apps/website/src/app/docs/content/check-runway.mdx
Runway tells you how many months you can keep operating based on your current cash and spending rate. It's one of the most important metrics for any founder.
Knowing your runway helps you:
You'll see:
The formula is straightforward:
Runway (months) = Cash Balance ÷ Average Monthly Burn Rate
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Cash on hand | $120,000 |
| Monthly burn rate | $20,000 |
| Runway | 6 months |
Only liquid assets count toward your cash balance:
| Account Type | Examples | Included in Cash? |
|---|---|---|
| Depository | Checking, Savings | Yes |
| Other Asset | Money Market, Treasury | Yes |
| Credit | Credit Cards | No |
| Loan | Business Loans | No |
Why credit cards and loans don't count: They represent borrowed money, not cash you have. A $50,000 credit limit doesn't extend your runway—it's debt you'll need to repay.
Burn rate is the average of your monthly expenses over the past 3-6 months. This smoothing prevents one-time expenses from dramatically skewing your runway.
Excluded from burn rate:
| Runway | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 12+ months | Comfortable | Keep building, you have time to experiment |
| 6-12 months | Healthy | Normal operating range for growing businesses |
| 3-6 months | Caution | Time to focus on extending runway |
| Under 3 months | Critical | Immediate action needed |
These benchmarks depend on your situation:
If you have bank accounts in different currencies:
Your runway is shown in your base currency for a unified view.
Accounts you've disabled in settings don't count toward:
Only disable accounts you want to exclude from your financial picture entirely.
If your burn rate is zero or negative (you're profitable), runway shows as infinite. You're making more than you spend—your cash grows over time.
This means either:
Check that your accounts are connected and transactions are syncing.
You have two levers: increase cash or decrease burn.
| Scenario | Cash | Monthly Burn | Runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | $60,000 | $10,000 | 6 months |
| Reduce burn by $2,000 | $60,000 | $8,000 | 7.5 months |
| Add $20,000 cash | $80,000 | $10,000 | 8 months |
| Both | $80,000 | $8,000 | 10 months |
Small changes in burn rate can significantly extend runway.
Configure notifications to alert you when:
Runway is the first metric investors ask about. Being able to say "We have 8 months of runway and are growing 15% monthly" is much better than "We have money for a while."
Sharing runway (at least directionally) helps everyone make better decisions about spending and prioritization.
Runway context helps advisors give relevant advice. Different strategies apply at 12 months vs. 3 months.