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Restaurant numbers
Restaurant profit and break-even calculator
Enter one month’s sales and costs, and this restaurant profit calculator shows your profit margin, your food and labor cost percentages, your prime cost and your break-even point, right down to how many guests a day you need.
Prime cost = food and drink costs + labor. Break-even sales = (labor + rent + everything else) ÷ (1 − food cost % ÷ 100).
It all runs on this page, and nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
From the team behind this calculator
Found a price to fix? Change it once, everywhere.
This calculator shows where your margin goes. Just a Menu helps you act on it. Raise a price once, and every TV menu board, your QR menu and your next print menu show it, with no reprinting or redesign. Feature your best-margin dishes and drinks on your boards, and run specials only at the hours you need them. Works with Square, Toast, Clover and Oracle.
Or email sales@justamenu.com or send us a message. A real person replies within one business day.
The restaurant profit formulas
Five numbers tell you most of what you need to know about a month. Each one is simple division, and the calculator does them all at once.
Food and labor cost %
Food cost % = food and drink costs ÷ sales × 100. Labor cost % = labor ÷ sales × 100.
Prime cost
Prime cost = food and drink costs + labor. Divide by sales and multiply by 100 for prime cost %.
Profit and margin
Profit = sales − every cost. Profit margin = profit ÷ sales × 100.
Break-even
Break-even sales = (labor + rent + everything else) ÷ (1 − food cost % ÷ 100). Divide by days open, then by your average check, for guests a day.
How break-even is worked out. Food and drink costs rise and fall with sales. Labor, rent and everything else are treated as fixed for the month. Labor really flexes a little with sales, so read break-even as a close estimate.
What the numbers should be
These are rules of thumb, not rules. A steakhouse, a coffee shop and a taqueria will all land in different places. Watch your own numbers month to month, and look into any big jump.
Food cost
About 28–35% of sales for many restaurants.
Labor cost
About 25–35% of sales, including payroll taxes and benefits.
Prime cost
Many owners aim for 60% of sales or less, and start worrying above 65%.
Profit margin
Often in the single digits. A few cents on each dollar is common, so small changes matter.
A worked example
The calculator opens with this month for a neighborhood restaurant: $60,000 in sales, $18,600 in food and drink, $19,200 in labor, $6,000 in rent and $12,000 for everything else. Guests spend $18 on average, and it’s open 30 days.
- Food cost is $18,600 ÷ $60,000 = 31%, and labor is $19,200 ÷ $60,000 = 32%.
- Prime cost is $18,600 + $19,200 = $37,800, or 63% of sales. That’s a little over the 60% many owners aim for.
- Profit is $60,000 − $37,800 − $6,000 − $12,000 = $4,200, a 7% margin.
- Break-even is $37,200 ÷ 0.69 = about $53,913 a month. That’s about $1,797 a day, or 100 guests a day at $18 each.
So this restaurant clears break-even by about $6,087. Cutting food cost to 29% with a few price changes would add about $1,200 a month to profit.
Where to find each number
- ✓Sales: net sales from your POS for the month, after discounts and comps, before sales tax and tips.
- ✓Food and drink costs: opening inventory + purchases − closing inventory. Your invoices alone overstate it if you stocked up.
- ✓Labor: wages, salaries, payroll taxes and benefits. Leave out tips you pass through to staff.
- ✓Rent and occupancy: rent plus shared area charges and property tax, if your lease passes them on.
- ✓Average check: net sales ÷ guests served. Most POS reports show it.
Five ways to move the numbers
- Price each dish from its plate cost. The menu price calculator shows the price that hits your food cost target.
- Sell more drinks. Drinks usually cost far less to make than food. See how to sell more drinks and check costs with the pour cost calculator.
- Put your best-margin dishes where guests look first. Menu engineering shows which ones to feature.
- Schedule to your busy hours. Your POS knows which hours are slow.
- Cut waste. Mark items sold out when they run low, instead of making plates you’ll comp.
Raising prices? Change them once, everywhere.
With Just a Menu, you change a price once in Menu Workspace, from your phone or computer. It’s live on every menu board that shows the item and on your QR menu, and the next print menu you download has it too. On Square, Toast, Clover or Oracle? Change it in your POS and your boards follow on their own. Here’s how to word a price increase notice.
Not on Just a Menu yet? It starts with a photo of your menu. See how a photo becomes your menu boards
Questions
What is prime cost in a restaurant?
Prime cost is your food and drink costs plus your labor costs, the two biggest bills most restaurants have. Divide it by sales for prime cost %. Many owners aim to keep it at 60% of sales or less.
What is a good profit margin for a restaurant?
Restaurant profit margins are often in the single digits, so a few cents on each dollar of sales is common. It varies a lot by concept, location and how you count owner pay. Track your own margin month to month.
How do I calculate my restaurant’s break-even point?
Add up the costs that don’t move much with sales, like labor, rent, insurance and utilities. Divide that by 1 minus your food cost as a decimal. With $37,200 in those costs and a 31% food cost, break-even is $37,200 ÷ 0.69, about $53,913 a month.
What should labor cost be in a restaurant?
Many restaurants run labor at about 25–35% of sales, counting payroll taxes and benefits. Full-service places tend to run higher than counter service. Look at labor and food together as prime cost.
Print menus from the same menu
Your prices are already in the design. Download a fresh PDF whenever prices change.
See print menus →
POS integrations
On Square, Toast, Clover or Oracle? Change a price there and your boards follow on their own.
See POS integrations →
Tip pool calculator
Split tips by hours, by points or equally. Every cent adds up, ready to print or text to your team.
Try the calculator →
Know your numbers? Let’s put your menu on your TVs.
Once you’re set up, snap a photo of your menu and Just a Menu builds custom menu boards for your TVs, plus a QR menu and print menus. Then set each new price once, and every board, QR menu and print file follows.
Talk to a real person. We reply within one business day.
Illustration
Want menu boards that keep up with your prices? Email sales@justamenu.com or call (202) 886-2442.