How to create a financial forecast for a halal restaurant?

Developing and maintaining an up-to-date financial forecast for your halal restaurant is key in order to maintain visibility on your business’s future cash flows.
If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of putting together a halal restaurant financial forecast then don’t worry as this guide is here to help you.
We'll cover everything from: the main objectives of a financial forecast, the data you need to gather before starting, to the tables that compose it, and the tools that will help you create and maintain your forecast efficiently.
Let's get started!
Why create and maintain a financial forecast for a halal restaurant?
In order to prosper, your business needs to have visibility on what lies ahead and the right financial resources to grow. This is where having a financial forecast for your halal restaurant becomes handy.
Creating a halal restaurant financial forecast forces you to take stock of where your business stands and where you want it to go.
Once you have clarity on the destination, you will need to draw up a plan to get there and assess what it means in terms of future profitability and cash flows for your halal restaurant.
Having this clear plan in place will give you the confidence needed to move forward with your business’s development.
Having an up-to-date financial forecast for a halal restaurant is also useful if your trading environment worsens, as the forecast enables you to adjust to your new market conditions and anticipate any potential cash shortfall.
Finally, your halal restaurant's financial projections will also help you secure financing, as banks and investors alike will want to see accurate projections before agreeing to finance your business.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

What information is used as input to build a halal restaurant financial forecast?
A halal restaurant's financial forecast is only as good as the inputs used to build it.
If you are creating (or updating) the forecast of an existing halal restaurant, then you mostly need your accounting information, key historical operating non-financial data, and your team’s input on what to expect for the coming years.
If you are building financial projections for a halal restaurant startup, you will need to have done your research and have a clear picture of your competitive environment and go-to-market strategy so that you can forecast sales accurately.
For a new venture, you will also need a precise list of the resources needed to keep the halal restaurant running on a day-to-day basis and a list of the equipment and expenditures required to start the business (more on that later).
Let's now take a closer look at the elements that make up your halal restaurant's financial forecast.
The sales forecast for a halal restaurant
From experience, it is usually best to start creating your halal restaurant financial forecast by your sales forecast.
To create an accurate sales forecast for your halal restaurant, you will have to rely on the data collected in your market research, or if you're running an existing halal restaurant, the historical data of the business, to estimate two key variables:
- The average price
- The number of monthly transactions
To get there, you will need to consider the following factors:
- Growing Muslim population: As more people in your local community identify as Muslim, there may be an increase in demand for halal food, leading to a potential increase in average price and number of monthly transactions.
- Rising awareness of halal food: With a growing trend towards healthy and ethical eating, more people may become aware of halal food and seek out halal restaurants, potentially leading to an increase in average price and number of monthly transactions.
- Influx of tourists from Muslim-majority countries: If your restaurant is located in a popular tourist destination, an increase in tourists from Muslim-majority countries may lead to a surge in demand for halal food, potentially increasing your average price and number of monthly transactions.
- Limited halal options in the area: If your halal restaurant is one of the few options in your local area, you may see a steady stream of customers and potentially be able to charge higher prices, leading to a consistent average price and number of monthly transactions.
- Changes in ingredient costs: As a halal restaurant, you may be sourcing your ingredients from specific suppliers to ensure they meet halal standards. Any changes in ingredient costs may affect your average price and potentially your number of monthly transactions if you need to adjust prices accordingly.
Once you have an idea of what your future sales will look like, it will be time to work on your overhead budget. Let’s see what this entails.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

The operating expenses for a halal restaurant
The next step is to estimate the expenses needed to run your halal restaurant on a day-to-day basis.
These will vary based on the level of sales expected, and the location and size of your business.
But your halal restaurant's operating expenses should include the following items at a minimum:
- Staff costs: This includes the salaries and benefits of your employees, such as chefs, servers, and kitchen staff.
- Food and beverage costs: This includes the cost of purchasing halal ingredients and beverages for your restaurant.
- Rent or lease payments: This expense covers the cost of renting or leasing your restaurant space.
- Utilities: These are the costs associated with running your restaurant, such as electricity, gas, and water.
- Marketing and advertising: This includes the cost of promoting your halal restaurant to attract customers.
- Accountancy fees: You may need to hire an accountant to help with bookkeeping, taxes, and financial planning for your restaurant.
- Insurance costs: This includes property insurance, liability insurance, and workers' compensation insurance.
- Software licenses: You may need to purchase licenses for software programs used in your restaurant, such as point-of-sale systems or accounting software.
- Banking fees: This includes fees for processing credit and debit card payments, as well as any other banking fees associated with managing your restaurant's finances.
- Cleaning and maintenance: This includes the cost of cleaning supplies and services for keeping your restaurant clean and well-maintained.
- Kitchen equipment: This expense covers the cost of purchasing and maintaining kitchen equipment, such as stoves, refrigerators, and ovens.
- Inventory: You will need to purchase ingredients and supplies for your restaurant, which will be reflected in your inventory expenses.
- Waste management: This includes the cost of waste removal and recycling services for your restaurant.
- Licenses and permits: You will need to obtain various licenses and permits to legally operate your halal restaurant, which may come with associated fees.
- Training and development: This includes the cost of training your staff and investing in their professional development to ensure high-quality service in your restaurant.
This list is, of course, not exhaustive, and you'll have to adapt it according to your precise business model and size. A small halal restaurant might not have the same level of expenditure as a larger one, for example.
What investments are needed to start or grow a halal restaurant?
Creating and expanding a halal restaurant also requires investments which you need to factor into your financial forecast.
Capital expenditures and initial working capital items for a halal restaurant could include elements such as:
- Kitchen Equipment: This includes all necessary equipment for food preparation such as stoves, ovens, grills, refrigerators, and freezers. As a halal restaurant, you may also need specialized equipment for halal meat preparation.
- Furniture and Decor: This includes tables, chairs, and other furniture for your dining area, as well as decorations and artwork to create a welcoming and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere.
- POS System: A Point of Sale (POS) system is essential for any restaurant, including a halal one. This system will allow you to track sales, manage inventory, and process payments efficiently.
- Halal Certification: In order to operate as a halal restaurant, you will need to obtain halal certification from a reputable organization. This may involve fees for application, inspection, and ongoing certification.
- Renovations and Upgrades: Depending on the location you choose for your halal restaurant, you may need to make renovations or upgrades to the space to meet halal standards. This could include installing separate cooking areas for halal and non-halal food, or creating a prayer area for customers.
Again, this list is not exhaustive and will need to be adjusted according to the circumstances of your halal restaurant.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

The financing plan of your halal restaurant
The next step in the creation of your financial forecast for your halal restaurant is to think about how you might finance your business.
You will have to assess how much capital will come from shareholders (equity) and how much can be secured through banks.
Bank loans will have to be modelled so that you can separate the interest expenses from the repayments of principal, and include all this data in your forecast.
Issuing share capital and obtaining a bank loan are two of the most common ways that entrepreneurs finance their businesses.
What tables compose the financial plan for a halal restaurant?
Now let's have a look at the main output tables of your halal restaurant's financial forecast.
The profit & loss forecast
The forecasted profit & loss statement will enable you to visualise your halal restaurant's expected growth and profitability over the next three to five years.

A financially viable P&L statement for a halal restaurant should normally show:
- Sales growing above inflation
- Stable or expanding (ideally) profit margins
- A net profit
This will of course depend on the stage of your business: a new venture might be loss-making until it reaches its breakeven point in year 2 or 3, for example.
The projected balance sheet
Your halal restaurant's forecasted balance sheet enables you to assess your financial structure and working capital requirements.
It is composed of three types of elements: assets, liabilities and equity:
- Assets: represent what the business owns and uses to produce cash flows. It includes resources such as cash, equipment, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
- Liabilities: represent funds advanced to the business by lenders and other creditors. It includes items such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers), taxes due and loans.
- Equity: is the combination of what has been invested by the business owners and the cumulative profits and losses generated by the business to date (which are called retained earnings). Equity is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

The cash flow projection
The cash flow forecast of your halal restaurant will show how much cash the business is expected to generate or consume over the next three to five years.

There are multiple ways of presenting a cash flow forecast but from experience, it is better to organise it by nature in order to clearly show these elements:
- Operating cash flow: how much cash is generated by the halal restaurant's operations
- Investing cash flow: what is the business investing to expand or maintain its equipment
- Financing cash flow: is the business raising additional funds or repaying financiers (debt repayment, dividends)
Your cash flow forecast is the most important element of your overall financial projection and that’s where you should focus your attention to ensure that your halal restaurant is adequately funded.
Note: if you are preparing a financial forecast in order to try to secure funding, you will need to include both a yearly and monthly cash flow forecast in your halal restaurant's financial plan.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

Which tool should you use to create your halal restaurant's financial forecast?
Using the right tool or solution will make the creation of your halal restaurant's financial forecast much easier than it sounds. Let’s explore the main options.
Using online financial forecasting software to build your halal restaurant's projections
The modern and easiest way is to use an online financial forecasting tool such as the one we offer at The Business Plan Shop.
There are several advantages to using specialised software:
- You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
- You have access to complete financial forecast templates
- You get a complete financial forecast ready to be sent to your bank or investors
- You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast, and recalibrate your forecast as the year goes by
- You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
- You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
- You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck
- It’s cost-efficient and much cheaper than using an accountant or consultant (see below)
If you are interested in this type of solution, you can try our projection software for free by signing up here.
Hiring a financial consultant or chartered accountant
Hiring a consultant or chartered accountant is also an efficient way to get a professional halal restaurant financial projection.
As you can imagine, this solution is much more expensive than using software. From experience, the creation of a simple financial forecast over three years (including a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement) is likely to start around £700 or $1,000 excluding taxes.
The indicative estimate above, is for a small business, and a forecast done as a one-off. Using a financial consultant or accountant to track your actuals vs. forecast and to keep your financial forecast up to date on a monthly or quarterly basis will naturally cost a lot more.
If you choose this solution, make sure your service provider has first-hand experience in your industry, so that they may challenge your assumptions and offer insights (as opposed to just taking your figures at face value to create the forecast’s financial statements).
Why not use a spreadsheet such as Excel or Google Sheets to build your halal restaurant's financial forecast?
Creating an accurate and error-free halal restaurant financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is very technical and requires both a strong grasp of accounting principles and solid skills in financial modelling.
Most entrepreneurs lack the expertise required to create an accurate financial forecast using spreadsheet software like Excel or Google Sheets. As a result, it is unlikely anyone will trust your numbers.
The second reason is that it is inefficient. Building forecasts on spreadsheets was the only option in the 1990s and early 2000s, nowadays technology has advanced and software can do it much faster and much more accurately.
This is why professional forecasters all use software. With the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.
Finally, like everything with spreadsheets, tracking actuals vs. forecasts and updating your forecast as the year progresses is manual, tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming. Whereas financial forecasting software like The Business Plan Shop is built for this.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

Use our financial forecast templates for inspiration
The Business Plan Shop has dozens of financial forecast examples available.
Our templates contain both a financial forecast and a written business plan which presents, in detail, the company, the team, the strategy, and the medium-term objectives.
Our templates are a great source of inspiration, whether you just want to see what a complete business plan looks like, or are looking for concrete examples of how you should model financial elements in your own forecast.

Takeaways
- A financial projection shows expected growth, profitability, and cash generation for your business over the next three to five years.
- Tracking actuals vs. forecast and keeping your financial forecast up-to-date is the only way to maintain visibility on future cash flows.
- Using financial forecasting software makes it easy to create and maintain up-to-date projections for your halal restaurant.
You have reached the end of our guide. We hope you now have a better understanding of how to create a financial forecast for a halal restaurant. Don't hesitate to contact our team if you have any questions or want to share your experience building forecasts!
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

Also on The Business Plan Shop
- Example of financial projections
- How to project sales for a business?
- Sample financial forecast for business idea
Know someone who runs or wants to start a halal restaurant? Share our financial projection guide with them!