EVALUATOR
Cash Reality & Runway
Can the business survive the timing of real cash movement — or does liquidity break first?
If cash timing fails, accounting comfort does not matter.
Cash survives normal and stress timing
Runway depends on timing assumptions
Liquidity breaks before the plan does
This evaluator tests
- Runway reality
- Burn structure
- Commitment timing
- Working-capital exposure
This evaluator does not do
- Fundraising advice
- Cost-reduction recommendations
- Cash-management tactics
- Runway by assumption
Step 1
Decompose burn
Split burn into committed, discretionary, fixed, and variable components.
Step 2
Map outflows
Identify committed cash exits and their exact timing.
Step 3
Measure working capital
Calculate the cash gap between inflows and outflows.
Step 4
Stress-test runway
Check whether the business survives delayed collections and downside cases.
Step 5
Re-evaluate survivability
Confirm the business can reach the next decision point alive.
Tools
Operator stack
PROFITBOOKS SYSTEM
Unit Economics → Cash → Profit
If one breaks, everything above misleads
If you lose money per customer, growth makes it worse
If margins are hidden, your business model is unclear
If contribution isn’t positive, you do not have a business
If cash does not survive timing stress, growth will not save the business.
Related tools
Unit Economics Truth
Validate whether one unit creates margin before testing cash timing. Review Unit Economics Truth.
Scale & Profit Durability
After survival is proven, test whether profit still holds at scale. Review Scale & Profit Durability.
From the knowledge base
Read the failure pattern behind false runway confidence. Read: Cash Runway Is Not What You Think It Is.