Check Your Runway

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
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

#What counts as cash

Only liquid assets count toward your cash balance:

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 →

#Runway benchmarks

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. LUMA converts all balances to your base currency
2. Exchange rates are updated regularly
3. Set your base currency in 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

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 →

#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: The denominator in runway calculation
• Cash balance: The numerator in runway calculation
• Revenue and profit: Affects your burn rate

Understand all metrics →