The Cash Flow Tracker is a simple dashboard that shows you the financial health of your restaurant at a glance. You enter your monthly numbers, and the tool calculates important metrics like:
All your numbers are saved in your browser. Nothing is shared with anyone. No internet connection needed after opening the tool.
Before you start, gather your best estimates for:
Estimates are perfectly fine — the tool is designed to give you a clear picture, not an audit.
When you open the tool, you'll see several sections. Here's what each one does:
This is where you enter your monthly numbers. As you type, the dashboard updates automatically.
| Field | What to Enter |
|---|---|
| Sales ($) | Total revenue for the month |
| Food Cost ($) | What you spent on food and ingredients |
| Labor ($) | Employee wages and salaries |
| Rent ($) | Monthly rent payment |
| Other ($) | Insurance, credit card fees, repairs, etc. |
| Debt Service ($) | Monthly loan payments |
| Owner Dist. ($) | Money you took out of the business |
| Ending Cash ($) | Cash balance at month end |
Shows your key percentages with benchmarks for comparison:
| Metric | Healthy Range | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Food Cost | ~30% | Food costs as a % of sales |
| Labor Cost | ~30% | Employee costs as a % of sales |
| Prime Cost | 55-60% | Food + Labor combined |
| Rent | ~20% | Rent as a % of sales |
| Other Expenses | ~15% | Other bills as a % of sales |
If prime cost gets too high (over 60%), the restaurant can struggle to generate cash even if it looks profitable on paper.
Shows your performance over the last 12 months:
At the top of the dashboard, click the month picker and select the current month.
Type your monthly numbers in the input fields at the top. The dashboard updates immediately as you type.
Look at the key metrics:
Click 💾 Save Month at the top right.
A file will download: cashflow_YYYY-MM.json (e.g., cashflow_2026-08.json)
📁 Restaurant Finances
└── 📁 Cash Flow Tracker
├── cashflow_2026-01.json
├── cashflow_2026-02.json
├── cashflow_2026-03.json
└── ...
Over time, you'll build a collection of monthly files you can look back on.
| Button | What It Does |
|---|---|
| 💾 Save Month | Downloads a JSON file with this month's data |
| 📂 Upload | Loads one or more previously saved months |
| 📥 Export CSV | Creates a spreadsheet of all your months |
| 🖨️ Print / PDF | Prints the dashboard or saves as PDF |
| 🔄 Set to Sample Data | Shows sample numbers (for learning) |
| 🗑️ Clear All Data | Sets ALL numbers to ZERO and clears trend history |
"Clear All Data" sets everything to zero and removes all trend history — use this only when you want to start completely fresh with your own numbers from scratch. A confirmation dialog will appear to prevent accidental data loss.
You can upload multiple months at once to quickly build your history. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) while selecting files.
| Color | Meaning | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 Green | Healthy | Keep doing what you're doing |
| 🟠 Orange | Caution | Monitor closely, look for trends |
| 🔴 Red | Needs Attention | Take action to improve |
How many months your cash will last at current spending. If you have $30,000 in the bank and lose $5,000 per month, you have 6 months of runway.
Food + Labor. Most restaurants aim for 55-60% of sales. If yours is higher, look at reducing food costs or optimizing staffing.
If this is above 30%, look at:
If this is above 30%, look at:
Your numbers are automatically saved in your browser. When you close and reopen the tool, your current numbers will still be there.
Create backup files on your computer. This way, if you switch browsers or clear your browser data, you won't lose your history.
A: No. The tool asks for simple numbers you already know: sales, costs, cash. It does all the calculations for you.
A: Give your best estimate. The tool is for planning and insight, not for tax filing.
A: In your browser only. They are not sent to any server or shared with anyone.
A: Yes, you can print the dashboard as a PDF or export a CSV file to share with them.
A: It's a data file that stores your numbers. The tool uses it to load previous months. You don't need to open it — just save it and upload it later when you need it.
A: "Set to Sample Data" fills the dashboard with example numbers so you can see how the tool works. "Clear All Data" sets everything to zero and clears your trend history so you can start fresh with your own numbers.
A: This appears when you haven't entered any numbers or uploaded any months yet. Start by entering your numbers above, and the table will populate automatically.
cashflow_YYYY-MM.json (e.g., cashflow_2026-08.json).json at the end| Button | What It Does |
|---|---|
| 💾 Save Month | Downloads a JSON file with this month's data |
| 📂 Upload | Loads one or more previously saved months |
| 📥 Export CSV | Creates a spreadsheet of all your months |
| 🖨️ Print / PDF | Prints the dashboard or saves as PDF |
| 🔄 Set to Sample Data | Shows sample numbers (for learning) |
| 🗑️ Clear All Data | Sets ALL numbers to ZERO and clears trends |
This guide is also available as a PDF when you print.