Investor update template: a monthly email with real numbers
A good investor update is a short monthly email with five parts: a one-line headline, a small table of metrics (cash, net burn, runway, revenue growth), three to five highlights, one to three lowlights and one to three specific asks. Send it on the same day every month. Copy the template below, replace the example numbers and fill it from your closed books.
Updated · 5 min read · By the Accountable team
The short version
- Send investors a short update every month on a fixed date, so they learn where to look.
- Open the metrics with cash, net burn, runway and the month cash runs out, then add revenue and customer numbers.
- Include the lowlights, and end with one to three asks that a specific person can act on.
- Take every number from closed books so the update matches the statements investors see later.
- Keep it to about five minutes of reading, in plain text, with a consistent format each month.
Copy this template and replace the example numbers
The example is a software startup closing March. Every number comes from the same books used in how to calculate burn rate and how to calculate runway.
Subject: Example Co. update, March: $44.5K MRR (+10.7%), 10 months of runway
TL;DR: We added 9 net customers and reached $44.5K in monthly recurring revenue. We reach profit before cash runs out if growth holds at 6% a month. We need two introductions to finance leaders at logistics companies.
METRICS, March vs February
Cash: $960,000 (February: $1,046,000)
Net burn: $86,000 this month, $96,000 three-month average
Gross burn: $132,000
Runway: 10.0 months, cash lasts to January
MRR: $44,500 (February: $40,200, up 10.7%)
Customers: 118 (February: 109, net +9)
Monthly logo churn: 1.8% (2 of 109 customers)
Burn multiple, first quarter: 1.9
HIGHLIGHTS
- Signed our first $24,000 annual contract, a 40-person logistics company.
- Shipped the usage dashboard; 31% of customers opened it in the first week.
- Hired a second support engineer, starting April 14.
LOWLIGHTS
- Two customers churned, both under $300 a month, because we lack a Salesforce integration.
- The mid-market sales cycle grew from 21 days to 34 days.
ASKS
- Introductions to VPs of finance at logistics companies with 50 to 500 employees. I can send a short forwardable blurb.
- A senior backend engineer. Job link: [link].
THANKS
- Thank you to [investor name] for the introduction that became the $24,000 contract.
NEXT MONTH: $50K MRR, 130 customers, offers out to a head of sales.
The names, contracts and customer counts are illustrative. The arithmetic is real: $960,000 ÷ $96,000 is 10.0 months, and ($44,500 - $40,200) ÷ $40,200 is 10.7%.
The metrics block has eight numbers, and each has a formula
Kruze Consulting lists ARR, net burn, gross burn, months of runway and the cash-out month as the financial metrics investors want. The Founder Institute suggests mixing three kinds of metric: additive (new things this period), cumulative (the total) and ratio (a percentage). The table adds one of each: net new customers, total customers and churn.
| Metric | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Bank balances on the last day of the month | $960,000 |
| Net burn | Cash out minus cash in from customers, averaged over 3 months | $96,000 |
| Gross burn | All cash out in the month | $132,000 |
| Runway | Cash divided by net burn | 10.0 months |
| MRR | Monthly fees of all active subscriptions | $44,500 |
| MRR growth | (This month's MRR minus last month's) ÷ last month's | 10.7% |
| Monthly logo churn | Customers lost in the month ÷ customers at the start | 1.8% |
| Burn multiple | Net burn for the period ÷ net new annual recurring revenue | 1.9 |
Pick your metrics once and keep them, so investors can compare month to month. Pre-revenue companies can replace the revenue rows with pipeline, waitlist or user counts.
Highlights, lowlights and asks: three to five, one to three, one to three
- Highlights: three to five wins, each with a number or a named customer. Group them by product, customers and team.
- Lowlights: one to three honest problems, each with what you are doing about it. Investors notice when the bad news is missing.
- Asks: one to three requests that a specific person can do in ten minutes, such as an introduction to a named kind of buyer or a link to a job post. Kruze suggests including LinkedIn profiles and job links, and a short blurb investors can forward.
- Thanks: name the investors whose help produced a result. It costs nothing and makes the next ask easier.
Send it on the same day every month, in five minutes of reading
Kruze's advice is to use a consistent format so investors learn where to look, and to send on a consistent date such as the 1st, 10th or 15th. The Founder Institute recommends at least one update a month for the first 24 to 36 months, in plain text, short enough to read in five minutes, sent midweek rather than on a Friday.
Step 1: Close the month. Every bank transaction should be categorized and matched to the statement before you pull a number.
Step 2: Copy cash, net burn, runway and revenue from the closed books into the metrics block.
Step 3: Write three to five highlights, one to three lowlights and your asks.
Step 4: Send it to the same list on the same day, and keep a copy so next month's comparison is easy.
Pull every number from closed books, not from a spreadsheet you edit by hand
Investors will see these numbers again in a board deck, a diligence request and your tax package. If the update says $96,000 of net burn and the books say $101,000, you spend a call explaining the gap. Closed books make every report agree.
MRR is not the same as revenue on your financial statements. MRR is the monthly run rate of active subscriptions. Recognized revenue follows the accounting rules in ASC 606 for SaaS startups, so a prepaid annual plan adds its full price to MRR's annualized view but only one month to revenue. Label which one you show.
Questions founders ask
How often should I send investor updates?
Monthly for most startups. The Founder Institute recommends at least monthly for the first 24 to 36 months, and Kruze suggests a consistent date such as the 1st, 10th or 15th.
What should an investor update include?
A headline, metrics (cash, net burn, runway, revenue and customers), highlights, lowlights, specific asks and thanks. Kruze also lists the cash-out month as a key metric.
How long should an investor update be?
Short enough to read in about five minutes. Put the key numbers at the top and link to detail for anyone who wants it.
Should I include bad news?
Yes. Include one to three lowlights with what you are doing about them, since investors can only help with problems they know about.
What if I have no revenue yet?
Report cash, net burn and runway, then product milestones, waitlist or pipeline numbers and hiring, with the same lowlights and asks.
The update drafts itself from your closed month
In Accountable, Reports › Analysis › Investor update drafts the month's update from your books. Press Edit to write in your own words, then Send it or Make a link. After a number changes, Redraft from the books refreshes it. Investor updates are on Pro and Holding.
Start freeSources, checked September 30, 2026: