A well lubricated restaurant model should pump buckets of cash into the bank. Once a unit's fixed investment stabilizes, a decent sales volume will start producing positive cash flow. The Wall Street people monitor a key indicator of business health - EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization). EBITDA eliminates many of the financing and accounting policies from the income statement model. EBITDA is not the same thing as cash flow.

If you want to eliminate just the impact of depreciation and amortization from the income statement, OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization) is the measure for your report. The starting point in OIBDA is Net Operating Income. Just add back depreciation and amortization.