Cash Flow Forecast Template for Startups

For a startup, the cash flow forecast is the runway calculation. It tells founders how many months they have, when the money runs out, and the latest date to start raising the next round. Investors ask for it, and boards expect it to be updated every month.

What makes startup cash flow different

Early-stage companies spend ahead of revenue by design. That changes what the forecast has to do:

• Burn, not profit, is the key number. Net burn is monthly cash out minus cash in, excluding funding. It is the figure runway is built on.
• Funding is lumpy. A seed round, a SAFE or an R&D tax credit can arrive in a single month and dwarf everything else. It should be modelled separately so it doesn’t hide how fast the business burns cash.
• Hiring is the biggest decision. Salaries are usually 60 to 70 percent of spend, and each hire adds cost every month from their start date.
• Revenue grows from a small base. Monthly growth rates matter more than today’s absolute revenue.

A worked example

A startup has $650,000 in the bank, $14,000 of monthly revenue growing 7 percent a month, and spends about $110,000 a month.

At roughly $96,000 of net burn, the company has about 6.8 months of runway. Fundraising usually takes around six months from first meetings to money in the bank, so the founders need to start now, not when the balance looks low.

How to build a startup cash forecast

1. Start from cash in the bank today.
2. Model revenue from current monthly revenue and a realistic growth rate.
3. List salaries by person or role, with start dates for planned hires.
4. Add hosting, software, marketing, office and professional fees.
5. Put funding in a separate schedule with the month you realistically expect it.
6. Calculate net burn and runway, and the month cash runs out without new funding.

Read more in how to calculate cash runway, or try the numbers in the free cash flow calculator.

Mistakes founders make

Counting a round as closed before the money lands. Using gross burn when investors ask about net burn. Forgetting recruiting fees, equipment for new hires and annual software contracts. And using average burn when the hiring plan means burn will rise sharply in six months.

What the template gives you

The Startup template adds a funding schedule for rounds, notes, grants and venture debt, and a runway tab that shows monthly burn, months left, the month cash runs out and the date to start raising. Loans and investment are excluded from burn automatically. The free Startup Runway template covers the basics if you’re pre-seed.

Key assumptions built into the Startup template

• The Funding Schedule tab lists large, irregular payments with the month each starts, how many payments there are and how often they repeat. The example includes pre-seed safe, seed round and r&d tax credit. Each one is routed to the right line of the forecast, and there are spare rows for your own.
• The Runway tab reads the 12-Month forecast and shows operating burn excluding funding, months of runway left at each month end, the month cash runs out and the latest month to start raising, allowing 6 months to close a round.
• 5 cash in lines and 7 cash out lines are already named for startup businesses, and every one can be renamed or extended. Loans and investment (equity investment rounds, convertible notes / safes and venture debt) are kept out of the runway calculation and don’t grow automatically in the 3-year outlook.
• The example figures follow a fairly even year, which suits most startup businesses; add your own seasonal pattern if you have one.

Every assumption sits in a yellow input cell, so you replace the example with your own numbers in minutes. The same figures flow through a 13-week weekly view, a 12-month monthly view and a 3-year outlook, and a dashboard shows your lowest balance, the weeks that fall below your minimum buffer and your cash runway.

Free or premium?

If you only need the basics, the free 12-month template or the free 13-week template will get you started today. The premium Startup template saves the setup time and adds the tabs above, best and worst case scenarios, and an actual vs forecast tracker that shows where your forecast was wrong, so next month’s is better.

Startup cash flow forecasting: questions

How do I calculate startup runway?

Divide cash in the bank by average monthly net burn, which is cash out minus cash in, excluding any funding. $600,000 with $100,000 net burn is six months of runway.

When should a startup start fundraising?

Most founders allow about six months to close a round. Start raising when you still have at least six to nine months of runway.

Should investment be included in a startup cash flow forecast?

Yes, but keep it on separate lines so burn and runway are calculated without it, and only include money you have strong reason to expect.