Restaurant P&L Quick Check: Prime Cost, Profit and Break-Even

A restaurant P&L quick check shows where your money goes. Enter sales, cost of goods, labour and other operating costs, and the tool gives cost of goods %, labour %, prime cost %, operating profit, profit margin and the sales and covers you need to break even.

How to read your result

Prime cost %: cost of goods plus labour, as a share of sales. With sales of KSh 1,000,000 and KSh 300,000 each on goods and labour, prime cost is 60%.
Operating profit: sales minus goods, labour and other costs. With KSh 250,000 of other costs, profit is KSh 150,000, a 15% margin.
Break-even sales: labour plus other costs, divided by one minus the cost of goods %. Here that is about KSh 785,714.
Break-even covers: break-even sales divided by your average spend per guest.
Break-even treats labour and other costs as fixed for the period. Use it as a rough guide, not a forecast.

Frequently asked questions

What is prime cost?

Prime cost is your cost of goods plus your labour. These are the two biggest costs a kitchen controls, so many operators watch the combined figure closely.

How accurate is the break-even figure?

It is a simplification, because some labour and other costs change with trade. It is most useful for seeing how far sales would have to fall before you stop making a profit.

Which costs go under other operating costs?

Rent, utilities, licences, repairs, marketing and similar costs that are not goods or labour. Use the figures from your own accounts for the same period.

How to use this tool

Pick one period, such as a month, and use the same period for every figure.
Enter sales, cost of goods and labour cost.
Add other operating costs such as rent and utilities.
Enter your average spend per guest to see break-even covers.
Read prime cost % and profit margin first, then break-even.
Change one input at a time to see its effect, such as a lower cost of goods %.

East Africa Chef