Business Emergency Fund Calculator

Size a business cash reserve that covers fixed costs through a slow quarter.

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Business Emergency Fund Calculator

Enter fixed costs, months of cover and what you have saved so far.

Target cash reserve
β€”
Enter values above
Gap to fill
β€”
Months to reach target
β€”
Coverage today (months)
β€”
Progress
β€”
Reserve per employee-free month
β€”

Worked example

With the default inputs shown below, this calculator returns the following results:

InputValue
Monthly fixed costs ($)12000
Months of cover required6
Current cash reserve ($)20000
Monthly amount saved toward it ($)2000
ResultValue
Target cash reserve$72,000
Gap to fill$52,000
Months to reach target26 months
Coverage today (months)1.7
Progress27.78%
Reserve per employee-free month$12,000

Values shown are produced by this page in your browser; change any input to update them.

How to use the Business Emergency Fund Calculator

  1. Monthly fixed costs ($) β€” default 12000
  2. Months of cover required β€” default 6
  3. Current cash reserve ($) β€” default 20000
  4. Monthly amount saved toward it ($) β€” default 2000
  5. Press Calculate to update the results instantly.

Frequently asked questions

Three months for a stable service business, six for most, and twelve for anything seasonal, hardware-heavy or dependent on a single large customer.
Yes β€” include payroll, rent, software, insurance and loan payments in the monthly fixed costs figure. Exclude variable costs that stop automatically when trade slows.
In an instant-access account or money market fund. The point of the reserve is availability, not yield, so do not lock it in a term deposit you cannot break.

Sources & references