Free investor update template: a monthly update and a numbers sheet that checks itself

A monthly investor update is a short, regular note to the people who have backed you: what happened, the numbers, what went badly, and what you need. Done every month, it keeps investors informed without meetings, and it makes the next raise easier because nobody is reading your story for the first time.

The hard part is not the writing. It is getting the same numbers right every month without retyping them, and admitting the bad news early. This template is built around both.

The template has two parts, both set out in full below: the update, section by section, and a numbers sheet with the formulas to paste in. Build them in Word and Excel, or Google Docs and Sheets, or start from the ready-made investor update desk template in PlexiiDesk. A worked example for an invented company shows what "done" looks like. To keep the figures, the draft and the investor list on one screen, you can also download PlexiiDesk free; the set-up is near the end.

The two parts, and why there are two

The update document is the update itself: seven short sections, each described below.

The numbers sheet is where every figure is typed, once. With the formulas below, it works out growth and runway for you and checks that your cash figures reconcile before you send anything.

Keeping them separate is the point. A founder who types MRR into the email, the deck and the model will, sooner or later, have three slightly different numbers. The rule this template follows is the one in our guide to writing an investor update where every number agrees: type each number once, in one place, and copy from there at the moment you write.

The numbers sheet, column by column

Name the first sheet Monthly metrics and give it these columns, in this order from column A, with a Notes column at the end. Each row is one month, added after the month closes.

|| Column | What to enter | Worked out for you? | || --- | --- | --- | || Month | Text in the form 2026-10, so every tool sorts and charts it the same way | | || MRR (end of month) | Recurring revenue on the last day of the month, excluding one-off fees | | || New MRR | Added this month from new customers and upgrades | | || Churned MRR | Lost to cancellations and downgrades, entered as a positive number | | || MRR growth % | | Yes, against last month | || Paying customers | A count on the last day of the month | | || Cash at month end | All bank accounts, last day of the month | | || Funding received | New equity, debt or grants that landed this month. Zero most months | | || Net burn | Operating cash out minus cash in, as a positive number when you are spending more than you earn | | || Runway (months) | | Yes: cash divided by average net burn over the last three months | || Headcount | People on payroll | | || Cash check | | Yes: says OK or tells you how far out you are |

Two columns deserve a closer look.

Runway uses a three-month average of burn rather than this month alone. One unusual month, a large annual bill, say, then does not swing your runway by half a year. If you are not burning cash at all, the cell says "Not burning" instead of dividing by zero.

Cash check is the one most templates leave out. It takes last month's cash, adds this month's funding, subtracts this month's net burn, and compares the answer with the cash you typed. If they differ by more than a dollar, it shows "Check: off by" and the amount. That is almost always a typo, a missed transfer, or a burn figure from a different definition. Fix it before you write a word, because an investor who reconciles your numbers will find it too.

The formulas. Put these in row 3 and fill them down; row 2 is your first month, which has nothing to compare against. MRR growth % (column E): =IF(OR(B3="",B2=""),"",(B3-B2)/B2). Runway (column J), averaging the latest three months of burn: =IF(OR(G3="",I3=""),"",IF(AVERAGE(I1:I3)<=0,"Not burning",G3/AVERAGE(I1:I3))). Cash check (column L): =IF(OR(G3="",G2="",I3=""),"",IF(ABS(G2+H3-I3-G3)<1,"OK","Check: off by "&TEXT(G2+H3-I3-G3,"#,##0"))). Format column E as a percentage.

Add a Definitions sheet that writes down what each measure means. Send it to a new investor once. Then, if you ever have to change a definition, say so in the update and restate last month on the new basis.

A worked example

Here are five months for an invented company, Fernbank Software, showing the sheet behaving the way it should in an ordinary month and in a funding month:

• From June to September, cash falls by exactly the net burn each month, and every Cash check says OK.
• In October, a $300,000 bridge lands. Cash rises from $322,500 to $590,000, which is $322,500 plus $300,000 minus $32,500 of burn. Cash check still says OK, and runway moves from about 10.8 months to about 19.

Once your formulas are in, type two months of figures and change one cash number to watch the check react. It is the quickest way to trust the sheet.

The update, section by section

1. The month in two sentences. The most important fact first, good or bad, and what it means. From the example: "MRR grew 10% to $25.4k and we closed a $300k bridge on 14 October, which takes runway to about 19 months. Churn ticked up to $600 for the second month running; we know why and the fix ships in November." An investor who reads only this should still know how the month went.

2. Key numbers. A table with this month, last month, the change and your plan. Copy every figure from the numbers sheet. Same measures, same order, every month, so a reader can put two updates side by side.

3. Highlights, up to three. Facts, with a number or a name where you can give one. "Seven net new customers, five of them from the accountant referral partnership" says more than "strong sales momentum".

4. Lowlights, and what you are doing about each. This is the section that builds trust. Name the problem, the cause if you know it, and the next step with a date: "Both cancellations cited the missing Xero export. It ships on 18 November; we will report churn for December against it." Investors notice what is missing from an update far more than what is in it.

5. Asks. Specific enough that someone could act on it in five minutes. "An introduction to anyone running finance at a mid-sized accounting firm in Melbourne" gets answered. "Any intros welcome" does not. If an ask is for one investor, say who.

6. Next month. Two or three priorities you will report against. Next month's update starts by saying how they went, which keeps you honest and gives the series a thread.

7. Thanks. Optional, and short. Name an investor who helped and what they did. It encourages more of the same.

A monthly routine that takes under an hour

1. Day one or two after month end: add the row to Monthly metrics. Get cash and burn from your accounts, not from memory.
2. Look at Cash check. If it is not OK, find the difference first.
3. Copy the numbers into section 2, with last month beside them.
4. Write the lowlights before the highlights. It stops the good news from crowding out the bad.
5. Reread last month's "next month" section and say how each item went.
6. Send on the same day each month. Regularity matters more than polish.

To keep the numbers, draft and investor list on one desk, download Plexii free.

Keeping the whole update on one desk

If you would rather not juggle a document, a workbook and an email thread, the investor update desk template sets this up in PlexiiDesk. The metrics live in a Table, one row per month, and a Stat card and a Chart read their figures from that table, so the headline number and the trend update when you add the month's row. The draft, the deck and the list of investors sit on the same desk. You can try a founder's desk in the interactive demo, or see how it fits the rest of the job on the page for start-up founders.

If you build the update in Word and the numbers in Excel, both open in PlexiiDesk. The Word document opens in PlexiiWrite, and the workbook's first sheet imports into a Table: right-click the table's title bar and choose Import CSV, JSON or Excel…. Keep Month as Short text so the chart labels each month as you wrote it. See Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table.

For other updates that go to people outside the company, the same "one source, many readers" idea applies to clients: keeping clients updated without another status email covers when to share a live view instead of a report.

Common questions

What should a monthly investor update include? A two-sentence summary of the month, the same set of key numbers every month with last month beside them, up to three highlights, the lowlights and what you are doing about each, specific asks, and your priorities for next month.

How long should an investor update be? Short enough that the summary and the numbers fit on one screen, and the whole update in under two pages. Investors read many of these; a consistent, brief format gets read.

How often should a start-up send investor updates? Monthly is common at early stages, quarterly later on. Pick one rhythm and keep to it, including in bad months. A missed update is read as bad news.

How do I calculate runway? Divide cash at the end of the month by average monthly net burn. This template averages burn over the last three months so one unusual month does not distort the figure.

Should I include bad news in an investor update? Yes, with what you are doing about it and by when. Investors who hear about a problem early can help; investors who find out late lose trust in every other number you send.

Can I send the update as an email instead of a document? Yes. Many founders paste the finished update into the body of an email so it can be read without opening an attachment. Keep the document as the record of what you sent.