home / skills / eddiebe147 / claude-settings / runway-calculator

runway-calculator skill

/skills/runway-calculator

This skill helps you calculate cash runway, burn rate, and sustainability projections to inform data-driven business decisions and strategic planning.

npx playbooks add skill eddiebe147/claude-settings --skill runway-calculator

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md
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---
name: Runway Calculator
slug: runway-calculator
description: Calculate cash runway, burn rate, and financial sustainability projections
category: business
complexity: simple
version: "1.0.0"
author: "ID8Labs"
triggers:
  - "cash runway"
  - "burn rate"
  - "runway calculation"
  - "cash forecast"
  - "runway analysis"
tags:
  - runway
  - burn-rate
  - cash
  - finance
  - forecasting
---

# Runway Calculator

Calculate cash runway, burn rate, and financial sustainability projections

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:
- Improve business operations and strategy
- Make data-driven business decisions
- Optimize processes and outcomes

**Not recommended for:**
- Tasks requiring creative design work
- technical coding

## Quick Reference

| Action | Command/Trigger |
|--------|-----------------|
| Create runway calculator | `cash runway` |
| Review and optimize | `review runway calculator` |
| Get best practices | `runway calculator best practices` |

## Core Workflows

### Workflow 1: Initial Runway Calculator Creation

**Goal:** Create a high-quality runway calculator from scratch

**Steps:**
1. **Discovery** - Understand requirements and objectives
2. **Planning** - Develop strategy and approach
3. **Execution** - Implement the plan
4. **Review** - Evaluate results and iterate
5. **Optimization** - Refine based on feedback

### Workflow 2: Advanced Runway Calculator Optimization

**Goal:** Refine and optimize existing runway calculator for better results

**Steps:**
1. **Research** - Gather relevant information
2. **Analysis** - Evaluate options and approaches
3. **Decision** - Choose the best path forward
4. **Implementation** - Execute with precision
5. **Measurement** - Track success metrics

## Best Practices

1. **Start with Clear Objectives**
   Define what success looks like before beginning work.

2. **Follow Industry Standards**
   Leverage proven frameworks and best practices in business.

3. **Iterate Based on Feedback**
   Continuously improve based on results and user input.

4. **Document Your Process**
   Keep track of decisions and outcomes for future reference.

5. **Focus on Quality**
   Prioritize excellence over speed, especially in early iterations.

## Checklist

Before considering your work complete:

- [ ] Objectives clearly defined and understood
- [ ] Research and discovery phase completed
- [ ] Strategy or plan documented
- [ ] Implementation matches requirements
- [ ] Quality standards met
- [ ] Stakeholders informed and aligned
- [ ] Results measured against goals
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Feedback collected
- [ ] Next steps identified

## Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Why It's Bad | Better Approach |
|---------|--------------|-----------------|
| Skipping research | Leads to misaligned solutions | Invest time in understanding context |
| Ignoring best practices | Reinventing the wheel | Study successful examples first |
| No clear metrics | Can't measure success | Define KPIs upfront |

## Integration Points

- **Tools**: Integration with common business platforms and tools
- **Workflows**: Fits into existing business operations workflows
- **Team**: Collaborates with leadership and operations stakeholders

## Success Metrics

Track these metrics to measure effectiveness:
- Quality of output
- Time to completion
- Stakeholder satisfaction
- Impact on business goals
- Reusability of approach

---

*This skill is part of the ID8Labs Skills Marketplace. Last updated: 2026-01-07*

Overview

This skill calculates cash runway, burn rate, and financial sustainability projections to help founders and finance teams understand how long capital will last. It provides actionable metrics and scenario analysis for planning, fundraising, or cost optimization. The outputs focus on clarity: runway months, current and projected burn, and suggested actions to extend runway.

How this skill works

The skill ingests basic financial inputs—cash on hand, recurring revenue, fixed and variable expenses, and one-time items—and computes burn rate and runway under multiple scenarios. It can run sensitivity analyses by adjusting revenue growth, expense cuts, or one-time costs to show how those changes affect months of runway. Results include clear numeric outputs and recommended levers to extend runway or improve sustainability.

When to use it

  • Planning runway before a fundraising round
  • Monthly finance reviews and board reporting
  • Evaluating the impact of hiring or cost changes
  • Stress-testing financial assumptions and scenarios
  • Prioritizing actions to extend runway quickly

Best practices

  • Provide accurate, up-to-date cash and expense figures before running calculations
  • Model several scenarios: base case, optimistic, and conservative
  • Separate recurring from one-off expenses for clearer analysis
  • Use short time horizons (3–12 months) for operational decisions and longer horizons for strategic planning
  • Review and update the model monthly or when material changes occur

Example use cases

  • Estimate months of runway after a new hiring plan
  • Compare runway under different revenue growth assumptions
  • Determine how much expense reduction is needed to reach a target runway
  • Prepare concise runway metrics and scenarios for investor meetings
  • Assess the effect of a one-time capital infusion or client contract delay

FAQ

What inputs are required to calculate runway?

You need current cash on hand, monthly recurring revenue, fixed monthly expenses, variable monthly expenses, and any one-time cash items. Accuracy improves results.

How is burn rate defined here?

Burn rate is calculated as net cash outflow per month: total monthly expenses minus monthly revenue. Positive burn means cash is decreasing; negative burn indicates net cash inflow.