How to Make a Budget for Repair and Maintenance for a Restaurant

Regular maintenance of kitchen equipment minimizes the stress of costly, unnecessary repairs.

A successful restaurant depends heavily on smoothly functioning equipment. Refrigerators must keep food cold, stoves and ovens must heat dishes to order, and sinks must provide fresh water for drinking and cleaning. Restaurant equipment must be regularly maintained if it is to be dependable. In addition, when an essential piece of equipment like an oven or a walk-in breaks, it must be repaired immediately or your restaurant will be unable to serve customers. A budget for repair and maintenance of restaurant equipment must allocate funds for periodic maintenance as well as emergency repairs.

Instructions

1. Create a schedule for maintaining your essential pieces of kitchen equipment, such as your oven and walk-in cooler. Consult equipment manuals for recommendations about periodic servicing, such as checking coolant levels in refrigeration equipment and cleaning grease from your oven's ventilation system. Contact service technicians and research prices for maintenance visits. Inquire about discounts for scheduling regular service visits. Create a schedule for periodic equipment maintenance, and list the projected expense for each maintenance visit.

2. Create a cash flow projection that includes the regular maintenance visits on your schedule. Label the columns of a spreadsheet with the months of the year. Use the top half of the far left column to list your regular sources of revenue, such as wholesale and retail sales, and rent from business property that you own. Use the bottom half of the far left corner to list your regular categories of expenses, such as ingredients, payroll and rent. Include equipment maintenance as one of these categories.

3. Fill in the columns of your cash flow projection with the amounts you expect to earn and save, month by month. Tally your projected income for each month, as well as your anticipated expenses. Subtract your projected monthly expenses from your projected income from each month, and transfer the difference to the top of the next month's column as your starting capital.

4. Use the figures on your cash flow projection to determine how much discretionary income your business will be able to save each month to deal with unpredictable expenses like broken equipment. Create a savings account and contribute each month so you will have these funds available when you need them.

References

• "QSR"; Equpped for Saving; Deborah Cohen
• Food Service Warehouse: Basic Tips for Creating and Using an Annual Budget in Your Restaurant