apps/website/src/app/docs/content/check-runway.mdx

---
title: Check Your Runway
description: See how long your cash will last based on current spending and what affects this calculation.
section: reports
order: 3
---

Runway tells you how many months you can keep operating based on your current cash and spending rate. It's one of the most important metrics for any founder.

## Why runway matters

Knowing your runway helps you:

- **Plan ahead**: Make hiring and investment decisions with confidence
- **Time fundraising**: Start conversations before you're desperate
- **Manage stress**: Replace uncertainty with data
- **Communicate with stakeholders**: Give investors and advisors clear visibility

## View your runway

1. Go to [Overview](https://app.midday.ai)
2. Find the Runway card

You'll see:

- **Current cash**: Total balance across connected cash accounts
- **Monthly burn rate**: Average monthly net outflow
- **Runway**: How many months of cash you have

## How runway is calculated

The formula is straightforward:

```
Runway (months) = Cash Balance ÷ Average Monthly Burn Rate
```

### Example

| Input | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Cash on hand | $120,000 |
| Monthly burn rate | $20,000 |
| **Runway** | **6 months** |

### What counts as cash

Only liquid assets count toward your cash balance:

| Account Type | Examples | Included in Cash? |
|-------------|----------|-------------------|
| Depository | Checking, Savings | Yes |
| Other Asset | Money Market, Treasury | Yes |
| Credit | Credit Cards | No |
| Loan | Business Loans | No |

**Why credit cards and loans don't count**: They represent borrowed money, not cash you have. A $50,000 credit limit doesn't extend your runway—it's debt you'll need to repay.

### Burn rate calculation

Burn rate is the average of your monthly expenses over the past 3-6 months. This smoothing prevents one-time expenses from dramatically skewing your runway.

Excluded from burn rate:
- Credit card payments (prevents double-counting)
- Internal transfers between accounts

[Learn more about burn rate →](/docs/view-burn-rate)

## Runway benchmarks

| Runway | Status | Action |
|--------|--------|--------|
| 12+ months | Comfortable | Keep building, you have time to experiment |
| 6-12 months | Healthy | Normal operating range for growing businesses |
| 3-6 months | Caution | Time to focus on extending runway |
| Under 3 months | Critical | Immediate action needed |

These benchmarks depend on your situation:

- **Profitable businesses** can operate with less runway since they're cash-flow positive
- **Pre-revenue startups** should aim for 12-18 months to have time to find product-market fit
- **Seasonal businesses** need enough runway to cover slow periods

## Multi-currency considerations

If you have bank accounts in different currencies:

1. Midday converts all balances to your base currency
2. Exchange rates are updated regularly
3. Set your base currency in [Settings](https://app.midday.ai/settings)

Your runway is shown in your base currency for a unified view.

## Disabled accounts

Accounts you've disabled in settings don't count toward:
- Cash balance (runway numerator)
- Burn rate (if transactions come from disabled accounts)

Only disable accounts you want to exclude from your financial picture entirely.

## Special runway states

### Infinite runway

If your burn rate is zero or negative (you're profitable), runway shows as infinite. You're making more than you spend—your cash grows over time.

### Zero or missing runway

This means either:
- Cash balance is zero
- No expense data to calculate burn rate
- All cash accounts are disabled

Check that your accounts are connected and transactions are syncing.

## Improving runway

You have two levers: increase cash or decrease burn.

### Increase cash
- **Accelerate receivables**: Follow up on unpaid invoices, offer early payment discounts
- **Raise prices**: Even small increases compound over time
- **Find new revenue**: New customers, upsells, new products
- **Fundraise**: External capital extends runway (but comes with dilution)

### Decrease burn
- **Audit subscriptions**: Cancel unused software and services
- **Negotiate contracts**: Ask vendors for discounts, especially for annual payment
- **Delay non-essential spending**: Push discretionary purchases to later
- **Review team costs**: Your largest expense is likely people

### The math of runway extension

| Scenario | Cash | Monthly Burn | Runway |
|----------|------|--------------|--------|
| Current | $60,000 | $10,000 | 6 months |
| Reduce burn by $2,000 | $60,000 | $8,000 | 7.5 months |
| Add $20,000 cash | $80,000 | $10,000 | 8 months |
| Both | $80,000 | $8,000 | 10 months |

Small changes in burn rate can significantly extend runway.

## Monitoring runway

- **Weekly glance**: Quick check that nothing unexpected happened
- **Monthly review**: Deep dive into what's changing and why
- **Quarterly planning**: Use runway to inform hiring, investment, and strategy

### Set up alerts

Configure notifications to alert you when:
- Cash drops below a threshold
- Burn rate spikes unexpectedly
- Runway falls below a comfortable level

[Configure notifications →](/docs/notification-settings)

## Runway in conversations

### With investors
Runway is the first metric investors ask about. Being able to say "We have 8 months of runway and are growing 15% monthly" is much better than "We have money for a while."

### With your team
Sharing runway (at least directionally) helps everyone make better decisions about spending and prioritization.

### With advisors
Runway context helps advisors give relevant advice. Different strategies apply at 12 months vs. 3 months.

## Related metrics

- [Burn rate](/docs/view-burn-rate): The denominator in runway calculation
- [Cash balance](/docs/understanding-metrics): The numerator in runway calculation
- [Revenue and profit](/docs/view-revenue-profit): Affects your burn rate

[Understand all metrics →](/docs/understanding-metrics)