Shutdown cash runway calculator

How the shutdown cash runway calculator works

When a business stops trading — or trades at a fraction of normal — the question that matters most is simple: how long can we keep going? This calculator answers it with the numbers you already know.

It adds up your weekly fixed costs (wages you'll keep paying, plus rent, repayments and overheads converted from monthly to weekly), spreads your one-off recovery costs across the first four weeks, and subtracts whatever income you still expect. It then runs week by week from today's bank balance until the week you expect trade to be back to normal, adding any confirmed insurance or grant money in the week you expect it.

The result shows three things: how many weeks your cash and available credit last, the lowest point your balance reaches, and the estimated gap — the amount you'd need to get from here to reopening without running out.

How should you use the result?

• If the calculator says you make it: good. Keep an eye on the lowest week and protect that buffer. Revisit the numbers weekly.
• If there's a gap: start with free help — ask the ATO about deferrals, your landlord about rent relief and your bank about a repayment pause, and check for disaster assistance. Then run the numbers again with those changes.
• If there's still a gap: that's the amount worth funding, plus a buffer for delays. A property-secured loan (from $20,000 to $5,000,000) suits closed businesses and larger gaps; unsecured funding (typically $5,000 to $500,000) suits businesses still trading.

For a fuller picture, turn this into a proper week-by-week plan with our 13-week recovery cash flow forecast guide, and work through the first steps for your situation in the emergency action checklist.

Common mistakes

• Counting an insurance claim that hasn't been accepted yet.
• Forgetting super and PAYG withholding on wages you keep paying.
• Assuming customers return on the first day you reopen.
• Leaving out the owner's own drawings.
• Paying recovery costs from money set aside for the ATO.

If the numbers show a gap you can't close from trade, insurance or grants in time, start a short enquiry. There's no credit check when you first enquire, your details stay with one team rather than being sprayed across lenders, and a real person will call you. Please fill the form in accurately so we can match you properly first time. Our page on emergency business loans explains the options.

Frequently asked questions

What is cash runway?

It's how long your business can keep paying its bills from the cash and credit it has, given what's coming in and going out each week. In a crisis it tells you how much time you have before you need more money.

Should I include my insurance payout?

Only if the claim has been accepted, and on a cautious date. Leave unconfirmed payouts and grants out, then try the calculator again with them in to see the difference.

What counts as a fixed cost?

Anything you keep paying while trade is disrupted: wages you choose to keep paying (with super), rent, loan and lease repayments, insurance, utilities and software. Leave out costs that stop when you stop trading, such as most stock purchases.

Is the gap figure what I should borrow?

It's a starting point. Add a buffer for delays, check free help first — grants, ATO deferrals, hardship arrangements — and build a fuller 13-week forecast before settling on an amount.

Does this tool store my numbers?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is sent or saved.