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SaaS Runway Calculator

The SaaS Runway Calculator estimates how many months a company can continue operating before its available cash is exhausted. It uses current cash, monthly cash operating expenses, recurring cash inflows, and optional near-term funding to calculate net burn and runway.

This planning view helps founders and finance teams evaluate hiring pace, financing timing, and cost-control scenarios. Because runway can change quickly, the result is most useful when inputs reflect current cash behavior rather than accounting revenue alone. The calculator also shows a target financing date based on a selected safety buffer, allowing a team to begin fundraising before reaching the end of its cash balance.

Cash and burn assumptions

USD
USD
USD
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months
Result
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Estimated cash runway
Monthly net burn—
Cash including funding—
Months until safety buffer—
Approximate runway end—

1. Enter unrestricted cash
Use cash that can actually support operations; exclude restricted balances.

2. Enter monthly cash expenses
Include payroll, vendors, rent, infrastructure, taxes paid, and other recurring cash outflows.

3. Enter monthly cash inflows
Use expected cash receipts, not merely invoiced or recognized revenue.

4. Add committed funding if appropriate
Include only financing that is sufficiently certain and expected before cash runs out.

5. Choose a safety buffer
Set how many months of runway should remain when fundraising or cost action begins.

6. Review the runway scenario
Recalculate with lower revenue, delayed collections, or higher expenses to see downside sensitivity.

Monthly net burn = Monthly cash expenses − Monthly cash inflows
Runway (months) = (Current cash + Expected funding) ÷ Monthly net burn

If monthly inflows equal or exceed expenses, the business has no positive net burn under the entered assumptions, so a finite runway is not calculated. The financing window equals runway minus the selected safety buffer, floored at zero.

What the result means

The result estimates how long the available cash can support the current net cash burn.

This is a static scenario; changes in revenue, payment timing, hiring, taxes, and financing terms will alter actual runway.

Given: $1,500,000 cash, $250,000 monthly cash expenses, and $140,000 monthly cash inflows.

Calculation: Net burn = $250,000 − $140,000 = $110,000 per month. Runway = $1,500,000 ÷ $110,000 = 13.64 months.

Result: Estimated runway is 13.6 months. With a six-month safety buffer, the company has about 7.6 months before reaching its fundraising threshold.

Should accounts receivable be counted as cash?

No. Use cash already available unless collection is near-certain and you deliberately include it in monthly inflows. Runway is most reliable when based on cash timing.

What does “no burn” mean?

It means entered monthly inflows are equal to or greater than monthly cash expenses. The cash balance is stable or increasing under this simplified scenario.

Should debt availability be added as funding?

Only include amounts the company can realistically draw and intends to use. Undrawn or conditional facilities may not be available when needed.

Why use a safety buffer?

Fundraising and cost reductions take time. A buffer identifies an earlier decision point rather than waiting until cash is nearly exhausted.

How often should runway be updated?

Update it whenever cash, hiring plans, collections, or financing assumptions materially change. Many teams refresh it monthly or more often during tight liquidity periods.