Functional DemoAnalytics System

SaaS Burn Runway Simulator

Model SaaS burn, runway, and hiring across scenarios, then produce board-ready reports.

Company profile baseline

What it solves

SaaS founders and finance teams run runway planning in spreadsheets that are hard to maintain, easy to break, difficult to present, and weak at comparing multiple scenarios or explaining why one is better than another. Non-finance users struggle to see what happens to cash when the plan changes.

Built for SaaS founders, startup CEOs, CFOs and fractional CFOs, and finance operators, plus board members and investors as secondary users.

Overview

Users enter a SaaS financial baseline (cash, MRR/ARR, margin, expenses, churn, headcount) and generate baseline and custom scenarios across 12-36 month forecasts. A centralized engine computes monthly cash, MRR/ARR, burn, runway, CAC payback, LTV:CAC, burn multiple, and break-even for each scenario, with deterministic risk and confidence scores. Users adjust assumptions and hiring plans with live recalculation, compare 2-4 scenarios, run a fundraise-timing predictor, a break-even path finder, and stress-test mode, then generate editable board reports exportable to PDF or share links. An AI decision assistant explains scenarios using only calculated outputs.

What this demonstrates

It proves a centralized, tested financial forecasting engine that recomputes month-by-month outputs deterministically, layered scenario comparison and stress testing without mutating originals, fundraise-timing and break-even solvers, and grounded AI narrative for board reporting.

What makes it different

This is not a basic burn calculator. It is a premium SaaS financial decision tool that models runway, compares scenarios, and produces board-ready reports in minutes.

Easier than a spreadsheetReplaces fragile financial spreadsheets.
Board-level premiumClean enough to present to investors and boards.
Never hide the assumptionsEvery result exposes the assumptions behind it.
Never fabricate numbersAI uses only calculated outputs and assumptions.
Instant simulationChanging one assumption updates runway and charts immediately.
Help decisions, not just viewsThe product guides operating and fundraising choices.

Core capabilities · 16

Authentication & Workspace
Workspaces, companies, and an Owner/Admin/Editor/Viewer role model.
Company Financial Profile
Cash, MRR/ARR, churn, margins, expenses, headcount, and CAC baseline.
Scenario Engine
Typed scenarios with assumptions, monthly rows, and outputs.
Assumption Builder
Revenue, churn, expense, hiring, sales, and fundraising controls.
Forecast Calculations
Centralized monthly cash, MRR, burn, and runway math.
Scenario Output Summary
Runway, cash-out month, burn multiple, and break-even per scenario.
Visual Dashboard
Metric cards plus cash, MRR/ARR, burn, and churn charts.
Scenario Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of two to four scenarios.
Fundraise Timing Predictor
Ideal and latest-safe raise month, amount, and danger-zone warnings.
Break-Even Path Finder
Suggests levers to reach a target break-even month.
Stress Test Mode
Applies downside shocks and shows runway and ARR impact.
Assumption Confidence ScoreConfidence Score
Rates how grounded a scenario's assumptions are.
Scenario Risk ScoreRisk Score
Rates scenario risk 0-100 with top drivers.
AI Decision Assistant
CFO-style explanations of runway changes and board narrative.
Report Builder
Board-ready reports from one or more scenarios.
Export & Share
PDF, secure share link, and presentation view.

How it works

Create a company financial profile
System generates a baseline scenario
Duplicate or create a new scenario
Adjust revenue, churn, hiring, and fundraising assumptions
Forecast recalculates instantly
Compare two to four scenarios side by side
Run stress tests and review risk scores
Generate and export a board-ready report

How the score works

Scenario Risk Score

Short runway
Runway under 6 or 12 months.
Cash depletion
Negative cash before the forecast ends.
Burn multiple
Burn multiple above a healthy threshold.
Fundraising dependency
Reliance on a future raise.
Churn sensitivity
Vulnerability to churn increases.
Aggressive hiring
Heavy planned headcount growth.
CAC payback
Long payback period on acquisition cost.
Weak gross margin
Low gross margin pressure.
No break-even path
Absence of a break-even trajectory.
Growth dependency
Reliance on high revenue growth.

Key screens

Scenario Lab DashboardMetric cards and runway, MRR/ARR, burn, and churn charts.
Assumption BuilderGrouped revenue, churn, expense, and fundraising controls.
Hiring Plan SimulatorPlanned hires with loaded cost and runway impact.
Scenario ComparisonComparison table and cross-scenario charts.
Fundraise Timing PredictorRaise timing, amount, and danger-zone warnings.
Break-Even Path FinderSuggested levers and impact preview.
Stress Test ModePreset and custom downside tests.
Report BuilderBoard-ready report assembly and export.

Data model

User
Workspace
WorkspaceMember
Company
Scenario
ScenarioAssumptionSet
PlannedHire
DepartmentExpense
ForecastMonth
ScenarioOutputSummary
StressTest
ScenarioReport
ScenarioReportSection
ReportShareLink
AuditLog

Screens · 11

AI Scenario Lab page with an Extend Runway objective selector and a rule-based recommendation comparing Conservative, Balanced, Aggressive, and AI-Recommended scenario cards. — AI scenario generator

Scenario overview for "Test" showing metric tiles (runway, ending cash $3.2M, ending MRR, total burn, risk, confidence) and cash-runway and recurring-revenue charts. — Scenario overview dashboard

Scenario Assumptions tab with growth and revenue-quality sliders (MRR growth, expansion, gross margin) beside a Live forecast panel recalculated as you type. — Assumptions with live forecast

Scenario Hiring tab with planned-hires, added-payroll, and runway-impact tiles all at zero and a no-planned-hires empty state with Add hire buttons. — Hiring plan, empty state

Scenario Allocation tab with a capital allocation elasticity slider and a marginal-return scorecard by category, most cells reading Insufficient data. — Capital allocation scorecard

Scenario Intelligence tab showing an executive intelligence briefing with executive summary, runway analysis, growth recommendations, and risk analysis sections. — Executive intelligence briefing

Scenario Risk tab with a risk score of 0/100 (Low Risk, no material risks) beside a confidence score of 80/100 listing weakest assumptions. — Risk and confidence scores

Scenario Fundraise tab with cash-out, required-raise, ideal-start, and latest-safe-start tiles (all no cash-out projected) and a fundraise-window timeline. — Fundraise timing

Scenario Break-even tab with a Jul 2026 break-even badge, target-month selector, faster-growth and cut-expenses levers marked on track, and a gross-profit-vs-expenses chart. — Break-even path

Scenario Stress test tab with base-vs-stressed metric tiles, toggleable stress presets (slower growth, higher churn, higher CAC), and a base-vs-stressed cash runway chart. — Stress test presets

Scenario Assistant tab with a decision-assistant prompt box, suggested questions about raising, hiring, and risk, and a Get recommendation button. — Decision assistant

How it is built

A Next.js/React app backed by Postgres (via Prisma with the pg adapter), with custom JWT auth. An Anthropic integration powers the AI decision assistant; Sentry captures errors; Upstash Redis provides optional distributed rate limiting; and Resend sends transactional email with a console fallback.