Deerline Advances, a small-business funding broker in Prescott, Arizona, arranges restaurant financing through lending partners for Yavapai County food service businesses: kitchen and walk-in cooler equipment, working capital for payroll, build-outs, and card-based merchant cash advances, which are not loans. The county had 451 restaurants with employees in 2023. Partners decide.
| Food services and drinking places | 517 employer establishments in Yavapai County, AZ (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places | 451 of them, with 7,703 paid employees |
| Under five employees | 26.1% of county food service employers (CBP 2023) |
| Annual payroll | $217.2 million (food services and drinking places) |
| Who decides | The lending partner |
Yavapai County, AZ food service in Census figures
Yavapai County had 517 food services and drinking places with employees in 2023, employing 8,301 people with $217.2 million in annual payroll (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Restaurants and other eating places accounted for 451 of them and 7,703 of the jobs.
Unlike most local sectors, food service employers are rarely tiny: only 26.1% had fewer than five employees, and among restaurants the share was 23.7%. A further 308 food service businesses reported receipts with no paid employees in 2024 (Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024).
Where restaurants sit locally
Accommodation and food services employers numbered 108 in ZIP 86301 (Prescott, AZ), 87 in ZIP 86314 (Prescott Valley, AZ) and 31 in ZIP 86323 (Chino Valley, AZ) in 2023 (ZIP Code Business Patterns). The category includes lodging as well as restaurants, and ZIPs are postal areas, not town limits.
Paying for a kitchen line
Ranges, hoods, dish machines, ice machines and POS systems are usually financed through equipment financing, with the equipment as collateral. Walk-in cooler financing and walk-in freezer financing work the same way, though partners look closely at installation costs, which do not resell, and may want them covered by a down payment or a separate term loan.
- A dated quote listing each piece, model and installed cost.
- Whether the equipment stays with you or with the landlord when the lease ends.
- Recent card processing statements and bank statements.
Payroll and the cash between deliveries
With most local food service employers carrying five or more people, payroll is the bill that cannot slip. Working capital financing covers a defined gap; a line of credit covers food and supply orders that come every week. A merchant cash advance can be weighed by card-heavy restaurants, but it is not a loan, its holdback comes out of every day's card sales, and its total cost should be compared with a fixed-schedule option first.
Card statements are how partners see a restaurant
For most restaurants, processing statements are the clearest record of sales, which is why partners ask for them alongside bank statements. Months of statements show the pattern of sales better than any projection. If you changed processors, bring both sets.
Food service businesses in Yavapai County are mostly staffed operations: 382 of the 517 employer establishments in food services and drinking places had five or more employees in 2023, by subtraction from the County Business Patterns counts. Payroll is therefore the first bill a partner checks the sales against.
Opening a restaurant with no sales history yet
A new restaurant has no sales history, which is what most partners underwrite. Expect partners to lean on the owner's credit, personal investment and collateral, and to ask for a lease, a build-out budget and an equipment list. Equipment financing is often the most reachable piece of an opening budget, because the equipment secures it.
Remodeling an existing restaurant
An existing restaurant remodeling its dining room or replacing a kitchen line has what a new one lacks: sales history. That usually opens more options, including a term loan for the construction and equipment financing for the line. Bring the contractor's bid, the equipment quote, and a plan for operating during the work, since closed days reduce the sales the partner is counting on.
A short list before a restaurant request
- Six months of card processing and bank statements, in the business's own name.
- The equipment quote, split between equipment and installation.
- The lease, including what happens to installed equipment at the end.
- Any advances still being remitted, with their daily or weekly amounts.
The last item matters more than owners expect. An open holdback reduces the cash a partner sees, and many agreements restrict new funding until it is cleared.
Local context
County figures and local help are on the Prescott, AZ page; other partner sectors are on the industries hub.
By Deerline Advances · Updated
