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Business Cash Flow Calculator.

Profit is an opinion; cash is a fact. Split the month three ways and see how long the money lasts if nothing changes.

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Business Cash Flow

Profit is an opinion; cash is a fact. This splits a month into operating, investing and financing, then tells you how long the cash lasts if nothing changes.

Cash that actually arrived, not what you invoiced.

Enter a negative number if you sold something instead.

—Operating Cash Flow
—Net Change in Cash
—Cash at Month End
—Runway
SectionInOutNet

Operating cash flow is the line that matters most. A business can show a profit and still run out of money, and it usually does so while operating cash flow is negative and financing is quietly covering the gap.

How the math works

Operating = Cash collected − (inventory + payroll + operating costs + interest) Investing = Asset sales − Equipment and other purchases Financing = New borrowing and owner money in − Repayments and draws Net change = Operating + Investing + Financing Runway = Ending cash ÷ Monthly net loss (only while you are losing money)

How to use it

  1. Use cash that actually moved, not invoices raised or bills received. That difference is the entire reason a profitable business can run out of money.
  2. Put your own pay in payroll. Leaving it out makes the month look better than it was and is the most common way an owner discovers the business cannot afford them.
  3. Read operating cash flow first. It answers the only question that matters long term: does the business pay for itself, or is financing covering the gap?
  4. Runway appears only when the month lost money. A profitable month has no runway to report, and printing a number there would be misleading rather than helpful.

A worked example

Starting cash $42,000. Collected $61,000; spent $19,000 on inventory, $24,000 on payroll, $11,000 on rent and operating costs and $900 on interest. That is operating cash flow of $6,100 — the business paid for itself. Then $4,000 of equipment and $3,500 of loan repayments and draws take it to a net change of −$1,400 and ending cash of $40,600. Runway is about 2 years 5 months at that rate. The business is fine; it is just spending slightly more than it makes, and it is investing and financing doing it, not operations.

Where this sits in the Financial Literacy resource

A calculator tells you where you are. It does not tell you what to do next, and a number without a plan behind it tends to produce anxiety rather than progress. These stages are free, need no account, and cover the decision this calculator is measuring.

Learn it Stage 5: Build Wealth
This one is free, and so is most of the rest. 24 calculators, two complete courses and every article — no account, no email wall, nothing that stops halfway and asks for a card. If this was useful, the only thing we would ask is that you follow along or send it to the one person you know who needs it. That costs nothing, and it is how a small operation keeps going. Why we ask, and when →

Common questions

What is the difference between profit and cash flow?

Profit counts a sale when you make it and an expense when you incur it. Cash flow counts money when it moves. A business that invoices $60,000 in a month and collects $30,000 of it has a good profit month and a bad cash month, and it is the cash month that decides whether payroll clears.

Why separate operating, investing and financing?

Because one net figure hides the thing worth knowing. Cash can look stable for a long time while borrowing quietly covers an operating loss. Splitting them shows you whether the business pays for itself, and that is the difference between a temporary dip and a structural problem.

What counts as investing?

Buying or selling things the business keeps and uses — equipment, vehicles, property. Enter a purchase as a positive number and a sale as a negative one. It is separated out because a big equipment month is not the same as a bad trading month, even though both reduce cash.

How much runway should a business hold?

There is no rule, and anyone quoting one is quoting a convention. What matters more is knowing the number and watching which direction it moves. Runway falling three months in a row is information; a single number in isolation is not.

Does this include tax?

Only if you enter tax payments as part of your operating costs, which is where they belong on a cash basis — they hit cash when you pay them, not when they are assessed. Set-asides you have not yet paid are still your cash, so they stay in the balance.

What this calculator is not

It is an educational model, not a projection and certainly not advice. It knows nothing about your income, your state, your debts or your benefits status, and it ignores taxes and fees unless the page says otherwise. If you receive SSI or SSDI some of this math works differently and getting it wrong can cost you eligibility — start with the Disability Wealth Guide instead. Our sourcing and correction policy is on the editorial standards page.

Nothing here is stored. Every calculation runs in your browser. No numbers are transmitted, logged or saved to any server, and no account is required. Close the tab and it is gone.