Running a food truck is exciting—you cook, travel, and serve up your own signature dishes. Plus, this industry is growing, expected to reach $6.06 billion by 2030.
But the truth is: Many food trucks just shut down within a few years. And it’s not because of bad food, it’s because they ran out of money.
That’s why a solid financial plan is just as important as great food. It helps you track costs, price things right, and manage cash flow while making profits. Wondering how you build one that keeps your food truck rolling?
This guide breaks it all down—simple, practical, and made for food truck owners like you.
How do you build food truck financial projections?
Creating realistic financial projections for your food truck involves thorough analysis and meticulous planning to comprehend its financial health and growth potential.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you build accurate and actionable projections while ensuring you factor in every detail:
1. Gather essential information
First, collect all the relevant key data that lays the groundwork for accurate financial projections.
This would include your food truck details like:
- Current operations
- Target demographics
- Historical financial performance
- And industry benchmarks.
Start with your sales data—look at daily and weekly revenue trends, peak sales times, and how they change with seasons. For new food trucks, analyze the latest market trends, industry benchmarks, and local competitors to make educated estimates.
Further, understand your customers inside out.
- Who are your customers?
- What types of food do they enjoy?
- Do they prefer quick grab-and-go meals or a more social dining experience?
Then, track inventory data—monitor stock levels, turnover rates, and supplier costs to ensure precise cost calculations.
Most importantly, don’t forget to evaluate the past performance data of your food truck to understand what drives your business.
Consider analyzing previous revenues, costs, and profits to detect trends and highlight the areas for improvement. Check how some of the marketing campaigns, menu items, or seasonal changes impacted your sales and cost.
That’s how you'll have everything you need to create accurate and actionable financial projections.
2. Make rough pre-assumptions
Now, make some preliminary assumptions for your food truck’s financial projections based on gathered data. Such estimates will outline your business's revenues, expenses, and profitability levels.
Start by focusing on the basics: How much you’ll make in monthly sales, how much customers will spend on average, and what your operating costs might look like.
Use the understanding of past sales trends, industry benchmarks, and your own research. Even, take into account factors like seasonal changes or upcoming menu additions that could affect your numbers.
Here are a few key metrics to consider while making your assumptions:
- Revenue growth: Predict a percentage increase in sales, such as a 5% annual growth based on an expanding customer base or marketing efforts.
- Location impact: Track sales by location, adjusting routes to focus on high-traffic areas and profitable time slots.
- Menu performance: Identify top-selling items and phase out underperforming ones to maximize profit margins and reduce waste.
- Economic conditions: Account for inflation, rising wages, or other economic factors that may impact both costs and customer spending power.
Don’t aim for perfection—these are rough estimates to guide your planning that will evolve over time. So, revisit them periodically as actual data comes in.
3. Make revenue projections
Revenue projections are all about figuring out how much money your food truck might make.
To get started, think about a few simple things: how many orders you serve per hour, your daily operating hours, and the average amount customers spend.
Breaking it down step-by-step makes it easier to see your earning potential.
If you serve 20 customers per hour, run your food truck for 6 hours a day, and each customer spends $12 on average, your monthly revenue would be:
20 × 6 × $12 × 30 = $43,200 per month.
For a food truck, holidays, weekends, and special events can mean bigger crowds and higher sales. But on slower weekdays or off-season months, revenue might dip. Planning your locations and promotions around these trends helps keep your income steady.
Additionally, account for other ways to make money. Services like event catering, food delivery, private bookings, or participating in local festivals can add a big percentage to your overall revenue.
By including these extra streams, you’ll get a more accurate picture of what your food truck can earn.
Revenue projections aren’t merely a dry exercise of crunching numbers—they set realistic expectations while preparing for both the busy times and the quieter ones.
4. Calculate the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
The next step is to calculate your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)—basically, the direct costs of preparing the food you sell from your food truck. This includes ingredients, beverages, packaging, and other consumables used in your menu items.
Here's an easy way to do your COGS calculation:
List ingredients: Write down everything you use for your food truck menu, from main ingredients to sauces and garnishes.
Find costs: Check supplier invoices or receipts to track the price of each ingredient.
Calculate per dish: Determine the cost per serving. For example, if making a burger costs $3 and you sell 1,500 burgers, your COGS for that item is $4,500.
Add it up: Total the cost for all menu items to get your monthly COGS, helping you price dishes for profitability.
For example, if your food truck spends $12,000 a month on ingredients and beverages to generate $43,200 in revenue, your COGS is $12,000.
Knowing your COGS will help you manage expenses, optimize resources, and boost profits.
5. Estimate operating costs
Next, describe the expected expenses incurred to operate your food truck.
When assessing the business operational costs, first list the fixed costs that would remain the same month in and out, including rent, insurance, and salaries.
Then, you have to identify variable costs that vary over time. It includes utilities, supplies, or marketing expenses.
Lastly, add the total of your fixed and variable costs to find your total operating costs.
Overall, by calculating your operating costs, you can manage your budget and know whether your revenues can cover all the expenses to leave room for profit.
6. Prepare financial statements
After estimating your food truck's revenue, COGS, and operating expenses, it’s time to draft clear financial statements. These documents are essential for illustrating your food truck’s financial health and growth potential to prospective investors.
Here are the critical financial statements and reports that you should consider including in your plan:
- Income statement (profit and loss statement)
- Cash flow statement
- Balance sheet
- Break-even analysis
By adding these financial statements, you showcase your financial standing to potential investors so they can make well-informed decisions regarding investment.
We'll explore each of these financial components in greater detail in the upcoming sections, giving you the insights needed to create a strong financial plan.
7. Prepare visual reports
Numbers alone aren't enough. Present your food truck’s financial data in a visually appealing and easily digestible format that readers can quickly understand and get valuable insights.
Using charts and graphs makes it easier to highlight your food truck’s key aspects, including revenue trends, expenses, profit margins, and cash flow.
Don’t worry; it’s easy. Use simple bar charts, pie charts, and line graphs to make the data clear. Also, highlight patterns like seasonal sales changes or rising costs to help with planning.
This will not only help analyze financial data but also enable you to communicate key metrics effectively to your team as well as investors.
8. Test assumptions, consider scenario analysis
Finally, take a step back and test the numbers to ensure your projections are more accurate. Try to run different scenarios (best- and worst-case) to see how changes impact your financial outcomes.
For instance, analyze what happens if ingredient costs increase by 20% or foot traffic drops during off-peak seasons.
Considering these “what-if” situations helps you identify potential problems in business operations and come up with solutions in advance. It even increases transparency and lets investors better understand your food truck’s future with different scenarios.
Overall, these test assumptions and sensitivity analysis will help you make strategic decisions and necessary adjustments to keep your food truck running smoothly.
Key financial statements of a food truck financial plan
A detailed food truck financial plan typically includes important financial documents like the income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and break-even analysis.
These reports clearly describe your food truck’s current monetary position and the overall financial strategy to achieve future goals.
Let's explore each statement in detail.
1. Income statement
The income statement is also known as the profit and loss statement. It gives you a solid understanding of your food truck’s revenue, expenses, gross margin, and net profit for a specific time.
It helps you see whether your business is making enough money to cover its costs and turn a profit.
The gross profit is what you get after subtracting the COGS from the total revenue. This shows how efficiently your food truck uses its resources.
Further, divide the gross profit by revenue and convert it into a percentage to determine the gross margin.
Then, reduce operating costs like rent, salary, and utility to get the EBITDA. Finally, subtract interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization from the EBITDA to arrive at the net profit of your food truck—the figure that investors care about the most.
Here’s an example of a self-served Grill & Go truck’s income statement to demonstrate these calculations:
| Category | Amount ($) |
|---|---|
| Revenue | |
| Food Sales | $120,000 |
| Beverage Sales | $30,000 |
| Catering/Events | $20,000 |
| Other Income | $5,000 |
| Total Revenue | $175,000 |
| Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) | |
| Food Ingredients | $50,000 |
| Beverage Supplies | $10,000 |
| Packaging Materials | $3,000 |
| Other COGS | $2,000 |
| Total COGS | $67,000 |
| Gross Profit (Total Revenue - Total COGS) | $108,000 |
| Operating Expenses | |
| Truck Lease/Maintenance | $12,000 |
| Fuel Costs | $6,000 |
| Insurance | $2,500 |
| Permits & Licenses | $4,000 |
| Marketing & Advertising | $6,000 |
| Employee Salaries/Wages | $20,000 |
| Utilities (Gas, Electricity, Water) | $3,500 |
| POS System & Software | $2,000 |
| Miscellaneous Expenses | $2,000 |
| Total Operating Expenses | $63,500 |
| Operating Profit (EBIT) | $44,500 |
| Other Expenses | |
| Loan Interest | $5,000 |
| Depreciation | $3,500 |
| Taxes | $10,000 |
| Total Other Expenses | $16,500 |
| Net Profit (EBIT - Total Other Expenses) | $28,000 |
Grill & Go is a food truck that generates $175,000 in revenue which includes food sales, beverage sales, and catering, and its total cost of goods sold is $67,000.
So the gross profit will be $108000 (Total Revenue - Total COGS).
The total operating expense is $63,500 which includes truck leases, fuel, insurance, permits, marketing, employee wages, utility, POS system, and other expenses.
After all of these, the operating profit is $44,500.
Further other expenses are 16,500 which will cover loan interest, depreciation, and tax.
Finally, Net profit will be 28,000 (Operating profit - Total Expense).
In simple terms, the income statement tells you if your food truck is making money and staying financially healthy over time.
2. Cash flow statement
A cash flow statement shows how money is coming in and going out of your food truck over a certain period. It helps you figure out if you have enough cash to cover your daily expenses.
It’s also great for spotting potential cash shortages, especially during slower months, and demonstrates how much cash is coming from operations compared to things like investments or loans.
To create one, you’ll need to include cash from food truck sales, costs like food and supplies, fuel expenses, and other overhead expenses. It highlights how much money your food truck is making and spending during that period.
| Category | Amount ($) |
|---|---|
| Cash Flow from Operating Activities | |
| Net Profit | $28,000 |
| Depreciation | $3,500 |
| Changes in Inventory | ($2,000) |
| Changes in Accounts Payable | $1,500 |
| Changes in Accounts Receivable | ($1,000) |
| Net Cash from Operating Activities | $30,000 |
| Cash Flow from Investing Activities | |
| Purchase of Equipment | ($15,000) |
| Vehicle Maintenance & Upgrades | ($5,000) |
| Net Cash from Investing Activities | ($20,000) |
| Cash Flow from Financing Activities | |
| Loan Proceeds | $10,000 |
| Loan Repayment | ($5,000) |
| Net Cash from Financing Activities | $5,000 |
| Net Increase in Cash (Total of all sections) | $15,000 |
| Beginning Cash Balance | $10,000 |
| Ending Cash Balance | $25,000 |
That said, it’s a good illustration of how well your business is at generating cash. The precision of your projections in these aspects directly impacts the reliability of your cash flow.
So, be realistic with the assumptions you make in the cash flow statement. Use industry standards and consider market situations to ensure accuracy.
3. Balance sheet
A balance sheet gives a quick snapshot of your food truck’s financial position for a specific timeframe. It shows what the food truck owns, what it owes to others, and what’s left for you.
After all, it covers these 3 key elements:
- Assets: Cash at hand, accounts receivable and vehicle, inventory, kitchen, appliances.
- Liabilities: Financial obligations like short-term debts and long-term loans.
- Equity: The leftover earnings once liabilities are subtracted from assets.
Ideally, it’s presented as, Assets = Liabilities + Equity.
| Category | Amount ($) |
|---|---|
| Assets | |
| Cash | $25,000 |
| Accounts Receivable | $2,000 |
| Inventory | $5,000 |
| Prepaid Expenses (Permits, Licenses) | $3,000 |
| Food Truck (Vehicle) | $50,000 |
| Equipment (Kitchen, POS, etc.) | $20,000 |
| Less: Accumulated Depreciation | ($5,000) |
| Total Assets | $100,000 |
| Liabilities & Equity | |
| Accounts Payable | $4,000 |
| Short-Term Loan Payable | $5,000 |
| Taxes Payable | $3,000 |
| Business Loan Payable | $20,000 |
| Owner’s Investment | $40,000 |
| Retained Earnings | $28,000 |
| Total Liabilities & Equity | $100,000 |
Investors really pay close attention to the balance sheet because it shows them your food truck’s financial structure, return on investment (ROI), and overall stability.
It also provides an idea of the cash that is available to you, how the money is blocked, and what kind of solid business you are running.
4. Break-even analysis
We all know that profit is the all-time motive of all food truck owners. The real question is: When does the money actually start coming in?
A break-even analysis fits the bill at this stage. It shows exactly how much you’ll need to generate in revenue for all the costs to be recovered with no profit and no loss, just breaking even.
Let's take an example.
For a food truck:
Fixed costs: $10,000
Variable costs: $18,000
Revenue: $50,000
Contribution Margin: ($50,000 - $18,000) ÷ $50,000 = 0.64 or 64%
Break-even sales calculation: $10,000 ÷ 0.64 = $15,625
Sharing this data with investors or lenders helps them understand when the business will start making money.
Download free food truck financial projections example
Creating a food truck financial plan from scratch seems overwhelming. After all, Excel sheets are tiring and endlessly long. But no worries! We’re here to help you with our free food truck financial plan sample.
It covers all the key components of a food truck’s financial projection, such as sales forecast, P&L or income statement, balance sheet, cash flows, and break-even analysis, simplifying the entire financial planning process to help you get started.
Build accurate financial projections using Forecastia
That’s it! We’ve discussed almost everything about creating food truck financial projections in this guide. Now, it should be much easier for you to put that knowledge into action and start planning.
But if it still feels like a lot to handle, don’t worry; Forecastia is the only AI-powered financial forecasting tool you need to make the process simple and stress-free.
It’s specifically designed for businesses looking to build accurate financial projections, anticipate future cash flows, and analyze overall financial performance—all without using spreadsheets!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the key financial statements in a financial plan?
A detailed financial plan for a food truck must include the following key financial statements:
- Income statement
- Balance sheet
- Cash flow statement
- Break-even analysis
What are common operating expenses in a food truck financial plan?
The most common operating expenses to include in a food truck financial plan are truck lease or loan payments, fuel, insurance, permits and licenses, wages, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), marketing, equipment maintenance, and more.
Knowing these costs helps in budgeting and estimating how much revenue needs to be generated to reach profitability.
How do I create financial projections for my food truck?
Follow these steps to create financial projections for your food truck:
- Estimate revenue projections
- Calculate the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
- Factor in operating expenses
- Determine capital expenses & depreciation
- Project your break-even point
- Forecast profits & cash flow
How often should I update my food truck’s financial projections?
It's recommended to review and update your food truck financial plan at least once a year. This helps ensure that your initial goals and projections remain accurate and aligned with your business’s growth and changing expenses.
How to use the food truck financial projections template?
Fill in your food truck details, like your projected sales, cost of goods sold (COGS), and ongoing expenses in the food truck financial plan template.
It often comes with built-in formulas that help calculate key metrics like gross profit, cash flow, and break-even point, giving you a clear view of your food truck’s financial health.
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