Restaurant Working Capital Gap
Surplus after buffer = current assets − current liabilities − desired buffer
Gather recipe sheets, supplier invoices and stock counts. Include ingredients, service labour, and facility overhead. The starting figures are examples. Replace them with your own records.
Formula and worked example
Surplus after buffer = current assets − current liabilities − desired buffer
| Input | Example |
|---|---|
| Current assets | 75,000 |
| Current liabilities | 45,000 |
| Desired additional liquidity buffer | 20,000 |
| Calculated result | 10,000 |
Choose reliable inputs
Track purchased quantities, usable yield, labour and waste before deciding on a selling price. For this restaurant calculation, use recipe sheets, supplier invoices and stock counts and a consistent definition of one cover.
- Ingredients: include the portion belonging to this cover or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
- Service labour: include the portion belonging to this cover or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
- Facility overhead: include the portion belonging to this cover or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
Use the same currency for every money input. Do not mix weekly costs with monthly revenue, or count the same expense in both an itemised cost and allocated overhead.
Is working capital equivalent to money in the bank?
Inventory and receivables need conversion into cash. Review asset quality and payment timing separately.
Current assets may include illiquid stock or disputed receivables; this is not available cash.
What if this input changes?
If current assets rises by 10%, this example changes by 7,500 . This shows the effect of one change; it does not predict what will happen.
Open the calculator, save your baseline, then change the input supported by the least reliable estimate in your records. Compare both scenarios before committing to a price or capacity promise.