Free owner planning tool

Restaurant Prime Cost Calculator

See food, beverage and labor costs as a share of sales, then compare actual costs with your own planning rate at actual sales.

Start with the example, then enter your figures

No email required. Your financial inputs stay in this browser and are not sent to ONNIT. First-party calculator-use measurement follows the site privacy notice.

Scenario results

Prime cost
$62,700.00
Prime cost rate
66.00%
Allowance at your planned rate
$58,900.00
Actual cost minus allowance
$3,800.00

Use matching periods. Net sales exclude sales tax and gratuities. Reconcile inventory usage and include employer payroll costs. Your target is a planning assumption, not a universal restaurant benchmark. A gap is not guaranteed savings.

The calculation, without the black box.

Prime cost = food and beverage cost + fully loaded labor. Prime cost % = prime cost / net sales × 100.

Use matching periods. Net sales exclude sales tax and gratuities. Reconcile inventory usage and include employer payroll costs. Your target is a planning assumption, not a universal restaurant benchmark. A gap is not guaranteed savings.

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.