Burn rate calculator for startups
Burn rate is the cash a company loses each month as it uses up its reserves. Enter starting cash, ending cash, the months in the period and any money raised. You get period net burn, monthly net burn and runway in months, then the figure to use on the burn multiple calculator.
Your result
Period net burn, monthly net burn and runway show here.
This is arithmetic. It is not financial, investment or tax advice.
Updated 2026-11-07
How it is worked out
- Period net burn = starting cash − ending cash + money raised in the period.
- Monthly net burn = period net burn ÷ months in the period.
- Runway = ending cash ÷ monthly net burn, in months to one decimal.
Money raised is added back because it raises ending cash without coming from operations. If period net burn is zero or negative, there is no burn to measure and no runway is shown. MetricHQ describes net burn, often called burn rate, as the amount a company is losing per month as it burns through its cash reserves (MetricHQ).
A worked example
Starting cash $5,000,000, ending cash $4,100,000, a 3-month period and nothing raised.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Period net burn | $5,000,000 − $4,100,000 + $0 | $900,000 |
| Monthly net burn | $900,000 ÷ 3 | $300,000 |
| Runway | $4,100,000 ÷ $300,000 | 13.7 months |
From burn rate to burn multiple
The burn multiple calculator takes net burn for a period and net new ARR for the same period. Use the period figure, $900,000 in the example, and not the monthly one. This page passes no values to it: type the figure in there. What burn multiple means explains the ratio and the bands.