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Cash Resilience

How many months of operating expenses a restaurant currently holds in cash, a measure of how long it could withstand a downturn.

Cash resilience is the buffer between you and a bad month: how many months of operating costs you could cover from the cash you hold right now.

  • Cash resilience = cash on hand ÷ monthly operating expenses

Sector-typical cover is 1 to 3 months; below one month is fragile, because a single slow trading period or a delayed payment can force hard decisions. It is one of the pillars behind the Alpa Score and works hand in hand with the working capital cycle: a tight cycle frees up cash, and a healthy cash buffer absorbs the weeks when it does not.