Cash Flow Projection Calculator

Live 12-month cash path with a runway clock to your cushion, a zero-cross balance strip, and a profit-vs-cash gate so book operating profit is not confused with liquidity.

Management planning sketch only. Not a GAAP/IFRS statement of cash flows, audited forecast, or investment advice. Receivables timing, capex, debt, and taxes can change real cash.

Author, last update and planning note

By Ahmet C. Toplutaş·Site owner & editor · Business tools

Last updated May 21, 2026 · Reviewed May 21, 2026 · Planning estimates only - not tax, medical, or investment advice

Months until cash hits the cushion

A cash projection answers a liquidity question: starting from today's balance, how long until ending cash falls to a floor you care about? That floor is the cushion; the months until you touch it are the runway clock.

This page's framing is a runway clock, with a zero-cross balance strip and a profit-vs-cash gate. It is not CAC payback's recovery clock, not break-even's price ladder, and not ARR's run-rate bridge.

Decision framing: “If revenue and expenses keep compounding like this, when does cash hit my cushion, and does book operating profit agree with that liquidity story?”

Management planning sketch only. Not a GAAP/IFRS statement of cash flows, audited forecast, or investment advice. Timing of receivables, capex, debt, and taxes can move real cash far from this path. See our disclaimers.

Zero-cross balance strip

The strip shows each month's ending balance. Bar width is relative to the larger of starting cash and the path peak. Amber marks months at or below the cushion so the first cross is visible without reading every dollar.

Raise the cushion from $0 to a payroll buffer and watch the clock and amber months move earlier even when ending cash is still positive.

Profit-vs-cash gate

Steady-state operating profit is monthly revenue minus monthly expenses at starting rates. The gate flags mismatches: positive book profit with a short cash runway, or an operating loss that still survives the year on starting cash.

Growth and inflation can widen that gap over twelve months even when month-zero rates look fine. Read the gate beside the runway, not instead of it.

Growth and expense inflation

Revenue for month m scales by (1 + growth%)^(m/12). Expenses scale by (1 + inflation%)^(m/12). That smooth annual-rate sketch is useful for literacy; it is not a seasonal forecast or invoice calendar.

Core relations

Month path, runway definition, and operating profit.

Inflow_m = Revenue × (1 + g)^(m/12) Outflow_m = Expenses × (1 + i)^(m/12) Ending_m = Ending_{m−1} + Inflow_m − Outflow_m Runway = first m where Ending_m ≤ cushion Operating profit ≈ Revenue − Expenses (mo 0 rates)

Example: $50k start, $100k revenue, $80k expenses, 5% growth, 2% inflation. Operating profit is positive and runway typically holds past 12 months on this sketch.

Where this hands off

Sibling boards for volume break-even, acquisition payback, and recurring revenue.

Break-even (units/revenue where contribution covers fixed costs)
CAC payback (months to recover acquisition cost)
ARR / MRR
Unit economics
Terms: cash flow

Worked scenarios

Scenario A: Steady grow. $50k start, $100k / $80k, 5% / 2%. Gate usually aligned; runway 12+.

Load Cash burn. Expenses above revenue with a $10k cushion. Runway clocks months to the floor; gate may show loss with a finite runway.

Scenario B: Thin cushion. Small start and a $5k floor. Even a tiny monthly gap can amber early months.

Scenario C: Growth squeeze. High revenue growth with high expense inflation. Watch whether month-12 ending still clears the cushion while operating profit looks thin at month zero.

Scenario D: Profitable, cash short. Raise cushion high enough on a modest start that a profitable month-zero still crosses early. That is the profit-vs-cash gate lighting up.

Common mistakes

Reading ending cash alone without checking the first cushion cross.
Treating operating profit as proof of liquidity.
Leaving inflation at 0% when costs clearly rise with growth.
Using this sketch as a GAAP cash-flow statement for lenders or audits.
Skipping break-even when the real question is volume, not runway months.

How to use this board

Enter starting cash, monthly revenue and expenses, growth, inflation, and cushion.
Read months to cushion on the runway clock.
Scan the balance strip for amber (at/below cushion) months.
Check the profit-vs-cash gate. Share writes query params; typing does not rewrite the address bar.

When not to stop at this sketch

Stop here for a 12-month liquidity literacy pass. Hand off for break-even volume, acquisition payback, or recurring-revenue bridges. For board or bank packages, use full working-capital and financing schedules.

Volume: break-even analysis.
Acquisition timing: CAC payback.
Recurring revenue: ARR calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How does this cash flow projection calculator work?

It projects 12 months of ending cash from starting balance, monthly revenue (with optional growth), and monthly expenses (with optional inflation). A runway clock shows the first month ending balance falls to or below your cushion. A zero-cross strip visualizes balances, and a profit-vs-cash gate compares steady-state operating profit to whether cash survives the horizon.

What is the runway clock?

Runway is how many months until ending cash hits your cushion floor (default $0). If the balance stays above the cushion for all 12 months, runway reads 12+. It is a liquidity horizon sketch, not a fundraising model.

What is the profit-vs-cash gate?

Steady-state operating profit is monthly revenue minus monthly expenses at starting rates. The gate flags when that book profit is positive but cash still crosses the cushion inside the year, or when you are loss-making yet starting cash covers the horizon.

How do growth and expense inflation work?

Revenue for month m is scaled by (1 + growth%)^(m/12). Expenses scale by (1 + inflation%)^(m/12). That is a smooth annual-rate sketch, not seasonal spikes or one-time invoices.

Is this a GAAP statement of cash flows?

No. It is a management planning sketch. It ignores working-capital timing, capex schedules, debt draws, taxes, and audit classifications. Not investment, tax, or accounting advice.

How is this different from break-even or CAC payback?

Break-even finds the volume where contribution covers fixed costs. CAC payback asks how many months of contribution recover acquisition cost. This page projects ending cash over a year and asks how long liquidity lasts.

What cushion should I use?

Zero means insolvency on this sketch. Many operators set a minimum operating cushion (payroll buffer). Raise the cushion to make the runway clock more conservative.

Sources

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Months until cash hits the cushion

Decision framing: “If revenue and expenses keep compounding like this, when does cash hit my cushion, and does book operating profit agree with that liquidity story?”

Zero-cross balance strip

Raise the cushion from $0 to a payroll buffer and watch the clock and amber months move earlier even when ending cash is still positive.

Profit-vs-cash gate

Growth and inflation can widen that gap over twelve months even when month-zero rates look fine. Read the gate beside the runway, not instead of it.

Core relations

Month path, runway definition, and operating profit.

Example: $50k start, $100k revenue, $80k expenses, 5% growth, 2% inflation. Operating profit is positive and runway typically holds past 12 months on this sketch.

Worked scenarios

Scenario A: Steady grow. $50k start, $100k / $80k, 5% / 2%. Gate usually aligned; runway 12+.

Load Cash burn. Expenses above revenue with a $10k cushion. Runway clocks months to the floor; gate may show loss with a finite runway.

Scenario B: Thin cushion. Small start and a $5k floor. Even a tiny monthly gap can amber early months.

Scenario C: Growth squeeze. High revenue growth with high expense inflation. Watch whether month-12 ending still clears the cushion while operating profit looks thin at month zero.

Scenario D: Profitable, cash short. Raise cushion high enough on a modest start that a profitable month-zero still crosses early. That is the profit-vs-cash gate lighting up.

Common mistakes

Reading ending cash alone without checking the first cushion cross.
Treating operating profit as proof of liquidity.
Leaving inflation at 0% when costs clearly rise with growth.
Using this sketch as a GAAP cash-flow statement for lenders or audits.
Skipping break-even when the real question is volume, not runway months.

When not to stop at this sketch

Volume: break-even analysis.
Acquisition timing: CAC payback.
Recurring revenue: ARR calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How does this cash flow projection calculator work?

What is the runway clock?

What is the profit-vs-cash gate?

How do growth and expense inflation work?

Revenue for month m is scaled by (1 + growth%)^(m/12). Expenses scale by (1 + inflation%)^(m/12). That is a smooth annual-rate sketch, not seasonal spikes or one-time invoices.

Is this a GAAP statement of cash flows?

No. It is a management planning sketch. It ignores working-capital timing, capex schedules, debt draws, taxes, and audit classifications. Not investment, tax, or accounting advice.

How is this different from break-even or CAC payback?

What cushion should I use?

Zero means insolvency on this sketch. Many operators set a minimum operating cushion (payroll buffer). Raise the cushion to make the runway clock more conservative.

Months until cash hits the cushion

Zero-cross balance strip

Profit-vs-cash gate

Growth and expense inflation

Core relations

Where this hands off

Worked scenarios

Common mistakes

How to use this board

When not to stop at this sketch

Frequently asked questions

How does this cash flow projection calculator work?

What is the runway clock?

What is the profit-vs-cash gate?

How do growth and expense inflation work?

Is this a GAAP statement of cash flows?

How is this different from break-even or CAC payback?

What cushion should I use?

Sources

Months until cash hits the cushion

Zero-cross balance strip

Profit-vs-cash gate

Growth and expense inflation

Core relations

Where this hands off

Worked scenarios

Common mistakes

How to use this board

When not to stop at this sketch

Frequently asked questions

How does this cash flow projection calculator work?

What is the runway clock?

What is the profit-vs-cash gate?

How do growth and expense inflation work?

Is this a GAAP statement of cash flows?

How is this different from break-even or CAC payback?

What cushion should I use?

Sources

What this number means

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