Free owner planning tool

Restaurant Break-Even Sales Calculator

Estimate the sales needed to cover a defined set of fixed costs at an assumed variable-cost rate. Compare scenarios before changing hours or expanding.

Start with the example, then enter your figures

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Scenario results

Contribution margin rate
35.00%
Break-even sales
$114,285.71
Scenario remainder after entered costs
$2,000.00

Use the same period and do not count an expense as both fixed and variable. Labor can be mixed. Results exclude costs you omit and are not a cash-flow forecast, valuation or funding recommendation.

The calculation, without the black box.

Break-even sales = fixed costs / (1 - variable-cost rate). Example: $40,000 / (1 - 0.65) = $114,285.71.

Use the same period and do not count an expense as both fixed and variable. Labor can be mixed. Results exclude costs you omit and are not a cash-flow forecast, valuation or funding recommendation.

For broader context, see the National Restaurant Association's operating-cost discussion and the SBA's startup cost planning guidance. The arithmetic here is a simplified scenario, not a result reported by either source.