Restaurant and hospitality business finance

Running a restaurant means running two businesses at once: a kitchen that turns raw ingredients into margin, and a front of house that turns a room into revenue. Both are labour-heavy, both are exposed to a slow Tuesday, and both need equipment that’s expensive to replace when it fails mid-service.

That’s why restaurant funding requests tend to cluster around three moments: when something big breaks, when the room needs a refresh to keep up, and when the calendar puts a quiet month and a big bill side by side.

Where does restaurant cash flow get squeezed?

On a good night the maths looks easy. On a slow week it doesn’t, because the costs don’t shrink at the same pace as the bookings.

• Wages. The adult minimum wage rose to $23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026, according to MBIE, and KiwiSaver employer contributions stepped up to 3.5% the same day. Rosters can be trimmed, but chefs on salary and a core front-of-house team can’t disappear for a month.
• Food. Supplier accounts usually want paying on terms, regardless of whether the week’s stock sold.
• Rent and outgoings. Fixed, and often reviewed upwards at the worst time.
• Lumpy bills. GST, provisional tax, insurance and licence renewals.

A clear view of when these collide is worth more than any loan. Our cash gap estimator has a restaurant season pattern you can adjust to match your own takings.

What do lenders look for in a restaurant?

Lenders funding hospitality are used to seasonality. What makes them nervous is unpredictability. They generally look at:

Area	What helps your case
Bank statements	Regular card takings, few dishonours, bills paid on time
Margins	Food and wage costs you can explain and control
Lease	Enough term left to justify the spend, renewal rights
Existing debt	Equipment leases and other finance disclosed upfront
Tax position	GST and PAYE up to date, or an arrangement in place
Plan	A clear reason for the money and how it pays back

If your POS reports covers, average spend and sales by daypart, bring them. They tell a story bank statements can’t. Our guide to using POS reports for cash planning explains which ones are worth pulling.

Which kind of funding suits which job?

Kitchen equipment. Combi ovens, fryers, refrigeration, dishwashers and extraction have long working lives. Spreading the cost over a few years with equipment finance or a term facility keeps working capital free for wages and stock. See kitchen and equipment funding.

Refurbishments. A new look for the dining room, a bar extension or a better pass. Unsecured funding can cover smaller refreshes; larger projects often suit property-secured borrowing from $20,000 to $5,000,000. Our refurbishment page covers the trade-offs.

Seasonal gaps. If your gap is a few months long and closes when trade returns, a working-capital facility sized on your turnover — typically $5,000 to $500,000 unsecured — is usually a better fit than a long loan.

A change of use. If you’re turning a former shop into a restaurant, you’ll need to talk to your council. Auckland Council, for example, says you must notify it in writing of a change of use, and building work may be needed to meet the Building Code. Build that time and cost into your budget before you borrow.

Want to talk about a specific project? Start an enquiry — there’s no credit check to ask.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only. A 60-seat restaurant has a reliable summer and a quiet May and June. The combi oven needs replacing, and the dining room hasn’t been touched in eight years. The owners also have a provisional tax instalment due on 7 May.

Rather than fund everything one way, they split it:

1. Equipment finance for the oven over its working life.
2. A property-secured loan against their home for the dining room refurbishment, timed to finish before spring.
3. Their own cash, protected for the May tax bill and wages.

The result is three costs matched to three different time frames, instead of one stretched facility.

What should I prepare?

• Twelve months of business bank statements
• Recent financial statements or management accounts, if you have them
• Quotes for equipment or building work
• Your lease and any landlord consent needed for alterations
• Details of existing finance and any arrangement with Inland Revenue

What do lenders mean by “consistent” takings?

Lenders often say they want consistent trading. For a restaurant, that rarely means every week looks the same. It usually means:

• Takings are banked regularly into the business account
• The seasonal pattern is similar from one year to the next
• Big swings have a clear explanation — a renovation closure, a staff shortage, a festival
• Costs move sensibly with trade, rather than staying high when covers drop

What about outdoor dining?

Footpath and courtyard dining can lift summer trade considerably, but it usually needs a council permit, and sometimes a variation to your alcohol licence. Check the rules with your council before buying furniture and heaters, and include permit fees in your budget.

See what your restaurant could qualify for

If your kitchen, your dining room or your cash flow needs attention, tell us about it in a 60-second enquiry. We don’t run a credit check when you ask, your enquiry isn’t sent around to a queue of lenders, and a person who understands hospitality will call you to talk it through. Accurate answers on the form — especially your monthly takings and what the money is for — help us match you properly on the first call.