Restaurant startup budget and cash runway planner

How the startup planner works

Enter cash that is actually available for this scenario, not an unapproved loan or a hoped-for investment. Add each one-off payment once. The contingency percentage applies to all listed opening costs; it is a planning allowance you choose, not an industry recommendation. Monthly receipts and payments are entered separately, using the same calendar-month basis.

1. Add the costs due before or at opening: equipment, fit-out, deposits, initial stock, professional fees or another clearly identified payment.
2. Enter any extra contingency you intend to hold against those one-off costs. Enter zero if you are intentionally modelling none.
3. Estimate cash actually received each month and cash actually paid each month. Revenue earned on credit is not necessarily cash received. Include payroll, rent, suppliers, repayments and tax cash flows where relevant to your own plan.
4. Choose how many months of positive cash drawdown you want the funding comparison to cover. This is your scenario, not a recommended reserve period.

Read the arithmetic

Opening budget = listed one-off cash costs + contingency. Cash after opening = available cash − opening budget. Monthly drawdown = cash payments − cash receipts. When drawdown is positive, runway is the non-negative cash left after opening divided by that drawdown. A negative opening balance is a funding shortfall; the planner does not turn it into a negative number of operating months.

If receipts equal or exceed payments, the result says no monthly drawdown is modelled. It does not show an infinite runway: timing differences, a slow launch, changing costs and adverse trading can still create a cash shortage. Extra cash needed compares available cash with the opening budget plus the selected number of positive-drawdown months.

A fictional opening scenario

The sample lists 53,000 of one-off costs. A 10% contingency adds 5,300, giving an opening budget of 58,300. With 85,000 available, 26,700 remains. Monthly receipts of 26,000 and payments of 32,000 create a 6,000 drawdown, so the flat scenario covers 4.45 months. Opening plus six drawdown months requires another 9,300. These amounts are invented and are not restaurant startup-cost benchmarks.

Before using the result

Obtain current quotes, document what is refundable and check each payment date. Do not treat a refundable deposit as immediately available cash. Do not include an equipment payment in both the opening list and monthly payments unless you intentionally model a separate later instalment. Keep a dated cash forecast with actual due dates for financing decisions. This tool does not assess loan eligibility, tax deductibility, profitability, solvency or permission to open.

Sources and further reading

The sources below explain the underlying planning tasks. This page's specific formulas, comparison thresholds and fictional scenario are stated above so you can assess whether they fit your own situation. It is independent of the listed providers.

• US Small Business Administration — startup costs and business planning
• Build a restaurant cash-flow forecast
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• About the author