Most restaurants do not fail from a bad night. They fail from numbers nobody looked at until the month was over. This hub collects our guides, calculators and templates on the finance side of the operation: prime cost as the weekly number, labor cost done properly, reading a P&L in ten minutes, building a budget from days, covers and check, setting KPI targets from your own actuals, and knowing your break-even. If you open one thing, open the prime cost guide; it is the single number that says whether the operation can make money.
Guides
Long-form guides with the formula, benchmarks by concept, a worked example and a routine.
Free calculators
No signup. Load the sample numbers to see how each one works, then enter your own.
The numbers to know
Typical ranges by concept. Use them to orient, then manage to your own weekly trend.
| Metric | Full service | Bar-led | Quick service | Fine dining / club |
|---|
| Prime cost | 60 to 65% | 50 to 55% | 55 to 60% | 62 to 68% |
| Labor, fully loaded | 30 to 35% | 25 to 30% | 25 to 30% | 33 to 38% |
| Controllable profit | 18 to 25% | 25 to 32% | 20 to 28% | 15 to 22% |
| Net operating profit | 5 to 12% | 10 to 18% | 8 to 15% | 5 to 10% |
| Occupancy (rent, taxes, insurance) | 6 to 10% | 6 to 10% | 6 to 10% | 6 to 10% |
| Contribution margin | 38 to 45% | 45 to 55% | 40 to 48% | 35 to 42% |
| Break-even days per month | 20 to 24 | 18 to 22 | 18 to 22 | 21 to 25 |
| Startup cost per seat | $5,000 to $9,000 | $3,000 to $7,000 | $3,000 to $8,000 | $10,000 to $20,000 |
All forty benchmarks, with what moves each one, are on the benchmarks page. Terms are defined in the glossary.
Templates and workbooks
Excel and Google Sheets tools built from the same methods, one-time purchase.
FAQ
What is a good prime cost for a restaurant?
Full service restaurants usually run 60 to 65 percent of total sales, quick service 55 to 60, bar-led concepts 50 to 55 and fine dining and clubs 62 to 68. Above 70 percent there is no room left for occupancy and profit.
What profit margin does a restaurant make?
Net operating profit usually runs 5 to 12 percent of sales for full service, 8 to 15 for quick service, 10 to 18 for bar-led concepts and 5 to 10 for fine dining. Controllable profit, before occupancy and other fixed costs, runs 18 to 25 percent in full service.
How often should a restaurant look at its numbers?
Prime cost weekly, sales and labor daily, and the full P&L monthly. A weekly prime cost from a real inventory count catches problems while there is still time to fix the month.
How do I build a restaurant budget?
Start with sales built from operating days, covers and average check, set cost targets for food, beverage and labor, build labor from the schedule rather than a percent, then spread it by month and compare actuals every month. The budget guide includes a worked example.
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