Restaurant Break-Even Calculator

Use this restaurant break-even calculator to find the sales and covers you need each month and each day to cover your costs. Enter your fixed costs, your variable costs as a share of sales and your average check. The example is a real taco-truck plan made in the FoodTechGuru app. It's free, needs no signup and runs in your browser.

Find my break-even Set your prices first: menu price calculator

Fixed costs per month

CostPer month

Variable costs, % of sales

Sales

A month is 4.33 weeks (52 ÷ 12), as on the plan sheet.

From your real menu

Get break-even from your costed recipes

The numbers above are one block of a business plan. Cost your recipes in FoodTechGuru, then answer six questions and it builds a live Google Sheet: unit economics with this break-even block, 12-month cash flow, startup costs and menu engineering. Business plans use 50 credits and need a paid Pro or Guru subscription.

  • Food cost % pulled live from your cost cards
  • Crew, fixed costs and equipment pre-filled per format
  • Free download; new accounts get 15 credits for recipes
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Unit Economics tab of a FoodTechGuru taco truck plan: monthly revenue 24,280, variable costs 31.1%, fixed costs 13,383.11, net profit 3,349.21, break-even revenue 19,420.02, 130.5 portions a trading day, margin of safety 20%
FoodTechGuru on iPhone: tap Build a Business Plan, answer the six steps, and get break-even at 131 portions a day with the monthly numbers
The example taco truck's Unit Economics tab: break-even at $19,420.02 a month.

How to calculate restaurant break-even

  1. Add up fixed costs per month: wages, rent or pitch fees, utilities, insurance, marketing, software, repairs, loan payments.
  2. Add up variable costs as a % of sales: food cost, packaging, card and delivery fees.
  3. Contribution margin = 100% − variable %. It is what each sale leaves to pay the fixed costs.
  4. Break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin. $13,383 ÷ 68.9% ≈ $19,420.
  5. Covers = break-even sales ÷ average check. Divide by trading days for a daily target.

Break-even for a food truck: a real example

The example plan has three crew ($9,383 a month) and $4,000 of other fixed costs, so $13,383 a month to cover. Food is 28.5% of sales and packaging 2.6%, which leaves 68.9% of every sale. Break-even is $19,420 a month: 3,391 portions, about 131 a trading day at an average $5.73.

Margin of safety and profit

The plan expects $24,280 a month once it is up to speed. Sales could fall 20% before it stops making money. That margin of safety sits inside the 15–40% range the plan sheet calls healthy, and the plan keeps $3,349 a month in profit. Under 15%, one slow week can push you below the line.

Related: food truck startup costs · menu price calculator · recipe cost calculator

Restaurant break-even FAQ

What is a restaurant's break-even point?

The monthly sales at which what you keep from each sale covers all your fixed costs. Below it you are funding the business out of savings; above it you make a profit.

Is labour a fixed or a variable cost?

If your crew is scheduled whatever the sales, treat wages as fixed, as the FoodTechGuru business plan sheet does. Only costs that move with every sale, such as food, packaging and card or delivery fees, are variable.

What is a good margin of safety?

The FoodTechGuru plan sheet treats 15–40% as healthy and under 15% as fragile: a slow week can then push you below break-even.

What counts as a cover?

One guest or one order. Use the average spend per guest or order as the average check. The food truck example uses portions, at $5.73 each on average.

Can an app work out break-even from my menu?

Yes. The FoodTechGuru business plan generator builds a live Google Sheet with a break-even block from your costed recipes, crew and fixed costs. Business plans use 50 credits and need a paid Pro or Guru subscription.

Know your numbers before you open

Cost your menu in the app, then build the full plan sheet.

Download free on iOS