Burn rate calculator

How to use it

Enter your figures above — the result updates instantly and nothing leaves your browser. Burn rate calculator results are illustrative and not a quote or credit decision.

How to interpret the result

The number this calculator produces is a snapshot, not a forecast. It tells you how quickly cash left the business over the period you entered, and, on current trends, roughly how long the remaining balance would last if nothing changed. The moment you win a new contract, delay a purchase, or bring forward a VAT bill, the real trajectory shifts — so treat the runway figure as a planning prompt rather than a fixed deadline.

It is also worth checking whether the period you selected is representative. A single quarter that included a one-off cost (a deposit, a legal fee, an unusual stock order) will overstate ongoing burn, while a quiet quarter can understate it. Running the calculator across two or three different periods and comparing the results gives a much steadier read than relying on any one window in isolation.

Limitations and good practice

This tool only ever sees two balances and a length of time — it has no visibility into the mix behind those numbers. It cannot distinguish burn driven by growth investment (hiring ahead of revenue, building stock for a busy season) from burn caused by margin pressure or slipping receivables, yet those two situations call for very different responses from a director. Use the figure as a trigger to look under the bonnet of the management accounts, not as the end of the analysis.

As good practice, recalculate on a rolling basis rather than once and forget it, and read the result alongside your cash flow forecast and debtor days rather than on its own. If runway is shortening, the earlier a limited company identifies it and explores its options — whether that is tightening collections, renegotiating supplier terms, or looking at business loans or Credicorp Flex for working capital — the more choices remain on the table.