Funding for bars and breweries
Bar and brewery funding with the whole tab shown
The cash cycle
Busy and slow months
Patio season and December usually lead, with 1-night spikes like St. Patrick's Day and big games, and January and February run slow, though it varies by location.
How money moves
Where the cash gets stuck
What owners use funding for
- Add fermenters or a brite tank to raise capacity
- Replace a draft system, glycol chiller or ice machine
- Fund a canning run ahead of a seasonal release
- Build out a patio or beer garden before summer
- Stock kegs and spirits before the holidays
- Cover payroll and rent through January and February
What fits
Funding that suits bars and breweries
Equipment financing
Brewhouses, fermenters, canning lines and draft systems can secure their own financing, which usually means longer terms and lower cost than an advance.
Merchant cash advance
Split funding takes a share of each card batch, so a dead Tuesday sends little and a packed Saturday sends more. Keep it to short gaps like slow-season payroll.
SBA loans
For opening a taproom, buying a bar or a major build-out, SBA 7(a) loans can cover real estate, equipment and changes of ownership, repaid over years instead of months.
Underwriting
What funders check in bars and breweries
- Card processing statements and deposits over recent months
- Liquor license status: current, in the business's name and free of open violations
- How much revenue comes from gaming machines, if you have them
- Distributor and wholesale accounts, for breweries that sell through them
- Tax liens, including unpaid sales or excise tax
- Existing equipment loans or advances already debiting
Watch out for
A license problem stops sales, not payments
A suspended liquor license or a failed inspection can halt sales overnight, while a fixed payment keeps running. Resolve open violations before you take on a payment, and read how the contract treats a forced closure.
Gaming machines and funder rules
5 funders we track exclude gambling or gaming businesses in their published criteria, and SBA loans are off-limits to businesses that get more than one-third of gross annual revenue from legal gambling. If video gaming terminals bring in a real share of your revenue, say so up front.
Tax money isn't spare cash
The sales tax you collect each night is owed to the state, not to your operating budget. If a daily debit is quietly spending that money, the tax bill becomes the bigger problem.
In depth
Taproom cash versus distribution cash
Taproom and bar sales settle as card batches within days, much like a restaurant's. That revenue suits split funding or a weekly payment, because it arrives every week.
Distribution runs on invoices. Your beer leaves on a truck, and the distributor or retailer pays later on its terms. If a growing share of sales is wholesale, invoice factoring or a line of credit matches that timing better than a daily debit sized on taproom deposits.
Funders see both streams in your bank statements. Keep distribution receipts and taproom batches easy to tell apart, and have a list of who owes you what, since it helps a funder read a lumpy month.
Private event deposits are a third stream. They're cash now for a night you still have to staff and stock, so don't count them as money free for a payment.
Weekly payments for a weekend business
Take $50,000 at a factor rate of 1.35 over 8 months. With daily debits, that's $401.79 every business day, including Monday and Tuesday, when the weekend's card money may still be settling. The weekly version is 35 payments of $1,928.57.
Both repay $67,500, a cost of $17,500. The weekly schedule carries an estimated APR of about 92% against about 95% for daily debits, because you hold the money slightly longer between payments. The bigger win is timing: ask for the weekly draft on a Tuesday or Wednesday, after Friday and Saturday batches clear.
If January and February are reliably thin, ask whether a funder will set a lower payment for those months. It's far easier to agree before you sign than to ask for relief in February.
Openbook Capital lays out each offer's payment amount and schedule next to its total cost, so you can see whether it fits your week before you sign. The daily payment calculator runs the same comparison on any offer.
Paying for tanks and draft lines
A fermenter or canning line earns money for years, so paying for it over 8 months with an advance squeezes today's cash for a long-term asset. Equipment financing spreads the cost over the equipment's working life and uses it as collateral.
Custom tanks can take months to build and ship. Ask whether the lender will pay the fabricator's deposit and when your payments start, so you aren't paying on tanks that aren't brewing yet. For used equipment, expect the lender to want an inspection or a detailed invoice. The lender's lien usually covers only the financed equipment, which is narrower than the blanket UCC-1 that comes with most advances.
Leases work too, ending in a fair market value or $1 buyout. Our financing versus leasing guide compares the total cost of each.
Questions
Bars and breweries owners ask
Can a funder take my liquor license as collateral?
It depends on your state's rules, and many short-term funders don't try. They usually file a UCC-1 on business assets instead, so ask exactly what the filing covers and how it's released at payoff.
Will funders count my distributor payments?
Yes, once they land in your bank account as deposits. Some funders also ask for distributor statements or an aging report to see what's owed to you and when it's due.
Can a brewery that hasn't opened yet get funding?
Short-term funding needs a sales history. Openbook can usually help from 6 months in business with $10,000+ in average monthly deposits; before you open, SBA loans and equipment financing on the brewhouse are the usual routes.
What's the cheapest way through a slow January?
A line of credit you draw only for the weeks you need often costs less than a lump-sum advance. If you do take an advance, choose the smallest amount whose payment still works in February.
Does cash from the bar count?
Only cash that reaches your business bank account. Deposit it regularly and in full, because funders size offers on what they can see in your statements.
Other industries
Sources
- 13 CFR 120.110 What businesses are ineligible for SBA business loans? — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (checked 2026-09-30)
- 7(a) loans — U.S. Small Business Administration (checked 2026-09-30)
One application, many funders
Know the cost. Then decide
Tell us what you need in about 3 minutes. We compare funders that fit and show every offer with its total payback, dollar cost, payment and estimated APR.
- About 3 minutes. No SSN and no bank login to start, so checking doesn't affect your credit.
- 4 months of bank statements. A specialist contacts you within 1 business day and asks for them through a secure link.
- You approve every funder before your file goes out. No cost to apply, and no obligation to accept.