What is burn rate, and how do you track it in Metabase?
Definition
Burn rate describes how quickly a company spends cash. Gross burn is total operating cash outflow over a period; net burn is cash outflow minus operating cash inflow. Runway calculations usually use net burn, while gross burn shows the cost base.
Formula: Gross burn = operating cash outflows; net burn = operating cash outflows - operating cash inflows
What data do you need?
- Posted cash movements with consistent signs
- Operating, financing, and investing classifications
- Reporting-currency conversion
- One-time and intercompany transaction flags
- Monthly period calendar
SQL pattern
Monthly gross and net burnPostgreSQL
SELECT
date_trunc('month', movement_date) AS month,
SUM(CASE WHEN cash_flow_class = 'OPERATING' AND amount < 0 THEN -amount ELSE 0 END) AS gross_burn,
-SUM(CASE WHEN cash_flow_class = 'OPERATING' THEN amount ELSE 0 END) AS net_burn
FROM modeled_cash_movements
WHERE is_posted = TRUE
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1;Common pitfalls
Including financing inflows in net burn.→ Classify operating, investing, and financing cash flows separately.
Calling accrual expense cash burn.→ Use cash movements for burn and show accrual operating expense as a separate measure.
Hiding one-time cash movements.→ Show reported burn and an adjusted view with explicit exclusions.
Where does this metric apply?
This metric commonly uses data from Plaid, NetSuite, Xero, QuickBooks, Wise, Airwallex, SAP, plus any reconciled warehouse or ledger models that provide the same business grain.
Related
Dashboards
Integrations
Metrics
Analytics
FAQ
Should payroll be included?
Yes when it is an operating cash outflow. The timing may differ from accrued payroll expense.
What trailing window should runway use?
Three or six months are common; use a window that reflects current operations and show scenario sensitivity.