Free Business Tool

Business Startup Cost & Cash Runway Calculator

Estimate the startup capital your business may need before opening and during its first months of operations.

Free educational calculator • No signup required • Calculator inputs stay in your browser

Business Information

Business Type

Business Stage

Startup Date (optional)

Select the month you expect to begin operations.

One-Time Startup Costs (optional)

One-time startup costs are expenses generally incurred before or at the beginning of operations, such as equipment, permits, deposits, initial inventory, setup fees, and launch marketing.

Business Formation, Licensing, and Permits

Legal and Professional Fees

Accounting and Tax Setup

Lease Deposit or Initial Facility Deposit

Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment

Computer Hardware, Software, and Technology Setup

Inventory or Initial Supplies

Website, Branding, and Marketing Launch Costs

Initial Employee Recruiting and Training Costs

Vehicle or Transportation Setup Costs

Insurance Deposits

Franchise Fee or Initial Franchise Costs

Other One-Time Startup Costs

Monthly Operating Costs (optional)

Monthly operating costs are recurring expenses needed to run the business after it opens.

Rent or Facility Cost

Payroll and Contractor Costs

Payroll Taxes and Employee Benefits

Inventory, Materials, or Cost of Goods Sold

Insurance

Utilities and Internet

Software and Subscriptions

Marketing and Advertising

Loan Payments or Equipment Financing

Professional Fees

Vehicle, Fuel, or Delivery Costs

Taxes, Licenses, and Renewals

Owner Draw or Owner Compensation Goal

Other Monthly Operating Costs

Revenue and Cash Planning

Expected Monthly Revenue During the First Three Months

Enter a conservative estimate of average monthly revenue during the first three months of operations.

Expected Monthly Revenue After the First Three Months

Enter your expected average monthly revenue once operations begin to stabilize.

Months of Working Capital Reserve Desired

This is the amount of monthly operating costs you want available as a reserve while the business is launching.

Available Startup Funds (optional)

Optional. Enter the funds you expect to have available from savings, investors, financing, or other sources. Do not enter account information.

For general educational use only. Do not enter bank information, loan details, tax returns, Social Security numbers, EINs, payment information, or other sensitive personal or business information.

Your Estimated Startup Capital Needs

Enter your estimated costs and revenue, then select Calculate Startup Costs. Results appear here and stay in your browser.

What Should Be Included in Startup Costs?

Startup costs generally include one-time expenses needed before opening, such as licenses, permits, deposits, equipment, initial inventory, professional fees, branding, and technology setup. Working capital is the cash reserve a business may need to cover recurring operating costs while revenue is still developing.

Business owners often underestimate cash needs by focusing only on opening costs. A complete plan should also consider ongoing expenses such as rent, payroll, inventory, insurance, marketing, software, loan payments, and owner compensation.

Use conservative revenue estimates. Many businesses take longer than expected to reach stable revenue.

Common Startup Cost Categories(show)

Business registration, licenses, permits, and renewals
Legal, accounting, tax, and compliance setup
Rent deposits, buildout, furniture, fixtures, and equipment
Technology, software, phones, website, and branding
Initial inventory, supplies, and materials
Employee recruiting, onboarding, payroll, and benefits
Insurance, vehicles, tools, and transportation
Marketing, advertising, grand opening, and sales costs
Working capital and unexpected expenses

Where Do I Find These Numbers?(show)

One-time startup costs: Use written quotes, vendor estimates, lease terms, equipment pricing, and licensing fee schedules published by your state or city.
Monthly operating costs: Use quoted rent, insurance quotes, expected payroll, software pricing pages, and supplier estimates.
Expected revenue: Use conservative assumptions based on capacity, pricing, market research, or comparable businesses.
Available startup funds: Enter a general total only. Do not enter account numbers, balances, or loan details.

Official Business Planning Sources

Need Help Building a Financial Plan for Your Business?

HW & Associates CPA PLLC can help business owners with business formation planning, bookkeeping setup, payroll, cash-flow planning, tax strategy, financial projections, and CFO advisory services.

Schedule a Business Planning Consultation

Educational use only. This calculator provides a simplified, general estimate of potential business startup costs, working-capital needs, cash runway, and funding gaps based solely on information entered by the user. It is not tax, legal, accounting, financial, investment, lending, valuation, or business-planning advice. It does not prepare a business plan, determine financing eligibility, approve a loan, value a business, guarantee profitability, or guarantee that the estimated funding amount will be sufficient.

Actual startup costs, operating costs, revenue, cash flow, financing needs, taxes, licensing requirements, payroll obligations, insurance costs, economic conditions, and profitability may differ materially from these estimates. Business owners should conduct market research, obtain professional advice, review legal and licensing requirements, and prepare detailed financial projections before making a business, financing, investment, hiring, or expansion decision.

Use of this calculator or website does not create a CPA-client, accountant-client, attorney-client, fiduciary, investment-adviser, lender, or other professional relationship with HW & Associates CPA PLLC. A professional relationship begins only when HW & Associates CPA PLLC accepts an engagement and the parties execute an applicable engagement agreement.

Do not enter Social Security numbers, employer identification numbers, bank-account details, account balances, loan account numbers, payment-card information, tax returns, financial statements, business plans, or other sensitive information. Calculator inputs and results are processed locally in the visitor's browser and are not intentionally saved or transmitted by this calculator.