How to write a monthly investor update, and how to report burn and runway

By Buzz Accounting · 5 August 2026

Updates to investors often stop a few months after a raise. When the next round begins, the investors best placed to help have not heard from the company for months and need to be brought up to date from the beginning.

A monthly update keeps your investors informed between rounds, which helps when you next raise, and writing it means you check your cash and runway every month.

How often to send it, and in what format

Send it monthly by email, by the tenth working day of the month, with the same structure every time. Put it in the body of the email, keep it short enough to read on a phone in a couple of minutes, and make it easy for an investor to forward to someone who could help.

Using the same structure each month lets an investor compare this month with the last one quickly. If the layout changes every month, investors are more likely to skim it.

The six figures to report

Cash in the bank at the month end, and the figure from last month.
Net burn for the month, calculated as set out in the next section.
Runway in months, on today's burn and on the plan.
Your main growth figure, such as monthly recurring revenue for a subscription software business, gross merchandise value (the total value of sales made through the platform) for a marketplace, or revenue for most other businesses. Report the same figure every month, including in a bad month.
One figure that predicts growth, such as qualified sales pipeline, new activations or trials started, so investors can see what next month's growth is likely to be.
Headcount, with offers made and leavers. Staff are usually the largest cost, so headcount explains most changes in burn.

How one-off receipts distort net burn

Net burn is the change in your cash balance over the month. UK startups often receive one-off amounts, such as an R&D tax credit, a VAT refund, a grant instalment or the second tranche of a raise, and each one makes burn for that month look lower than it is.

If you report the raw cash movement for that month, burn looks low and runway looks long, and you may plan on that basis yourself. Take one-off receipts out and report underlying net burn, the cash the business uses in a normal month. Show the one-off receipt on its own line so investors can see it.

One-off payments have the opposite effect. A year of insurance paid in one month, or a corporation tax payment, increases burn and makes a normal month look worse than it was. Treat both in the same way by reporting the underlying figure and listing one-off receipts and payments beneath it.

Runway on current burn and on the plan

Runway on today's burn shows how long the cash lasts if nothing changes. Runway on the plan includes the hires and other cost increases you have planned, so it is the figure to use when deciding when to start raising.

Report both, and if they differ by more than a month, explain the difference in the update.

Worked example: burn and runway for July

The figures below are illustrative, for a seed-stage company selling subscription software to businesses, reporting on July.

Cash at 31 July: £612,000. At 30 June: £668,000.
Raw cash movement: −£56,000.
Included in July receipts: an R&D tax credit of £61,000 for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Underlying net burn: £56,000 + £61,000 = £117,000.

Now the three runway figures:

On the raw movement: £612,000 ÷ £56,000 = 10.9 months, which overstates runway because the R&D credit is counted in burn.
On underlying burn: £612,000 ÷ £117,000 = 5.2 months, to roughly the start of January.
On the plan: two hires from October, costing £9,400 a month between them including employer's National Insurance and pension, take burn to £126,400 a month from October. Cash runs out in the second half of December, after about 5.0 months.

A seed extension or Series A round can take around six months from first conversation to money in the bank. On 5.2 months of runway, this company should already have started raising. On the 10.9-month figure, the founder would expect almost five months before needing to start, and would begin the raise with too little time left.

The rest of the update, in the same email:

Monthly recurring revenue: £18,400, up from £16,900 in June (+8.9%), or £220,800 a year.
Customers: 34, one lost in July (a seed-stage company that shut down), three added.
Pipeline: £41,000 of potential monthly recurring revenue at proposal stage, up from £29,000.
Headcount: 7, two offers out.
Request: three introductions to funds that lead £1.5m to £3m rounds in business software, each naming the fund and the partner.

Put bad news at the top

Put bad news in the first three lines, in plain language, with what you are doing about it.

Experienced investors notice bad news placed at the bottom of an update, and once they find it they discount the rest. Reporting a lost customer or a missed hire first makes the good news in the update more believable.

What to ask investors for

Make one or two requests, each specific enough that the reader can tell within five minutes whether they can help, such as an introduction to a named person, a candidate for a named role, or an opinion on a named decision. General offers to get in touch rarely get a response. If a request goes unanswered, repeat it the following month.

What to leave out

Figures that do not predict revenue or cash, such as website visits, social media followers or the number of conversations held.
Individual salaries. Report total payroll and headcount.
Customer names covered by a confidentiality agreement, and anything that would help a competitor. Updates are often forwarded beyond the people you send them to.
Long explanations. Give one sentence of context for each missed target.

Who receives the update, and investors' information rights

Angel investors who invested under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) or the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) usually hold small stakes with no formal right to information. Include them on the list, because they may invest again in later rounds and can introduce you to others. Institutional investors and anyone with a board seat will usually have information rights in the shareholders' agreement, typically monthly management accounts within a set number of days and an annual budget before the year starts. Read that clause, because a monthly update may not meet it, and missing it is a breach of the agreement.

Your accounts at Companies House and your corporation tax return are separate legal obligations with their own deadlines. Accounts can be filed up to nine months after the year end, so they are too out of date to serve as an update.

What to do this month

Pull your closing cash for the last three month ends and calculate underlying net burn for each, stripping out one-off receipts and payments.
Divide today's cash by the average of those three figures to get your runway, and compare it with the figure you have been reporting.
Repeat the calculation including every hire in your plan, and note the date the money runs out as well as the number of months.
If that date is less than nine months away, start raising now. Our runway and forecasting guide shows how to build the forecast.
Write the template once, with the six numbers as fixed headings, and send it on the same day every month.
If an R&D claim is part of your cash plan, do not count the money until HMRC has paid it, because an HMRC check can delay payment. Our post on R&D relief covers what makes a claim robust.

Where we help

We complete our clients' monthly bookkeeping in Xero early enough for them to send an update in the first fortnight of the month, with burn and runway calculated from underlying figures. We also keep the forecast behind the runway on the plan up to date, so the hiring plan and the date the cash runs out stay in line. Business Pulse adds monthly management accounts and a meeting from £499 a month + VAT, and our pricing page lists our other fees. Get started.

Common questions

How often should a startup send investor updates?

Monthly, by the tenth working day, in the same format every time. A seed-stage company can change a great deal in a quarter, so quarterly updates leave investors out of date. A consistent format lets investors see quickly what has changed since the last update. Send it as a short email.

What is the difference between gross burn and net burn?

Gross burn is all the cash leaving the business in a month, ignoring income. Net burn is the change in your cash balance, so it takes income off costs. Net burn is the figure used for runway and the one investors expect. A one-off receipt such as an R&D tax credit, a VAT refund or a grant instalment reduces it for that month and makes the month look cheaper than it was. Report underlying net burn, with one-off receipts taken out and listed separately. Treat one-off payments, such as a year's insurance paid in one month, in the same way.

How do I calculate runway?

Divide cash in the bank by underlying monthly net burn, using the average of the last three months, because a single month may be unusual. Then work out a second figure that includes every hire and cost increase in your plan, which is the runway you are working to. Report both, with the date the money runs out as well as the number of months. Where the two figures differ by more than a month, explain why in your update.

When should we start raising the next round?

Work back from the date your cash runs out on the plan, including planned hires, and allow around six months for a seed extension or Series A from first conversation to money in the bank. That means starting when you have about nine months of runway, which leaves three months spare if the process takes longer. Starting later also weakens your negotiating position, because investors can work out your runway from the figures you have sent them.

Should I include bad news in an investor update?

Yes, in the first three lines of the update. Experienced investors notice bad news placed near the bottom, and when they find it they doubt the good news above it. Reporting the lost customer or the failed hire first makes the rest of the update more credible. Give one sentence of context for each miss and one sentence on what you are doing about it.

What should I ask investors for?

One or two things, each specific enough that the reader can tell within five minutes whether they can help. Ask for an introduction to a named person at a named fund, a candidate for a named role, or an opinion on a decision you have set out. General requests, such as asking anyone who can help to get in touch, rarely get a response. If a request goes unanswered, repeat it the following month.

Do investor updates satisfy our legal information rights obligations?

Only if the update contains what the agreement requires. Institutional investors and anyone with a board seat usually have information rights in the shareholders' agreement, commonly monthly management accounts within a set number of days of the month end and an annual budget before the year begins. A short written update does not meet a requirement for management accounts. Read the clause and check what you have to provide, because missing it is a breach of the agreement. Accounts filed at Companies House are a separate legal requirement and are too out of date to serve as an update.