Use of funds: reopening
Inventory, staff and vendors all need paying before the first full week of sales. Here is how to map the ramp week by week, size the gap honestly and handle a statement history with a hole in it.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
Updated October 13, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
After a temporary closure for repairs, renovation or an off-season, costs restart at full speed while sales come back over several weeks. The money you need is the restart costs plus the operating shortfall during the ramp, including any funding payment that starts during the ramp. Funding fits when the business was healthy before it closed and the reason for the closure is fixed. If the business closed because sales failed, reopening funding repeats the problem.
A restaurant closed Sept 21, 2026 for kitchen repairs and reopens Monday, Nov 16, 2026. At full speed it sells $28,000 a week, food cost is 35% of sales, and labor plus rent and fixed costs are $13,700 a week. Sales ramp to 40%, 60%, 80% and 95% over four weeks. Funding is illustrated at a 1.28 factor, no fee deducted, repaid weekly over 32 weeks, first payment one week after reopening.
| Restart cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Inventory restock | $12,000 |
| Prep and training payroll before opening | $9,000 |
| Deep clean and health re-inspection | $2,500 |
| Reopening marketing | $4,500 |
| Vendor past-due to restore terms | $8,300 |
| Utility deposits | $1,500 |
| Restart costs | $37,800 |
| Week of | Sales | Operating result | Funding payment | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 16 | $11,200 | -$6,420 | none | -$6,420 |
| Nov 23 | $16,800 | -$2,780 | $2,000 | -$4,780 |
| Nov 30 | $22,400 | +$860 | $2,000 | -$1,140 |
| Dec 7 | $26,600 | +$3,590 | $2,000 | +$1,590 |
| Full weeks after | $28,000 | +$4,500 | $2,000 | +$2,500 |
Operating result = sales x 65% minus $13,700. The first three weeks run $12,340 short. Restart costs plus the ramp gap: $37,800 + $12,340 = $50,140, so the illustration uses $50,000 with $140 from cash.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Funding and net proceeds | $50,000 |
| Total repayment at 1.28 | $64,000 |
| Cost of the funding | $14,000 |
| Weekly payment, 32 weeks | $2,000 |
| Payments run | Nov 23, 2026 to Jun 28, 2027 |
From week four the business runs ahead, by $2,500 a week at full speed. A request sized only for restart costs ($37,800) would have run out in the third week of the ramp.
All figures in worked examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not offers or quotes. Real terms depend on your file and the funder.
After a disaster, see recovering after a natural disaster.
A reviewer will see a month of near-zero deposits. Do not hide it. Explain the closure in one line, send the statements from before it so the normal pattern is visible, and include the repair invoices or insurance paperwork. See how many months of statements you need.
Build your own ramp table: four weeks of sales at realistic percentages, your fixed weekly costs, and the payment. Size the request to restart costs plus the ramp gap, then check the requirements or the free qualification check and apply.
It depends on how long and how recently. A reviewer reads your recent deposits; a short closure with healthy months before it reads very differently from a long one. Send the months before the closure.
A payment that starts in the first week of a ramp adds to the shortfall. Ask when payments begin and build that date into your ramp table.
Low deposits are not negative days by themselves. Negative days are days the account balance is below zero; keep the account positive during the closure.
Yes. Seasonal operators with a repeating pattern can show prior seasons. See funding with seasonal revenue.
Reopening funding is planned around a known restart date and a ramp. Size it to the ramp, not to the worst week.
Same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
