Cash Runway Snapshot

What it does

Runway calculated as cash divided by average burn is wrong in the one direction that matters, because it treats expected income as certain. This skill separates committed inflows from expected ones, models the late payment case, and gives a range with the assumption behind each end of it.

When to use it

• how much runway do we have
• cash position
• can we afford a hire
• what if a client pays late
• runway calculation

What it needs from you

• cash: current balance across accounts
• outflows: recurring costs and any known one offs
• inflows: invoices raised, contracts committed, and pipeline

How it works

1. Split inflows into three: received, invoiced and unpaid, and expected but not invoiced. Only the first is cash and the third is not runway.
2. Model outflows from the actual recurring commitments, including the annual ones that fall due inside the window and are the usual surprise.
3. Compute the conservative case from received plus invoiced, with a realistic collection delay applied to invoiced.
4. Compute the expected case with the pipeline included at a stated conversion rate.
5. Report the range with the assumption at each end, never a single number, because a single runway number invites a decision the data does not support.
6. Run the late payment case: the largest single receivable arriving thirty days late, which is the failure mode that actually happens.
7. Say what the earliest action date is, meaning the date by which a decision must be made rather than the date cash runs out.

What you get back

The inflow split, the outflow schedule including annual items, the conservative and expected runway with assumptions, the late payment case, and the earliest action date.

The quality bar

• Expected but uninvoiced income is excluded from the conservative case
• Annual costs falling inside the window are included
• Runway is reported as a range with the assumption at each end
• The late payment case is modeled on the largest single receivable
• An action date is given, distinct from the date cash runs out

Where it runs

• Claude Code
• Codex CLI
• Cursor
• MCP-compatible agents