Free restaurant cash flow template for weekly review

A free restaurant cash flow template should show when money reaches the bank and when payments leave it. Copy the weekly layout below to separate card settlements, food suppliers, payroll and taxes, then compare actual cash with the plan. The key result is closing available cash against the restaurant's chosen minimum balance.

Define the cash that can pay the bills

Choose the bank accounts included in the review and reconcile their opening balances. This example uses one restaurant's operating bank account. Any funds restricted from operating use belong outside that available balance, with their treatment documented.

Put movements in the week they reach or leave the bank. The SBA's finance guidance distinguishes recording a sale from receiving payment; that timing difference is central to a cash review. A profitable Saturday does not fund Friday's payroll if the related deposit arrives afterward.

Keep the restaurant detail here, and use the monthly cash flow forecast for the broader planning method. The existing 13-week cash flow template extends the same opening-to-closing logic across a quarter.

A weekly restaurant worksheet to copy

Use column A for labels, B for the week's plan, C for actual bank movements and D for variance. Enter receipts and payments as positive amounts. Column D is =C2-B2, copied down; a positive payment variance means more cash went out.

This hypothetical US restaurant starts the week with $18,000. All monetary columns below are USD.

For another week, repeat the block and link its opening cash to the preceding closing balance. Keep the approved plan intact and update actuals separately. Otherwise a late deposit can disappear when someone silently changes the original forecast.

Add lines for equipment purchases, debt payments or owner distributions when they occur. The example assumes none in these weeks. Transfer movements between accounts already inside the review boundary should cancel on consolidation rather than creating apparent receipts or payments.

Fill each line from the right export

Receipts. Use the processor's settlement report, cash deposit records and catering receivables. Retain the business date, settlement date, reference and amount. Forecast settlement dates using the restaurant's actual processor agreement and recent experience, including known holidays or holds.

Where a processor pays net of fees, use that net amount in the settlement line and exclude the same withheld fees from payments. If reporting gross receipts and separate fees, bridge both to the bank deposit. Either convention can work; switching between them breaks the comparison.

Supplier payments. Use open invoices, due dates, scheduled payments and supplier statements. Food purchasing is a cash event when paid. It is different from food consumed during service, which belongs in the profit review. Check standing orders and any prepayments needed before deliveries.

Payroll and tax. Put net wages on their payment dates and tax deposits on their own scheduled dates. The IRS requires employers to deposit and report employment taxes; use the business's applicable schedule rather than assuming deposits coincide with every wage payment. Payroll withholding must not be counted both inside net wages and again as the same cash payment.

Include employee tip payouts in the line through which they are actually paid, with a separate line if needed for visibility. Card receipts may include customer-paid tips and sales tax, so retain the corresponding payment obligations. The IRS distinction between buyer-imposed sales tax and income does not remove the cash collection or remittance from this schedule.

Explain the cash variance before changing the plan

Actual closing cash is $4,000 below plan. A $3,000 card settlement moved into the next week, and a $1,000 supplier payment moved forward from the next week. The variance bridge is:

Neither movement changes total receipts or payments across the two weeks in this example. Both still matter because actual cash falls $2,500 below the chosen minimum in the first week.

The two-week check is 18,000+64,200-57,500 = 24,700 for both columns. First-week actual cash also proves independently as 18,000+29,000-34,500 = 12,500. Tie each actual closing balance to the bank reconciliation and investigate missing or duplicate references.

The controller owns the roll-forward; the restaurant manager confirms purchasing and staffing dates. Escalate a forecast shortfall with the affected payment dates and the size of the gap. For the operating balances behind those dates, see restaurant working capital.

Where it goes wrong

• Using the service date for every receipt. Settlement timing can move cash into a later week even when the sales report is complete.
• Counting withheld fees twice. Net settlement deposits already reflect those deductions.
• Treating collected taxes and tips as spare cash. The related liabilities still need payment dates in the schedule.
• Omitting nonoperating payments. Debt principal and equipment purchases can consume cash without appearing as current operating expenses.
• Relying only on week-end balances. Use the daily cash flow worksheet approach when payroll precedes the week's major receipts.

Compare your restaurant cash file in Covirage

Bring the weekly plan, bank export and supporting settlement and payment records to Covirage. Covirage maps the columns, and its tools compute and check the figures; the external AI model explains the differences with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account and bring a sample of your own data.

See Covirage for hospitality teams for the supporting industry context.