Project Burn Rate Calculation

Project Status Summary

Current Weekly Burn Rate:

Budget Consumed:

Remaining Budget:

Estimated Runway: weeks

function calculateBurnRate() { var total = parseFloat(document.getElementById('totalBudget').value); var spent = parseFloat(document.getElementById('amountSpent').value); var time = parseFloat(document.getElementById('timeElapsed').value); var duration = parseFloat(document.getElementById('totalDuration').value); if (isNaN(total) || isNaN(spent) || isNaN(time) || time <= 0) { alert("Please enter valid numbers. Time elapsed must be greater than 0."); return; } var weeklyBurn = spent / time; var remaining = total – spent; var percentSpent = (spent / total) * 100; var runway = remaining / weeklyBurn; var timeRemaining = duration – time; document.getElementById('weeklyBurn').innerText = "$" + weeklyBurn.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2}); document.getElementById('remainingBudget').innerText = "$" + remaining.toLocaleString(); document.getElementById('percentSpent').innerText = percentSpent.toFixed(1) + "%"; document.getElementById('runway').innerText = runway.toFixed(1); var analysis = ""; if (runway < timeRemaining) { analysis = "⚠️ Alert: At your current burn rate, you will run out of budget in " + runway.toFixed(1) + " weeks, but you have " + timeRemaining + " weeks of work left. You are over-burning."; document.getElementById('resultsArea').style.borderLeftColor = "#d93025"; } else { analysis = "✅ Healthy: Your current burn rate allows you to finish the remaining " + timeRemaining + " weeks within the remaining budget."; document.getElementById('resultsArea').style.borderLeftColor = "#1e8e3e"; } document.getElementById('analysisText').innerText = analysis; document.getElementById('resultsArea').style.display = "block"; }

Understanding Project Burn Rate

In project management, the Burn Rate is the speed at which your project is consuming its allocated budget. Monitoring this metric is critical for Project Managers (PMs) to ensure that the project does not run out of funds before the scheduled completion date.

How to Calculate Burn Rate

The calculation is straightforward but provides profound insights into project health. Use the following formulas:

• Burn Rate = Total Spent / Time Period (e.g., Weeks or Months)
• Remaining Runway = Remaining Budget / Current Burn Rate
• Percent Expended = (Actual Cost / Total Budget) x 100

Example Scenario

Imagine you are managing a software development project with a Total Budget of $100,000 planned for 20 weeks. After 5 weeks, you check your accounts and see you have spent $30,000.

1. Weekly Burn Rate: $30,000 / 5 weeks = $6,000 per week.
2. Remaining Budget: $100,000 – $30,000 = $70,000.
3. Estimated Runway: $70,000 / $6,000 = 11.6 weeks.
4. The Problem: You have 15 weeks of work left (20 total – 5 elapsed), but only 11.6 weeks of funding. This indicates a budget overrun unless scope is reduced or efficiency is increased.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a "Net Burn" vs "Gross Burn"?

Gross burn is the total amount of cash spent each month, while Net burn is the total amount of money a company loses (Spent minus Revenue). In project management, we typically focus on Gross Burn relative to the fixed project budget.

How often should I calculate the burn rate?

For high-velocity agile projects, weekly calculations are recommended. For longer, multi-year infrastructure projects, monthly reporting is usually sufficient.

What causes a high burn rate?

Common causes include scope creep, unforeseen technical debt, underestimation of labor costs, or inefficient resource allocation.