Introduction
This Cash Flow Calculator shows you how much money comes into your business and how much goes out. Enter your cash inflows and outflows, and it tells you if you end each period with more cash or less.
You can plan by month, quarter, or year. Add your sales, loan money, rent, payroll, taxes, and any other item you need. You can also set a growth rate for each line if an amount goes up or down over time.
The calculator splits your cash flow into three parts: operating, investing, and financing. It then shows your total net cash flow, your ending cash balance, your lowest balance, your burn rate, and your cash runway. Charts and a period-by-period table show you the months where cash gets tight.
You can also turn on the inflation setting to see your results in today's dollars. Every answer comes with a step-by-step solution, so you can see exactly how the math works.
How to use our Cash Flow Calculator
Enter the money coming in and the money going out for each period, plus your starting cash. The calculator shows your net cash flow, ending cash balance, burn rate, cash runway, charts, and a step-by-step solution.
Analysis Period Type: Pick monthly, quarterly, or annual. This sets the time frame for every amount you type below.
Number of Periods: Type how many months, quarters, or years you want to plan for. Monthly allows up to 24, quarterly up to 8, and annual up to 10.
Beginning Cash Balance: Enter the cash you have on hand right now, before Period 1 starts.
Adjust for Inflation: Turn this on if you want results shown in today's dollars.
Annual Inflation Rate: If inflation is on, enter the yearly rate as a percent. The default is 3%.
Operating Inflows: Enter cash from sales, customer payments, and other daily business income.
Investing Inflows: Enter cash from selling assets or from investment returns and dividends.
Financing Inflows: Enter cash from loans you receive or money raised from investors.
Operating Outflows: Enter your regular bills as positive numbers, such as COGS, wages, rent, utilities, marketing, supplies, vendor payments, taxes, and insurance.
Investing Outflows: Enter cash spent on equipment, assets, or other capital expenses.
Financing Outflows: Enter loan principal payments, interest payments, and dividends you pay out.
Amount per period: For each line item, type the dollar amount for one period. Leave it blank or use 0 if it does not apply.
Change per period (%): Type how much that line item grows or shrinks each period. Use 0 for no change, or a negative number for a drop.
Add line item: Click this in any group to name and add your own income or expense. Use the trash button to delete it.
Calculate: Click to update your results. You can also click Load Example to see sample numbers, Reset to clear everything, or Print to save your report.
What Is Cash Flow?
Cash flow is the money that moves in and out of a business or household over a set time, like a month, a quarter, or a year. Money coming in is called an inflow. Money going out is called an outflow. When you take all the inflows and subtract all the outflows, you get your net cash flow.
Positive cash flow means you took in more cash than you spent. Negative cash flow means you spent more than you took in. A business can look profitable on paper and still run out of cash, so tracking cash flow matters just as much as tracking profit.
The Three Types of Cash Flow
- Operating cash flow comes from your day-to-day work. Inflows are sales, customer payments, and other income. Outflows are things like cost of goods sold, wages, rent, utilities, supplies, taxes, and insurance. This is the most important number, because healthy businesses make cash from what they do every day.
- Investing cash flow comes from buying or selling long-term things. Selling equipment or earning dividends brings cash in. Buying machines, vehicles, or other capital items sends cash out.
- Financing cash flow comes from loans and owners. Loan proceeds and new investor money bring cash in. Loan payments, interest, and dividends to owners send cash out.
Beginning and Ending Cash Balance
Your beginning cash balance is the cash you already have on day one. Add each period's net cash flow to it and you get your running balance. The number at the end of the last period is your ending cash balance. Watching the running balance shows you the exact month or quarter when cash could get tight, even if the full year looks fine.
Burn Rate and Cash Runway
Burn rate is how much cash you lose in an average period when your net cash flow is negative. Cash runway is how long that cash will last: your ending balance divided by your burn rate. If you burn $5,000 a month and have $30,000 left, your runway is about 6 months. Runway tells you how much time you have to raise sales, cut costs, or find funding.
Why Growth Rates and Inflation Matter
Few costs or sales stay flat. A small growth rate per period lets you model rising sales, rising wages, or shrinking loan interest. Inflation matters too, because a dollar a year from now buys less than a dollar today. Adjusting for inflation restates future cash in today's dollars, so a long forecast does not look better than it really is.
How to Read Your Results
Strong operating cash flow with a steady or rising balance is a good sign. Positive total cash flow that only comes from loans or asset sales is a warning, because that money is one-time or must be paid back. The operating cash flow ratio shows how much net cash you keep for every dollar you spend running the business, and the higher, the better. Also check your lowest balance. If it dips below zero in any period, you need more cash, faster collections, or lower spending before that date.