Weekly cash and runway readout, with the math shown
Every Monday the Bot pulls your balances and the last three months of income and spending, works out burn and runway step by step, and flags anything that moved more than expected.
What the Bot is set up to do
- Connect QuickBooks Online or a bank connector, or give it a spreadsheet export. It needs balances and monthly totals.
- Tell it which accounts count as cash, and which costs were one-offs.
- Add a Monday routine. It reports only and never moves money. After a bank connector returns data, the Bot asks before sharing it anywhere else.
Prompt
Every Monday at 7am, build my cash readout from [QuickBooks Online / bank connector / spreadsheet].
Count these accounts as cash: [list]. Ignore transfers between them.
Show each step with the numbers:
1. Cash today = sum of balances in the cash accounts
2. Net burn for each of the last 3 full months = total spending − total income
3. Average net burn = (sum of the 3 monthly burns) ÷ 3
4. Runway in months = cash today ÷ average net burn. If burn is zero or negative, say "cash-flow positive" instead.
Then list the 5 biggest expenses last month, any vendor up more than 25% month over month, and any income source that dropped.
If runway is under [6] months, say so in the first line.
Label every figure "from [source]" or "calculated", and list anything you couldn't find instead of estimating it.Before you run it
- Runway is a projection from past months, not a forecast. Check the inputs against your bank before you hire or spend on the strength of it.
Business fit
Who this helps, and how:
- StartupsFounders get the runway number investors ask about every week, with the inputs visible.
- Shopify & ecommerceStores see whether ad spend and inventory buys are outpacing sales before a slow month.
- AgenciesAgencies spot a gap in client payments before payroll is due.
- Solo foundersBootstrapped owners know how many months they can afford a new hire or tool.
How to adapt it
Worked example: burns of $11,000, $12,500 and $12,500 add up to $36,000, and $36,000 ÷ 3 = $12,000 a month. With $84,000 in cash, runway is $84,000 ÷ $12,000 = 7 months.
Seasonal businesses should average 12 months instead of 3, or compare with the same months last year.
Add large known payments, like quarterly tax or an inventory order: "Subtract [amount] due on [date] from cash today." For a second scenario, ask for runway if revenue drops 20%.