Why does the flag threshold change by deal stage?
Pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds run on different typical fundraising timelines. The threshold applies a buffer scaled to how long the next process is likely to take at that stage.
What happens if net burn comes out negative?
The company's monthly revenue exceeds its opex, so cash on hand is growing rather than shrinking. Runway stops being a limiting factor at that burn profile.
Does this replace the IC memo's cash section?
No. It gives you a fast, defensible runway number to drop into the memo, the qualitative read on the founder's plan still belongs to the analyst.
Can I use it for portfolio monitoring, not just new deals?
Yes. Run it quarterly against a portfolio company's actuals to catch a runway problem before the founder has to raise it with you.
Should I use the founder's own burn number or recompute it?
Recompute it from the underlying cash, revenue, and opex figures whenever you can. Founders sometimes quote a stale or optimistic burn number, and the three raw inputs are usually available in the data room or the monthly update deck.

Bring the runway math into your next IC memo.

Accorata generates the same kind of cash read automatically, cited and IC-ready, across your whole shortlist.

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