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What is my café worth? How cafés are valued in Australia.

By Michael White, director of AUS Brokers and a licensed business agent in Victoria. · Updated 24 September 2026

Cafés are among the most common small businesses for sale in Australia, so buyers have plenty to compare against. That makes an accurate, well-supported price more important, not less. This guide covers how buyers value a café, what moves the price, and the numbers they'll ask for.

Start with maintainable earnings

Buyers price a café on what it will earn them. Start from net profit before tax and add back:

• One working owner's wage and super. In most cafés the owner works long hours, often as manager, barista or cook. That wage is added back for one owner only.
• Depreciation and interest.
• Private expenses run through the business, such as a car or phone.
• Genuine one-off costs, like a major equipment repair.

Then deduct what a buyer will have to pay for that you don't, such as a second owner or family member working weekends for little or no pay. This is very common in cafés, and it's the adjustment buyers' accountants look for first. Add-backs explained.

The cash question

Buyers will only pay for takings that show up in the accounts and the point-of-sale reports. If some cash isn't recorded, it isn't part of the price. Buyers won't pay for it, and their banks won't lend on it.

What moves a café's price

The lease

For most cafés, the lease matters more than anything else. Buyers look at:

• Time remaining, including options. A short lease limits how long a buyer can earn back their money, and lenders notice it too.
• Rent compared with sales. High rent against modest takings is one of the most common reasons cafés struggle to sell.
• Rent reviews and outgoings, and whether the landlord will consent to the lease being assigned.

Coffee volume

Café buyers usually ask how many kilograms of coffee the café goes through each week. It's a quick, hard-to-fake measure of trade that's backed by supplier invoices. Keep a year of coffee invoices ready.

Trading hours and the owner's workload

A café that makes good money on breakfast and lunch, five or six days a week, appeals to more buyers than one that needs long nights or seven days of the owner's time. Buyers compare the profit with the hours it takes to earn it.

Costs as a share of sales

Buyers check the main cost lines against takings: food and coffee costs, wages and rent. Unusually high costs can suggest waste or overstaffing, which a buyer might fix, or that the prices are too low. Unusually low wages often mean unpaid family labour is propping up the profit.

Fit-out, equipment and supply agreements

• Condition and age of the fit-out and kitchen. A tired fit-out means the buyer has to spend money soon, and they'll price that in.
• The coffee machine. Many cafés have their machine supplied by their coffee roaster under a supply agreement, so it isn't owned by the business. Check the agreement: what's included, whether it transfers to a buyer, and what the minimum purchase terms are.
• Leased or financed equipment needs to be paid out or transferred at settlement.

Location, reputation and staff

Foot traffic, parking, nearby offices or schools, online reviews and a stable, trained team all make a café easier to sell. A café where regulars come for the owner personally is harder to hand over, so plan a proper handover period.

Permits

Food business registration, and any footpath or outdoor dining permit, need to transfer to the buyer or be reissued. Outdoor seating can add a lot to a café's trade, so check that the permit can continue.

When a café has little or no profit

If a café makes little or nothing after paying the owner a fair wage, buyers aren't paying for goodwill. The price usually comes down to what the fit-out and equipment are worth to someone who wants that location, and the lease is a big part of it. This is often called a "walk in, walk out" sale. Owners are often surprised by this, so it's worth working out your maintainable earnings honestly before you set a price.

A worked example

All figures are illustrative, made up for this example, and are not industry data.

A suburban café trades breakfast and lunch, six days a week. The owner works full-time in it, and their partner works most Saturdays without pay. Net profit before tax was $48,000.

If buyers were paying, say, 1.3 to 1.8 times PEBITDA for this café (illustrative), it would be worth about $140,000 to $200,000, plus stock at value. A long lease at a fair rent and steady coffee volumes would push it towards the top of that range. A lease with two years left would push it towards the bottom.

Leaving out the partner's Saturdays would have added $18,000 to the earnings, and well over $20,000 to the price, and a buyer would find it in the roster.

What café buyers will ask for

• Two to three years of profit and loss statements, plus the current year to date
• Point-of-sale reports showing weekly or monthly sales
• Coffee supplier invoices (coffee volume per week)
• The lease, and any coffee supply or equipment agreements
• The staff roster with roles and hours (no names needed at first)
• An equipment list, and the food business registration and any outdoor dining permit

Selling it yourself? How to sell your business yourself in Australia. Run a licensed or dinner venue? What is my restaurant worth? A takeaway? What is my takeaway shop worth?

Frequently asked questions

General information only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Figures in the worked example are illustrative.