How to track runway and burn rate from your account

Runway is the number every founder should be able to answer without thinking: how many months until the money runs out at the current rate. Burn rate is what drives it. Tracking both well means fewer surprises and better timing on your next raise.

This guide explains the basics and how to keep an eye on them straight from your account.

What burn rate and runway are

Burn rate is how much cash your company uses up in a month. Runway is how long your current cash will last at that rate.

The basic calculation is straightforward: divide the cash you have by your monthly burn. If you hold 600,000 and burn 50,000 a month, you have roughly twelve months of runway. The number moves as your burn changes, so it is worth recalculating regularly rather than treating it as fixed.

Gross versus net burn

Two versions of burn are worth knowing:

• Gross burn — your total monthly outgoings, regardless of any money coming in.
• Net burn — outgoings minus any revenue, so the actual amount your balance falls each month.

Pre-revenue, the two are effectively the same. Once you have income, net burn is the more honest measure of runway, while gross burn shows what your cost base would cost you if revenue dipped.

Watching runway from your account

You do not need a heavy finance stack to keep runway in view. A few habits go a long way:

• Check your real-time balance rather than last month's statement, so the number you act on is current.
• Use categorised spend to see where the money actually goes — payroll, tools, suppliers — and where burn is creeping up.
• Set balance alerts at thresholds that matter to you, so you are told when the balance crosses a line rather than discovering it later.

The goal is to make burn visible enough that a change in spending shows up while you can still do something about it.

How much runway founders often keep

As a general pattern rather than advice, many founders aim to start raising again while they still have a comfortable cushion — often well before the runway gets short, because a raise itself takes time. Leaving the next round until the balance is nearly empty puts you in a weak position.

How much cushion is right depends on your stage, how long your last raise took, and how predictable your spend is. The point is to treat your runway as a planning horizon, not a countdown you watch passively.

How Altery fits

Altery shows real-time balances across currencies, categorises spend so you can see where burn is going, and lets you set balance alerts at thresholds you choose. That makes it easier to keep runway and burn in front of you between board meetings.

Frequently asked questions