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The Buyer's Due Diligence Checklist

Buying a café, restaurant or bar in Australia? More than forty checks to run before you pay a deposit or sign anything. Written by an operator, not a broker or a law firm.

What's inside

33 checks across four areas, plus a 10-minute listing triage and a deal-structure page. Every check comes with a “why it matters” and the red flag to look for.

• A

  The lease (10 checks)

  Remaining term plus options to renew · Assignment clause and landlord consent · Current rent, review mechanism and next review date

• B

  Licences and compliance (8 checks)

  Food business registration or notification · Liquor licence: type, conditions and transfer · Compliance history on the licence

• C

  The numbers (10 checks)

  Three years of P&Ls, BAS and bank statements · Reconcile sales to BAS and bank deposits · Point-of-sale reports by day and by hour

• D

  People and operations (5 checks)

  Key staff and whether they will stay · Owner dependence · Supplier contracts and exclusivity

General information only, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules differ by state.