FreelanceIf the work stopped today, how long would you last?
Runway is the number startups watch every week and freelancers almost never calculate. Enter four figures and the answer updates as you type.
If income stopped today
5.0 months
Cash runs out around January 2027
Between three and six months. Enough to absorb one bad month, not a bad quarter.
5.0 months of runway if income stops today. Cash runs out around January 2027.
The gentler number
At your current income you are burning $1,500 a month, which lasts 15.0 months.
A six month cushion is $27,000. You are $4,500 short.
| What you have | |
|---|---|
| Cash you can spend today | $20,000 |
| Invoices you expect to land | $2,500 |
| Total available | $22,500 |
| What leaves each month | |
| Monthly expenses | $4,500 |
| Monthly income you can count on | $3,000 |
| Net burn at current income | $1,500 |
| Cash left with no income at all | |
| After 1 month | $18,000 |
| After 2 months | $13,500 |
| After 3 months | $9,000 |
| After 6 months | $0 |
| The target | |
| A six month cushion | $27,000 |
| Still to save | $4,500 |
This is a snapshot you typed in. FreelanceCFO keeps it live, averaging your real burn from your actual transactions.
Start freeQuestions answered.
What is runway for a freelancer?
Runway is how many months you could keep paying your bills if new work stopped arriving today. Take the cash you can actually reach, add anything already invoiced that you are confident will land, and divide by what you spend in a month. Startups track this number obsessively and freelancers usually do not, even though a freelancer's income can go to zero far faster than a funded company's.
How many months of runway should a freelancer have?
Three months is the floor most people should aim at first, and six months is where the number stops being frightening. Under three months a single late invoice or a quiet quarter turns into borrowing. At six months and above you can turn down underpriced work, which is usually worth more than the interest the cash would earn sitting somewhere else. Salaried advice often says three months, but that assumes a paycheck that arrives on a schedule.
Should I count invoices I have sent but not been paid for?
Count them only if you would bet on them. Work that is signed and delivered to a client who has always paid belongs in the expected payments box. A proposal that has not been accepted, or an invoice from a client who is already late, does not. The point of this number is to be pessimistic on purpose, so when you are unsure, leave it out and look at the answer you get without it.
What should I count as a monthly expense?
Everything you would still have to pay if you earned nothing next month: rent or mortgage, food, insurance, loan payments, utilities, phone, and the software subscriptions your work depends on. Include the tax you still owe on income you have already earned, because that bill does not pause when the work does. Leave out spending you would genuinely stop, but be honest about how much of it you really would.
What if my income already covers my expenses?
Then your runway is not shrinking right now, and this calculator tells you what happens if that changes. The headline number deliberately assumes income stops today, because for a freelancer it can. The second line shows how long your cash would last at your current burn instead, which is the gentler number and the one worth watching once the first one is comfortable.