Working Capital and Merchant Cash Advance for Restaurants

Restaurants, bars, cafes, caterers and food trucks run on daily card sales and thin margins. When an oven dies, payroll lands in a slow week or a second location opens before the first one has caught up, waiting weeks for a bank is not an option. Apex Funding Services compares merchant cash advance and bridge funding offers from multiple funders with one application, with decisions often within 24 to 48 hours. We are a broker, not a lender.

Featured option: working capital through a merchant cash advance

A merchant cash advance gives you a lump sum in exchange for a share of your future card and bank receipts. It is built for businesses with steady card volume, which makes it one of the most common funding tools in food service. Offers are sized mainly on your monthly deposits, not just your credit score, and many restaurants with less-than-perfect credit still qualify.

Why owners choose it:

• Speed: decisions often within 24 to 48 hours, with funding soon after approval

• Sized on revenue: offers are based mainly on your deposits, not just your credit score

• Repayment matched to how you get paid: split funding or lockbox for card-heavy businesses, so payments rise and fall with sales, or a fixed ACH payment for businesses paid by check, ACH or invoice

• Limited paperwork: usually bank statements and a short application, with no real estate collateral. Most funders do ask for a personal guarantee of performance

Common uses:

• Kitchen equipment repairs or replacement

• Slow-season payroll and rent

• Inventory and supplier bills

• Renovations, patio builds and second locations

• Covering a cash gap after an unexpected closure

How repayment works: split funding, lockbox or ACH

• Credit card split funding: your card processor automatically sends an agreed percentage of each day's card batch (the holdback) to the funder before the rest settles to you. Payments rise and fall with sales.

• Lockbox funding: card receipts are deposited into a controlled account, the funder's share is taken out and the balance is passed to you. Used when your current processor cannot split payments.

• ACH: a fixed daily or weekly debit from your business bank account.

Fit for restaurants: strong. Split funding is often the best structure because most revenue comes through cards and remittances ease on slow nights. Lockbox works if you want to keep your current processor. ACH is simplest but does not flex with sales.

Split funding usually means processing with a processor that works with the funder. Before switching, check for early termination fees on your current processing agreement and compare total processing cost as part of the offer.

Bridge funding

Bridge funding is short-term capital that covers the gap until money you are expecting arrives, such as a customer payment, a loan closing or your busy season. It is typically structured as a short-term advance or loan and repaid when the expected cash comes in. Common bridge situations:

• Covering opening costs while you wait on an SBA or bank loan to close

• Bridging a slow winter or summer season until traffic returns

• Paying for a renovation now while a landlord tenant-improvement allowance is pending

• Catering invoices from corporate clients that pay on net 30 or net 60 terms

All your options at a glance

We are not tied to one product. Here is how the main options compare for restaurants:

• Merchant cash advance (working capital): fastest and easiest to qualify for, and usually the most expensive. Best for short-term needs with a clear payback.

• Revenue-based financing: similar to an advance, repaid as a percentage of revenue, sometimes at a lower cost for stronger businesses.

• Short-term working capital loan: a fixed amount with fixed daily or weekly payments over 6 to 24 months.

• Revolving line of credit: lower cost for restaurants with a year or more of steady deposits and solid credit.

• Equipment financing: often cheaper than an advance for a single large purchase like refrigeration or a hood system.

• Invoice factoring and AR lines: only for catering or wholesale food businesses that bill on net terms.

• Asset-based lending: rarely a fit outside multi-unit groups and food manufacturers.

Traditional alternatives

If your business has the history and credit for it, traditional financing is usually the cheapest money available:

• SBA 7(a) loans: up to $5 million for working capital, equipment, expansion or buying a business, with terms up to 10 years for working capital and equipment

• SBA 504 loans: long-term, fixed-rate financing for real estate and major equipment

• Bank term loans: a lump sum repaid monthly over several years

• Bank lines of credit: draw and repay as needed, paying interest only on what you use

• Bank equipment loans: the equipment itself secures the loan

These cost less, but they take longer, often 30 to 90 days, and usually require two or more years in business, good personal credit, tax returns, financial statements and sometimes collateral. If you qualify, we will tell you, and we can refer you to SBA and bank lenders. A common approach is to use a merchant cash advance or bridge funding now and refinance into bank or SBA financing once it closes.

For restaurants: SBA loans are widely used for restaurant purchases and build-outs, but banks treat food service as higher risk and usually want strong owner credit, industry experience, two years of tax returns and often collateral.

Credit card processing

We can set up or review countertop and pay-at-table terminals, POS integrations and online ordering payments, with transparent pricing such as interchange-plus. Your processing statements also help funders size an advance.

Processing is provided through our processing partners. Send a recent processing statement and we will show you your effective rate and fees, with no obligation to switch.

Before you sign

Speed costs money. A merchant cash advance is a purchase of future receivables, not a loan, and it usually costs more than bank financing. Before you accept any offer, we walk you through:

• The amount you receive and the total payback

• The factor rate, holdback percentage or daily and weekly payment

• How reconciliation works if your sales drop

• Fees deducted at funding

• How a new advance fits with any advance you already have. Stacking too many positions is the fastest way into a cash flow crisis, and we will tell you if it is a bad idea

Approval, amounts, rates and terms are set by the funder. Submitting a request does not guarantee approval.

What funders look at

• Monthly card and bank deposits and their consistency

• Time in business, often six months or more

• Average daily balance and NSFs or negative days

• Existing advances already being repaid

Documents to have ready

• Last 3 to 6 months of business bank statements

• Recent card processing statements

• Owner ID and a voided business check

Ready to see what you qualify for? Start your application or call (516) 474-3776. One application, multiple funders, no obligation to accept.