Why does the total assume no revenue at all?

Because that is the safe planning assumption. Funding your buffer as if nothing sells means early revenue extends your runway rather than rescuing it. If you have signed contracts before launch, subtract that committed cash from the total yourself.

How many months of buffer should I hold?

Long enough to reach the point where revenue covers monthly costs, plus a margin for that taking longer than expected. Businesses with short sales cycles often plan three to six months, while those selling to enterprises or waiting on licences need considerably more.

Should the founder salary go in the monthly list?

Yes, if you need to draw one to live. Plans that quietly assume the founder works unpaid understate the requirement and tend to fail in month four, when the personal position becomes the binding constraint rather than the business one.

Does this include tax or loan repayments?

Only if you add them as lines. The tool sums exactly what you type. If you are launching with a loan, add the monthly repayment as an operating expense row so the buffer actually covers it.

Does it show my runway in months?

No. It shows the total cash required, one-time costs and monthly costs. Runway is your available cash divided by the monthly operating figure, which you can work out from the numbers displayed.

Are these US dollars?

The tool is labelled in US dollars and aimed at US founders. TaxEase separately handles company registration and compliance work in Pakistan, which is a different service with its own process and is not connected to this calculator.

Startup Cost Calculator: How Much Cash to Launch With

Startup Cost Calculator: How Much Cash to Launch WithThe Startup Cost Calculator is a free browser-based tool that adds your one-time launch expenses to several months of operating costs, producing the total cash you need in hand before you open. You build two named lists, one of one-off items such as equipment and incorporation, one of recurring monthly costs such as rent and salaries, then set how many months of runway you want to hold. The result is one-time costs plus monthly costs multiplied by that buffer. It assumes no revenue during the buffer period, which is deliberately conservative, and it does not model financing, interest or tax.

What people use it for

Working out how much to raise before launching

A founder planning a small studio lists $22,500 of one-time costs against $12,800 of monthly running costs. At a six-month buffer that is $99,300 of cash needed. Knowing the figure before speaking to investors or a bank prevents raising an amount that runs out one month before the business turns a corner.

Comparing a lean launch against a full one

A retail owner runs the same list twice, once with a leased storefront and once starting online only. Seeing the two totals side by side makes the trade-off explicit, since the online version usually cuts both the one-time build-out and the largest recurring line at the same time.

Choosing a realistic runway length

Running the same cost base at three, six and nine months shows how sharply the requirement rises with caution. A founder who is confident of revenue in month two can defend a shorter buffer, but should see the number the longer buffer would have needed before making that bet.

Building the funding request in a business plan

Lenders and investors want the use of funds broken down rather than a single ask. The itemised one-time and monthly lists, printed alongside the total, become the funding requirement section of a plan directly, with each line already named.

How it works

List every one-time cost Under One-Time Costs, name each item and enter its amount. Equipment, deposits, incorporation and legal fees, initial inventory, branding and website all belong here rather than in the monthly list.
List your monthly operating expenses Under Monthly Operating Expenses, add each recurring cost: rent, salaries, software, insurance, utilities. Enter the monthly figure rather than an annual one, since the tool multiplies by your buffer in months.
Set the operating buffer Choose how many months of running costs you want funded before revenue arrives, from zero up to thirty-six. Six months is a common starting point, but a longer sales cycle justifies more.
Press Calculate Startup Costs You get the total cash required to launch as the headline figure, with total one-time costs and total monthly operating expenses shown separately beneath it.
Adjust and rerun Rows with a zero amount are ignored, and each row can be deleted. Change the buffer or drop a cost line and recalculate to see instantly how much cash the change saves.

Worked examples

Input: One-time: equipment and hardware $12,000, legal and incorporation $2,500, initial inventory $8,000. Monthly: rent $3,000, salaries $9,000, software $800. Buffer 6 months.

Result: Total one-time costs $22,500, monthly operating expenses $12,800, total cash required $99,300. More than three-quarters of the requirement is the buffer rather than the launch itself.

Input: One-time: equipment $6,000, LLC filing and legal $1,200, website and branding $2,300. Monthly: rent $1,500, part-time help $2,400, software $400, insurance $300. Buffer 9 months.

Result: Total one-time costs $9,500, monthly operating expenses $4,600, total cash required $50,900. A lean business with a long runway still needs five times its launch costs in the bank.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the total assume no revenue at all?: Because that is the safe planning assumption. Funding your buffer as if nothing sells means early revenue extends your runway rather than rescuing it. If you have signed contracts before launch, subtract that committed cash from the total yourself.
How many months of buffer should I hold?: Long enough to reach the point where revenue covers monthly costs, plus a margin for that taking longer than expected. Businesses with short sales cycles often plan three to six months, while those selling to enterprises or waiting on licences need considerably more.
Should the founder salary go in the monthly list?: Yes, if you need to draw one to live. Plans that quietly assume the founder works unpaid understate the requirement and tend to fail in month four, when the personal position becomes the binding constraint rather than the business one.
Does this include tax or loan repayments?: Only if you add them as lines. The tool sums exactly what you type. If you are launching with a loan, add the monthly repayment as an operating expense row so the buffer actually covers it.
Does it show my runway in months?: No. It shows the total cash required, one-time costs and monthly costs. Runway is your available cash divided by the monthly operating figure, which you can work out from the numbers displayed.
Are these US dollars?: The tool is labelled in US dollars and aimed at US founders. TaxEase separately handles company registration and compliance work in Pakistan, which is a different service with its own process and is not connected to this calculator.

Tips

Add a contingency row of ten to twenty percent of one-time costs. Something always costs more than the quote, and naming the buffer beats discovering it.
Split large one-time items into their real components. Equipment as one line hides the delivery, installation and training that come with it.
Run the calculation at both your expected buffer and one three months longer. If the longer figure is unreachable, you are relying on revenue arriving exactly on schedule.
Keep deposits and prepaid rent in the one-time list rather than the monthly one, or the buffer multiplies a cost you only pay once.

Written by Ahsan Mahmood. Last updated 2026-07-21. This calculator runs entirely in your browser and produces estimates, not tax advice.TaxEase — Startup Cost Calculator: How Much Cash to Launch With