WEEKCANVAS / PRACTICAL GUIDE

Read your cash runway, one assumption at a time

Weekcanvas models cash month by month so you can compare the effect of planned changes. The result is conditional on the assumptions you enter.

Start with cash, not invoiced revenue

Cash available is the amount available at the start of the model. Monthly revenue means cash received; expenses mean cash paid. All amounts use one currency. The tool changes currency labels but does not convert exchange rates.

The simple case

With $180,000 in cash, $22,000 received monthly and $34,000 spent monthly, net burn is $12,000. With no growth or planned changes, the cash runway is 15 months:

Net burn = $34,000 − $22,000 = $12,000
Runway   = $180,000 ÷ $12,000 = 15 months

When cash reaches zero exactly at the end of month 15, the cash-out date belongs to month 15. If a month's cash covers only part of its shortfall, the tool reports a fraction of that month.

Let the timeline change the answer

Add a hire as a recurring expense, funding as a one-time inflow or equipment as a one-time cost. Enter the month each change starts. Recurring changes can have an end month. Revenue and expense growth rates compound month by month.

Compare scenarios on equal terms

The base case uses your inputs. The revenue stress lowers recurring revenue by your percentage; the cost stress increases recurring expenses. The cost-cut line reduces recurring expenses. One-time inflows and costs stay unchanged in those tests. These are assumption checks, not probabilities or best/worst-case predictions.

A buffer gives you an earlier warning

Set a minimum cash balance to see when the forecast falls below it. That threshold is separate from reaching zero. What would extend it? calculates extra cash needed at the start, or steady monthly savings from month 1, to keep the modeled month-end balances above the chosen floor for your target period.

Understand the horizon

“More than 24 months” means cash does not reach zero in the 24 months shown. It does not mean an unlimited runway. No net burn in the first month also does not guarantee that later planned expenses are covered.

Keep the model's limits visible

The model uses monthly totals, not daily invoice timing. It does not separately model tax schedules, debt repayments, inventory or foreign exchange. Review those needs separately. Export CSV for the base-case monthly numbers and copy the summary for scenario assumptions; printing keeps the current forecast visible for discussion.

← Open Weekcanvas