Burn Rate & Runway Tracker

What you get

A five-sheet Excel workbook that functions as a single source of truth for startup cash management. Enter your monthly inflows and outflows by category and the workbook calculates gross burn, net burn, rolling averages, and forward runway automatically — no manual formulas required.

Who it's for

Funded startup founders and finance leads who need a reliable, board-ready view of the runway at any point in the month. Most useful in the weeks before a board meeting or investor update, or any time a hiring or spending decision requires a clear-eyed look at how long the cash lasts.

What's inside

• Monthly Cash Ledger — enter inflows and outflows row by row; the sheet handles all running totals and period-over-period changes.
• Burn Breakdown by Category — separate line items for payroll, vendors, infrastructure, marketing, and other operating expenses give a granular picture of where cash is going.
• Gross and Net Burn Summary — calculated fields for both gross and net burn, plus a rolling 3-month average to smooth out one-time spikes.
• Runway Calculator — projects months of runway at current burn pace and at projected pace, updating instantly as inputs change.
• Scenario Planner — model the runway impact of targeted cost reductions across any category; input a percentage cut and see the extended runway without touching underlying data.
• Board Summary Tab — a print-ready, single-page snapshot of all critical metrics formatted for investor and board reporting with no additional formatting work required.

How to use it

Open the file in Microsoft Excel or upload it to Google Sheets. Begin with the Monthly Cash Ledger, entering your opening cash balance and categorized outflows for each month on record. The Burn Breakdown, Runway Calculator, and Scenario Planner populate from those inputs. When a board meeting is approaching, go directly to the Board Summary tab, verify the figures, and print or export to PDF.