Restaurant Cash Flow Template (13-Week Forecast)

A restaurant can be profitable for the month and still run out of cash on a Tuesday. Payroll lands every other week, rent once a month, loan payments and tax deposits on their own calendars, while sales arrive a little every day. The P&L averages all of that away. A cash flow forecast puts each payment in the week it actually leaves the account, so the tight weeks show up in advance.

Thirteen weeks is one quarter: long enough to see a quarterly tax payment or a seasonal dip coming, short enough that the numbers are still estimates you trust. Roll it forward every Monday: drop the week that ended, add a new week 13.

1. Enter today's bank balance as opening cash.
2. Forecast weekly sales deposits from your daily sales reports for the same weeks last year, net of card fees.
3. Put payroll on the weeks it is paid, and rent, loans and taxes on their due dates.
4. Estimate food and beverage purchases from your target food cost and the sales you forecast.
5. Find the lowest closing balance. That week decides whether you need a cushion, a smaller order or a talk with a vendor.

The sample starts with $15,000 in the bank and forecasts $322,500 in deposits over 13 weeks. Every payroll week runs negative, and week 1 is the tightest because payroll and rent leave in the same week: the balance drops to $3,250. Over the full quarter the business adds $18,780 in cash, about 5.8% of deposits, and ends with $33,780.

That low point is the story. With only $3,250 left in week 1, one slow weekend or a broken walk-in would bounce payroll. Moving the rent payment to the non-payroll week, or holding a cash cushion of at least one payroll, fixes it before it becomes a crisis.

The budget is the plan, the P&L is what the month earned on paper, and the cash flow forecast is when the money moves. Equipment bought with cash hits cash flow all at once but the P&L only through depreciation; a loan brings cash in without being income. Keep all three, and when they disagree, the cash forecast is the one that decides whether you make payroll.