How to Use the Simple Cash Flow Calculator
Profitable on paper and short of cash is a common combination. Revenue gets recorded before the money actually arrives, and some cash leaves without ever appearing as an expense โ loan principal being the classic example. This calculator ignores profit entirely and works only from cash that moved in and out during the month.
Cash in is what you collected from sales plus other receipts. Cash out covers suppliers, payroll, rent, other operating costs, loan payments and taxes actually paid. Enter every cash-out item as a positive number and it is subtracted for you. Leave out non-cash charges such as depreciation.
When net cash flow is negative, the calculator also divides your beginning balance by the monthly burn to show a cash runway in months. That assumes this month repeats unchanged, so seasonality or slow-paying customers can shorten it in practice. Results are a planning estimate, not the statement of cash flows prepared under accounting standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sales can be recorded long before customers pay, inventory ties cash up in advance, and loan principal leaves the bank without ever showing on the income statement.
No. Depreciation moves no cash, so it is excluded here. The cash that matters is what you paid when you bought the equipment, recorded in that month.
It is how many months the beginning balance lasts if this month repeats exactly. Collection delays or a slow season make the real figure shorter, so treat it as an upper bound.