Café & Hospitality Finance Australia

Industries › Café & Hospitality Finance

Your Bank Sees Hospitality Risk.
We See the Owner.

Espresso machines, kitchen fit-outs, working capital, and home loans — structured for café and restaurant owners who need a broker that actually understands hospitality.

Coffee machine & kitchen financeFit-out & equipment loansWorking capital & cashflowNo credit check to enquire

See Your Options ↓Check Eligibility

$10K

to $500K+ deals

24hr

Indicative terms

Low Doc

& Full doc pathways

All-in-One

Equipment to home loans

Switchboard Finance · Credit Representative 576702 · Finsure ACL 384704

Where are you?

Wherever you are in the service, we've been there with someone like you.

Tell us where your café or restaurant is at — we'll map the right structure from there.

First café, first machine.

You've signed the lease, you've got the ABN, and now you need an espresso machine, a grinder, and a commercial fridge. The bank wants two years of financials you don't have yet. Low doc pathways let you finance equipment from day one — chattel mortgage structures keep repayments predictable while you build the customer base.

Low doc asset finance Chattel mortgage Check eligibility

Growing the kitchen.

Foot traffic is up, you need a second group head, a combi oven, maybe a walk-in coolroom. But you're trading through a trust and the bank wants full financials. Specialist lenders assess your BAS and bank statements — not a rigid paper trail. If your credit file has marks from a slow winter, there are pathways for that too.

Equipment finance Business loans Bad credit pathways

Cashflow & multi-site expansion.

This is where hospitality diverges from every other industry. Rent is due weekly. Wages are constant. Seasonal dips hit hard. You need a line of credit for the slow months and working capital to bridge the gap between BAS quarters. Opening a second site? Equipment finance across multiple entities, structured properly.

Line of credit Working capital Invoice finance

Property & home loans.

You're past equipment. You want to buy the shopfront you've been leasing. Or buy your first home with café income the bank won't recognise. One Doc Home Loans use your most recent BAS instead of two years of tax returns. Commercial property pathways for the site itself. One broker across all of it.

One Doc Home Loan Commercial property Private lending

What are you financing?

Every piece of equipment has a different finance structure that works best.

The difference between chattel mortgage, lease, and rental can cost you thousands in tax. We map it before the paperwork starts.

Espresso machine finance

La Marzocco, Victoria Arduino, Synesso, Slayer — new or refurbished. Most common deal: 3–5 year chattel mortgage, low doc, settled in days. Your machine is the heart of the café.

See finance options

Combi oven & cooking equipment

Combi ovens, fryers, chargrills, salamanders. Rational, Unox, Blue Seal. Kitchen equipment that transforms your menu and output. Chattel mortgage or lease structures.

See finance options

Grinders, POS & small equipment

Grinders (Mazzer, Mahlkönig), POS systems, dishwashers, blenders. Lower individual deal sizes but often bundled with the machine order. Instant asset write-off structures available.

See finance options

Café fit-out finance

Full or partial fit-outs — counters, plumbing, electrical, flooring, and joinery. Bundled as one finance facility. New site or refurbishment of an existing space.

See finance options

Furniture & signage

Tables, chairs, bench seating, outdoor furniture, signage, awnings. Often bundled into the fit-out facility. Custom joinery valued separately.

See finance options

Delivery vehicle

Vans and small trucks for catering, wholesale delivery, or multi-site supply runs. Registered vehicles go through vehicle finance pathways — sometimes cheaper than asset finance.

See finance options

Walk-in coolroom & freezer

Walk-in cool rooms, blast chillers, chest freezers. Critical infrastructure for any food service operation. Larger deal sizes, specialist valuations may apply.

See finance options

Display fridges & cake cabinets

Glass-front display fridges, heated display cabinets, cake and pastry display units. Front-of-house equipment that drives impulse sales.

See finance options

Ice machines & beverage systems

Commercial ice makers, post-mix systems, water filtration, batch brew setups. Essential but often forgotten until service day. Finance standalone or bundled.

See finance options

View all equipment finance options →

Beyond equipment

Cashflow, property & specialist lending for hospitality.

Equipment is half the picture. Café businesses need cashflow solutions, property pathways, and lending that banks won't offer hospitality operators.

💰

Working capital loans

Bridge the gap between BAS quarters. Cover wages, rent, and stock during slow months without selling equity or drawing on personal savings.

🔄

Business line of credit

Revolving facility for ongoing cash flow. Draw down when weekdays are slow, pay back when weekends land. Only pay interest on what you use.

📄

Invoice finance

For cafés with wholesale, catering, or corporate accounts. Turn unpaid invoices into same-day cash without waiting 30–60 days for payment.

⚡

Caveat loans

Need $50K–$300K in 24–48 hours? Caveat loans against property for urgent fit-out deposits, lease bond shortfalls, or time-critical equipment.

🏢

Commercial property

Buy the shopfront you've been leasing. Low doc pathways for self-employed café owners. Up to 80% LVR through specialist lenders.

🔐

Bad credit business loans

Banks decline hospitality businesses based on industry code alone. If your credit file has marks but the café is performing — there are pathways.

Your home loan too

Already sorted your equipment? There's one more thing the bank won't help with.

Most equipment brokers only handle asset finance. Most mortgage brokers don't understand café income. We do both.

🏠

One Doc Home Loan

Use your most recent BAS instead of two years of tax returns. Same houses, same rates — different documentation pathway. For café owners with trusts, company distributions, or complex structures, alt doc verification pathways are also available.

Learn about One Doc →

Estimate your repayments

See what your café equipment could cost.

Adjust the sliders to get an indicative monthly estimate. Every café deal is different — this gives you a starting point.

Asset value$30,000

Deposit$3,000 (10%)

Loan term

Structure

Indicative estimate

Est. monthly

$890

Total cost

$32,040

Financed

$27,000

Tax structure

GST claimable ✓

Indicative only — based on standard rate assumptions. Actual terms on enquiry. No credit check at this stage.

No credit check · No obligation · We respond same day

Are we a fit?

Who this works for — and who it might not.

We're not for everyone. Here's how we think about fit so nobody wastes time.

Trading for at least 12 months, BAS lodged, bank statements show consistent revenue. Upgrading a machine, expanding the kitchen, or smoothing cashflow. This is the sweet spot — fast approvals, best rates, most structure options.

Strong fitLow doc OK

Brand new ABN, first lease signed, need the machine and fit-out to open. Fewer lenders, higher deposits, but still very doable with the right structure. We route new hospitality operators to ABN-day-one lenders.

Specialist pathwayDeposit likely

Multiple locations, corporate structures, group lending. Equipment across entities, working capital for seasonal dips, commercial property for the next site. Complex but our favourite kind of deal.

Strong fitFull doc preferred

Food trucks, coffee vans, market stalls going mobile. Vehicle finance for the truck, asset finance for the equipment inside. Often bundled into one facility.

Good fitVehicle + asset split

We work with business owners and self-employed operators only — not PAYG employees. If you're buying a café as a first-time business owner with no ABN yet, get in touch and we'll tell you straight whether there's a pathway.

Real deal scenarios

How café deals actually move through our process.

These are based on real deal structures we've arranged. Names changed, details representative.

Maria runs a single-site café in Melbourne. Her 8-year-old machine was costing more in repairs than repayments on a new one. 18-month ABN, BAS lodged quarterly, bank statements showing $15K/month revenue. We structured a 3-year chattel mortgage with no deposit — repayments lower than what she was spending on repairs.

Day 0 — Quote from dealer + 3 months bank statements submitted

Day 1 — Indicative approval, rate confirmed

Day 3 — Formal approval, docs signed

Day 5 — Machine delivered, finance settled

Low docNo depositChattel mortgage

James and Lin took over an existing restaurant site and needed a complete kitchen refit — combi oven, extraction, cool room, dishwasher, benches. Total $85K. Trading through a trust with 3 years of BAS history. We split the deal: hard assets on a 5-year finance lease, soft costs covered by a short-term working capital facility.

Day 0 — Itemised quote pack + 6 months bank statements

Day 2 — Both facilities approved conditionally

Day 5 — Docs signed, deposit paid

Day 8 — Equipment ordered, fit-out begins

Trust structureSplit facilityFinance lease

Priya was leaving corporate to start a mobile coffee business. Brand new ABN, no trading history, but strong personal financials and a detailed business plan. Van cost $40K, equipment fit-out $25K. We structured the van on vehicle finance (cheaper rate for registered vehicles) and the equipment on a separate asset facility with a 20% deposit.

Day 0 — Van quote + equipment list + personal financials

Day 2 — Both facilities conditionally approved

Day 4 — Docs signed, 20% deposit on equipment

Day 10 — Van collected, equipment installed

New ABNVehicle + asset split20% deposit

Common questions

Questions café owners ask before they apply.

Straight answers. No jargon.

Yes. Several lenders on our panel accept day-one ABNs for equipment finance. You'll typically need a higher deposit (10–20%) and may need to show personal financials, but the pathway exists. We'll tell you straight whether it works for your situation.

For most café equipment deals: a clear quote from the dealer or supplier, 3–6 months of business bank statements, and your ABN. That's it for low doc. If you want the best rates, adding your last two BAS lodgements helps. No tax returns needed for low doc pathways.

Indicative terms within 24 hours of submitting a complete pack. Formal approval typically 2–5 business days depending on the lender and deal complexity. Clean files with itemised quotes settle fastest.

Yes, but fit-outs are more complex. Hard assets (ovens, cool rooms, machines) finance well. Soft costs (electrical, plumbing, painting) are harder to finance directly. We typically split these: hard assets on a chattel mortgage or lease, soft costs on a short-term working capital facility.

No. We don't run a credit check to give you indicative terms. A credit check only happens after you've agreed to proceed and we submit to a lender. Enquiring costs you nothing and doesn't touch your credit file.

Absolutely. Restaurants, bakeries, food trucks, dessert bars, caterers, juice bars — any hospitality business that needs equipment, vehicles, cashflow, or property finance. This hub covers all of it.

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