How to Calculate Burn Rate
What is Burn Rate?
Burn rate is the speed at which a startup or business spends its cash reserves. Gross burn is total monthly spending; net burn is spending minus revenue. Runway = Cash reserves ÷ Net burn rate.
Step-by-Step Guide
- 1Add up all monthly outgoings (salaries, rent, servers, marketing, etc.) — this is gross burn
- 2Subtract monthly revenue — this gives net burn rate
- 3Divide remaining cash by net burn to find runway in months
Worked Examples
Input
Cash $500k · Gross burn $80k · Revenue $20k
Result
8.3 months runway
Net burn $60k → $500k ÷ $60k
Input
Cash $1M · Net burn $100k
Result
10 months runway
Time to raise or reach break-even
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