When will my restaurant's weekend card sales hit the bank?

A restaurant or bar does much of its week from Friday night through Sunday. But card sales don't reach the bank when the check closes. On a business-day funding schedule, a weekend's card money usually waits until Monday, while tips, payroll and food orders come due anyway.

When do Friday, Saturday and Sunday card sales land?

On a next-business-day schedule, Friday, Saturday and Sunday card sales all land Monday at the earliest. Nacha says ACH payments settle only when the Federal Reserve's settlement service is open. That service is currently closed on weekends and federal holidays.

Slower schedules push the money later. Elavon pitches its faster programs with the line "No need to wait 2-3 business days for funding files." On a two- to three-business-day schedule, Saturday's dinner rush can wait until Tuesday or Wednesday.

That timing lands on a restaurant's biggest days. A 2017-18 Nielsen CGA study of bar and restaurant checks ranked Saturday, then Friday, as the most valuable days, Bar & Restaurant reported. Axios, citing payments data from food and drink sellers, reported a shift toward weekends. Saturday and Sunday's share of restaurant transactions rose from about 30% in 2019 to about 35% in 2023. For the full path from card tap to deposit, see how fast card sales hit your bank account.

Why does a weekend funding gap hurt a restaurant more than most businesses?

Restaurants pay out a slice of their card sales before the money arrives. Card tips are the clearest case. The U.S. Department of Labor says tips charged on credit cards must be paid to the employee no later than the regular payday. That payment "may not be held while the employer is awaiting reimbursement from the credit card company." You can reduce a card tip by no more than the card fee on it, the department says.

If your restaurant pays card tips out in cash at the end of each shift, the gap is wider. On a big weekend, that cash leaves the drawer days before the card deposit replaces it.

Payroll comes next. Texas, for example, requires employers to pay non-exempt employees at least twice a month on regularly scheduled paydays, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Federal rules let employers pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour. So tips make up much of a server's pay. A payday that falls early in the week depends on weekend sales that may still be in transit.

Which restaurant holidays stretch the wait longest?

Holidays that fall on or right after a restaurant's big nights stretch the wait longest. FOX 13 Tampa Bay called the night before Thanksgiving "one of the busiest bar nights of the year." One Massachusetts bar owner told Western Mass News it's his bar's busiest night. Thanksgiving itself closes the Federal Reserve, so that Wednesday's sales skip a day.

In a 2017 survey release, the National Restaurant Association called Mother's Day the most popular holiday for dining out, followed by Valentine's Day. In 2027, Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday, right before Presidents Day.

Here's when card sales from upcoming restaurant dates would land, based on the Federal Reserve's holiday calendar.

The table assumes each batch closes that night and lands the next business day, or the next calendar day with 7-day funding. Slower schedules push every date back.

What keeps a restaurant's weekend batch from funding on time?

An open batch is the most common restaurant-specific delay, because funding starts only when the batch closes. Elavon's next-day program, for example, funds "within one business day of your batch submission." A batch that stays open over the weekend doesn't start that clock.

Restaurants have more ways to leave a batch open than most businesses:

• Tips not entered. Servers add tips to approved checks after the guest signs. Checks still waiting on a tip can hold up the close.
• Open bar tabs. A tab left open past closing keeps its card out of the night's batch.
• Manual closes. If a manager closes the batch by hand, a skipped Saturday close can push Saturday's sales into Sunday's or Monday's batch.
• A missed cutoff. Funding programs take batches by a daily deadline. A batch that closes after it waits another cycle.

Set the POS or terminal to close the batch automatically every night, weekends and holidays included, after the last tips are entered. BP Global Merchant Services runs processing on restaurant systems such as Union POS, Oracle MICROS Simphony and NCR Aloha. For more on tabs, tips and closes, see card processing for restaurants and bars. Changing processors without replacing your POS? See whether your restaurant can keep MICROS or Aloha.

How much does 7-day funding change a Thanksgiving week?

Seven-day funding doesn't change what a restaurant earns. But it can put a holiday week's card sales in the bank before the next week starts.

Example (hypothetical numbers): A bar and grill closes on Thanksgiving Day and opens the rest of the week. It pays card tips to servers in cash at the end of each shift. Card sales below include those tips. Assume each batch lands the next business day, or the next calendar day with 7-day funding. Fees are left out to keep the math simple.

In this example, the bar hands servers $6,800 in cash tips across the week. On the business-day schedule, only Wednesday's $14,000 has landed by Sunday night. The other $26,000 arrives Monday at the earliest. On 7-day funding, $33,500 is in the bank before Monday.

What should I ask a processor about restaurant funding?

Ask these five questions before you sign, and get the answers in writing:

1. Does funding run on Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, or only on business days?
2. When is the daily batch deadline, and what happens to a batch that closes after midnight?
3. Can my POS close the batch automatically after tips are entered?
4. Do card tips fund with the rest of the batch?
5. Does faster funding change the price?

When BP Global Merchant Services fits

BP Global Merchant Services is a Dallas-based, independent merchant services provider and Elavon Payments MSP serving restaurants and bars across the U.S.. It offers funding through Elavon 7 days a week, including weekends and holidays, with same-day or next-day funding depending on platform and account setup. Restaurants also get 24/7 support, a dedicated case manager who fights chargebacks, and a choice of interchange-plus or dual pricing. To see which funding options fit your restaurant, start with the Free Statement Review.