A busy dining room can hide a cash problem for weeks. Your restaurant may be taking strong daily sales, yet still struggle to pay suppliers, wages, rent and BAS when they fall due. This restaurant cashflow example shows why tracking money in and out matters just as much as checking whether the business made a profit.
For hospitality operators, cashflow is rarely steady. Weekend trade may be excellent, delivery platforms can delay payouts, produce suppliers may require payment within days, and wages need to be paid regardless of how the next fortnight performs. A practical cashflow forecast helps you see those pressure points early, rather than finding them when the bank balance is already tight.
Cashflow records the actual movement of money through the business account. It starts with the cash you have at the beginning of a period, adds money received, subtracts money paid out, and shows what remains.
Profit is different. A profit and loss report matches income and expenses to the period in which they were earned or incurred. It may include sales that have not settled in your account yet, supplier bills that are still unpaid, or depreciation on kitchen equipment. Those are useful measures, but they do not tell you whether there will be enough cash in the account for Friday’s payroll.
For a restaurant, both reports are necessary. Profit helps you assess whether the menu, labour costs and overheads are commercially sustainable. Cashflow helps you keep operating without stressful calls to suppliers or last-minute borrowing.
Consider a small licensed restaurant in Western Sydney. It begins the month with $20,000 in the bank. The figures below are cash amounts, including GST where applicable. They are illustrative only, but the structure is one that can be built in Xero, MYOB or a tailored cashflow dashboard.
| Cash movement for the month | Amount | |—|—:| | Opening bank balance | $20,000 | | Cash received | | | EFTPOS, cash and direct restaurant sales | $126,000 | | Delivery-platform payouts received | $11,000 | | Total cash received | $137,000 | | Cash paid | | | Food and beverage suppliers | $38,500 | | Wages, super payment details and payroll costs | $44,000 | | Rent and outgoings | $9,000 | | Merchant fees and delivery commissions | $7,500 | | Utilities, software and insurance | $4,800 | | Repairs, cleaning and miscellaneous costs | $2,700 | | Loan repayment | $3,000 | | BAS payment | $6,500 | | Total cash paid | $116,000 | | Net cash movement | $21,000 | | Closing bank balance | $41,000 |
At first glance, this venue has had a positive month. It received $137,000 and paid $116,000, increasing its bank balance by $21,000. That is encouraging, but it is not a signal to spend the full $41,000 sitting in the account.
The owner still needs to check what commitments are waiting. There may be a large supplier bill due early next month, super payment details to set aside, upcoming payroll, a quarterly BAS obligation, or a scheduled equipment repair. A bank balance is a snapshot, not always spare cash.
The $11,000 of delivery-platform payouts may represent more customer sales than that amount suggests. Platforms commonly deduct commissions, promotional charges and fees before transferring the balance. Recording only the payout as sales can understate revenue and hide the true cost of delivery channels. Your bookkeeping should separately capture gross sales, platform fees and the net settlement received.
Supplier payments also need context. This month’s $38,500 may include stock bought for a busy upcoming period, payment of an overdue invoice, or simply lower purchasing after using inventory already on hand. Comparing supplier payments with food cost as a percentage of sales helps distinguish a timing issue from waste, over-ordering or poor menu margins.
Wages are another common pressure point. The example includes wages, super payment details and related payroll costs of $44,000. If sales slow by 15 per cent but rosters remain unchanged, cash can deteriorate quickly. Labour should be reviewed against sales regularly, while recognising that cutting shifts too sharply can affect service, customer experience and future revenue.
Imagine the same restaurant has a strong month on paper but makes several payments just before a long weekend. It pays $18,000 for a new fridge deposit, $12,000 in supplier invoices, $11,000 in weekly wages and $6,500 for BAS within a few days. Delivery payments do not arrive until the following week.
The business may still be profitable over the quarter, but the account can fall below a safe operating level. If direct debits then fail, merchant facilities or supplier relationships may be affected. This is why a forecast should look ahead at least 13 weeks, not only report last month’s result.
Cashflow can also tighten when owners take drawings without planning for tax, GST or payroll obligations. A regular owner draw can be reasonable, but it needs to fit the forecast. Treating the available bank balance as personal income is one of the quickest ways to create avoidable pressure in a growing hospitality business.
A monthly report is valuable for review, but restaurants benefit from a weekly view because trading and payments move quickly. Start with the current reconciled bank balance, not the balance you hope is there. Then enter expected cash receipts by week, including card settlements, cash banking, event deposits, catering invoices and delivery-platform payouts.
Next, list known payments according to their actual due dates. Include supplier invoices, wages, PAYG withholding data withholding, super payment details, rent, utilities, finance repayments, software subscriptions, insurance, tax instalments and BAS. If you have an equipment replacement planned, include the deposit and later instalments rather than leaving it as a vague future cost.
Forecasts are not meant to be perfect. They are meant to be useful enough to prompt action. If week six is likely to fall below your minimum cash buffer, you have time to adjust purchasing, follow up catering debtors, defer a non-essential expense, review rostering or discuss funding options before the issue becomes urgent.
A sensible buffer depends on the venue’s size, seasonality, supplier terms and fixed costs. As a starting point, many operators aim to hold enough accessible cash to cover at least several weeks of core wages, rent and critical supplier payments. A restaurant with highly seasonal trade or large quarterly obligations may need more.
Cashflow quality depends on accurate records. Daily sales should be reconciled to POS reports, EFTPOS settlements, cash deposits and delivery-platform statements. Supplier bills need to be entered promptly, not saved in a drawer until BAS time. Payroll needs to reflect the real cost of staff, including super payment details and leave where relevant.
A good weekly cashflow review works alongside an aged payables report and an aged receivables report. Payables show what you owe and when it is due. Receivables matter particularly for functions, catering, corporate accounts and event work, where deposits and final invoices can be substantial. Chasing an overdue invoice before it becomes a problem is far easier than trying to cover a payroll gap after the fact.
It is also helpful to track a small set of operating measures beside the forecast: sales by channel, food cost percentage, labour cost percentage, average spend per guest, delivery commission costs and gross margin by menu category. These figures turn the cash report from a bank-balance exercise into a decision-making tool.
There is no single healthy cashflow pattern for every restaurant. A cafe with daytime trade, a takeaway venue, a bar and a full-service restaurant will have different wage structures, purchasing cycles and settlement timing. Rent may be manageable for one venue and the largest risk for another. The value of a cashflow model is that it reflects your own payment dates, sales patterns and business plans.
If the numbers are currently spread across till reports, supplier emails, paper receipts and several bank accounts, getting organised can make a noticeable difference. GoBookaroo helps hospitality businesses keep transactions reconciled, payroll and supplier information current, and reporting clear enough to support timely decisions.
The most useful cashflow forecast is the one you review before committing to the next order, roster or purchase. It gives you room to act calmly, protect your relationships and keep your attention where it belongs: running a restaurant your customers want to return to.
