Vocations · Professional Development

Know the number before
you open the doors.

List what you have to buy to open and what it costs to run each month. Add a cushion for surprises and a few months of running costs in reserve. The calculator gives the total to start, the gap against what you have saved, and how long the money lasts.

Price my businessWhat you get

The startup budget

The worked example is made up: a mobile bike repair business with $3,489 of tools, parts and paperwork to open, $535 a month to run and $4,000 saved. Every figure is a placeholder for your own. Nothing you enter leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentAlso for Academics · Study SkillsAlso for Academics · Adult LearningFree

What you finish with
The total it takes to open (one-time costs, a cushion and months of running costs held in reserve), the gap against the money on hand or what is left over, how many months of running costs the money covers after opening, the split of one-time costs by kind and the largest items. A one-page budget prints and the lines download as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Students starting a first business or a school enterprise project, adults planning a small business or side business, and the teachers and adult education instructors who guide them.
Format
Browser tool. Works on a phone, tablet or computer; totals move as you type. Up to 30 one-time and 30 monthly lines. Prints a one-page budget; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations; also listed for Study Skills (student entrepreneurs); also listed for Adult Learning (adults starting a small business).
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Name the business and set the cushion, the months of running costs to keep in reserve and the money you have.
  2. List each one-time cost of opening with its kind: equipment, licenses, insurance, inventory, marketing, space.
  3. List what it costs to run each month.
  4. Read the total to open, the gap and how long the money lasts; look at the largest costs first.
  5. Print the budget to take to a family member, a lender or a class pitch.

Price my business

How the budget is worked out

Three pieces added together, then compared with what you have.

1 What it costs to openOne-time costs$3,489seven itemsCushion$348.9010% of one-timeReserve$1,6053 × $535 a month2 The total and the gapNeeded to open$5,442.90$3,489 + $348.90 + $1,605Short by$1,442.90against $4,000 on hand3 How long the money lastsAfter paying to open$162.10 covers 0.3 months of running costsbefore any money comes in from customers1 To openOne-time$3,489seven itemsCushion$348.9010%Reserve$1,6053 months × $5352 Total and gapNeeded$5,442.90all threeShort by$1,442.90vs $4,0003 RunwayAfter opening0.3 months$162.10 of running costs
The worked example: a mobile bike repair business needs $5,442.90 to open with a cushion and three months of running costs, $1,442.90 more than the $4,000 saved.

The arithmetic

Needed to open = one-time costs + a cushion (a percent of the one-time costs) + monthly running costs times the months held in reserve. The gap is that total minus the money on hand. After paying the one-time costs and the cushion, what is left divided by the monthly costs is how many months the business can run before sales cover it.

Things the page leaves to you

Registration, licenses and permits depend on your city, county and state and on the kind of business; check with them before you open. A business in the United States usually needs an Employer Identification Number only if it has employees or is set up as a partnership or corporation; the IRS issues one free. For taxes, federal law lets a business deduct up to $5,000 of start-up costs and $5,000 of organizational costs in its first year, reduced once either total passes $50,000, and spread the rest over 15 years; equipment is handled separately. A tax professional can sort which costs are which.

Sources

  1. U.S. Small Business Administration, sba.gov. Calculate your startup costs and Apply for licenses and permits.
  2. Internal Revenue Service, irs.gov. Get an employer identification number: who needs an EIN; the application is free.
  3. 26 U.S.C. 195 (start-up expenditures) and 26 U.S.C. 248 (organizational expenditures): the $5,000 first-year deductions, the $50,000 phase-out and 180-month amortization.
  4. SCORE, score.org. Start-up expenses planning template and mentoring resources for small business owners.

The worked example is made up and is not a price list. The page adds up the figures you enter; it is not tax, legal or financial advice. Your budget stays in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.