Free Tool · Protecting the Bottom Line
Prime cost, food and beverage cost plus total labor, is the single most important number on your P&L. Enter three figures for any period to see your prime cost percentage and how it stacks up against industry benchmarks.
Enter your net sales, food cost, and labor cost to calculate.
Prime cost benchmarks by concept
| Concept | Healthy Prime Cost |
|---|---|
| Full-service restaurant | 60–65% |
| Fast casual | 57–62% |
| Quick-service (QSR) | 55–60% |
Want this tracked automatically, every week?
The Restaurant Finance Toolkit turns this one calculation into a complete system, 5 Excel templates with 1,000+ formulas covering prime cost, labor scheduling, cash flow, break-even, and a full P&L with a KPI dashboard.
Get the Restaurant Finance Toolkit →Benchmarks are general guidelines and vary by market, menu, and service model. Prime cost = (food & beverage cost + total labor cost) ÷ net sales.
The 30-point self-audit of the numbers that decide if your location survives. Free.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.