Freelancer runway: three spreadsheet formulas for how long your cash lasts
"Runway" is how many months you could keep going if no new money arrived. It's one division, but the number you divide by matters.
Formula 1: the simple version
Runway (months) = cash in the bank / average monthly expensesIn a sheet with cash in B1 and twelve monthly expense figures in B5:M5:
=IF(AVERAGE(B5:M5)=0, "n/a", B1/AVERAGE(B5:M5))Use the monthly figures for business costs and the personal draw you actually take out; otherwise the runway looks longer than it is.
Formula 2: from your own history
If you already log transactions, don't type the expenses. Take the last three or six months straight from the tracker. With month starts in a header row and the P&L built, total expenses are one row, and:
=B1 / AVERAGE('P&L'!H24:M24) ' last six months of total expensesRecent months are usually a better guide than a year-old average, and a rolling window updates itself every time you move the range along.
Formula 3: the stress test
Averages hide bad months. In a 12-month cash-flow forecast, find the lowest closing balance and the month it happens:
Lowest cash =MIN(B10:M10)
Which month =INDEX(B4:M4, MATCH(MIN(B10:M10), B10:M10, 0))If the lowest value is negative, runway isn't your problem; a particular month is. Fix that month in the forecast (delay a purchase, chase an invoice, move a client payment date) and watch the number change.
Which one to trust
Use formula 1 for a quick answer, formula 2 once you have data, and formula 3 before any big decision such as a purchase or a quiet stretch. How many months is "enough" depends on how steady your income is and what you're comfortable with; the spreadsheet only tells you where you stand.
More freelancer finance guides
- Excel or Google Sheets for freelancer finances? What actually differs
- Freelance expense categories for a spreadsheet: a starter list that stays short
- How to build a freelance income and expense tracker in a spreadsheet
- A simple 12-month cash flow forecast for freelancers
- Freelancer profit and loss (P&L) in a spreadsheet: a one-page layout
- Freelancer tax set-aside: what goes into the number, and how to track it
- Invoice tracker spreadsheet: formulas for paid, due and overdue
- Budgeting on irregular freelance income: the baseline-pay method
- How to track freelance income by client in a spreadsheet
Already built
The Freelancer Finance Spreadsheet Kit has the forecast tab with lowest-month and months-of-runway cells already wired, plus the tracker, invoice log, P&L and tax set-aside calculator. One Excel file, $29.
Free: the Tax Set-Aside tab as a standalone Excel file
One working tab: type your quarterly income, expenses and the rate you choose, and it shows what is still to put aside. Confirm your email and the file arrives right away, plus an occasional note (at most one a week) on tracking freelance money. Unsubscribe in one click. Privacy.
General information about using spreadsheets, not financial, tax or accounting advice. Runway figures are only as good as the numbers you put in.