Burn Rate Report Template: What to Show Your Board and Investors

A good burn rate report fits on one page, takes 30 seconds to read, and answers three questions: how much cash do we have, how fast are we spending it, and how much time do we have. Here is the template that works.

The one-page format

Section 1 — Headline numbers

Metric	This month	Last month	Change
Cash in bank	$420,000	$465,000	−$45,000
Gross burn	$58,000	$60,000	−$2,000
Net burn	$45,000	$48,000	−$3,000
Runway	9.3 months	9.7 months	−0.4 months
Zero date	Jan 17, 2027	Jan 21, 2027	−4 days

This is the first thing every reader looks at. It should be the first thing on the page.

Section 2 — Burn breakdown

Category	Amount	% of total
Payroll + benefits	$38,000	66%
Software + tools	$5,500	9%
Marketing	$8,000	14%
Office + utilities	$3,500	6%
Other	$3,000	5%
Total gross burn	$58,000	100%

This shows where the money goes. Anyone can spot if one category is unusually high.

Section 3 — Revenue and trends

• MRR: $13,000 (up from $11,500 last month, +13%)
• New customers: 4
• Churn: 1 customer ($800 lost MRR)
• Net new MRR: $1,500

Section 4 — Commentary (3-5 lines)

"Net burn improved $3K from last month due to MRR growth and reduced ad spend after pausing Channel A. Runway shrunk slightly because cash outflow exceeded inflow. Fundraise discussions begin in May with 6 months of runway as the trigger date. No surprises this month."

What to leave out

• Detailed spreadsheets. If a reader wants more, they will ask. Default to summary.
• Vague language. "Things are improving" is useless. Numbers and dates only.
• Hidden bad news. If burn is up, say so and explain why. Investors can read.
• Future hopes presented as facts. "We will close $200K of new revenue next month" is not the same as actual numbers.

The monthly investor update format

Here is the email structure most VCs prefer:

1. Subject line: "[Company] update — [Month Year]"
2. Headline: 1-2 sentences on the most important thing this month
3. Cash + runway: The headline numbers table above
4. Wins: 3-5 bullets on what shipped or closed
5. Asks: What you need from the investor (intros, hires, advice)
6. Concerns: What is keeping you up at night

Keep it under 500 words. Investors read dozens of these. The one that takes 5 minutes to digest gets ignored. The one that takes 30 seconds gets read.

The quarterly board version

Board decks expand the same content into 3-5 slides:

1. Slide 1: Headline numbers (cash, burn, runway, zero date)
2. Slide 2: Burn breakdown by category with prior period comparison
3. Slide 3: Revenue + customer metrics
4. Slide 4: Forecast (next 6 months) and assumptions
5. Slide 5: Decisions needed from the board

Board members do not want surprises. If burn is going to spike next quarter because of a planned hire, say so this quarter. The board will appreciate the heads-up and your credibility goes up.

Tools for generating the report

You do not need fancy software. Most founders use:

• Excel or Google Sheets for the historical tracking
• A simple table in the email body for the monthly numbers
• Slides for the quarterly board version
• The burn rate calculator for the quick "is this number right?" sanity check

The reporting habit matters more than the tool. A founder who sends a clean monthly update will outperform one with a beautiful dashboard but no discipline to update it.