Restaurant Prime Cost Calculator and Weekly Tracker
A restaurant prime cost calculator is only useful if you can run it every week, not once the P&L arrives. This one takes your sales, food and beverage cost and labor for each week and works out prime cost as a percent of sales.
This free Restaurant Prime Cost Weekly Tracker from LiveFixPro Bookkeeping adds a week-over-week change and a four-week view, so you can see the direction as well as the number. Prime cost here means the cost of food and beverage used plus labor cost.
It runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, sent or stored, and it works offline once the page is open.
No account and no uploads. This tool sets no cookies and has no analytics of its own.
What the tracker asks for
Add one row for each week. Every number is your own, and nothing is preset.
Week. A label such as "Week of Oct 5."
Sales ($). Use the same sales number every week.
Food and beverage purchases ($). What you bought that week.
Inventory change ($), optional. Enter an increase as a positive number and a decrease as a negative number. It adjusts purchases to the cost of food and beverage used. Leave it blank to use purchases alone.
Labor cost ($). Pick one labor figure and use it every week.
Your target prime cost (% of sales), optional. Your own goal. The tool uses no industry targets.
Use the same method every week: same sales number, same labor number, same cut-off day. Want a quick look? Tap Load a sample. The sample data, including its sample 60% target, is made up and is not a benchmark.
What you get back
Prime cost % for each week, with a small bar beside each row.
A table by week: sales, food and beverage cost, labor, prime cost, % of sales and the change from last week.
A four-week figure. It adds four weeks of prime cost and divides by four weeks of sales.
Weeks over your own target, if you entered one.
Print or download a CSV. In the CSV download, a week label that starts with =, +, - or @ gets an apostrophe in front so a spreadsheet shows it as plain text.
How it's worked out
Prime cost = cost of food and beverage used + labor cost.
Prime cost % = prime cost divided by sales.
Cost of food and beverage used = purchases adjusted for the inventory change you enter.
These are estimates from the numbers you enter. The tool doesn't tell you whether a percentage is good or bad for your restaurant.
Make the weekly number trustworthy
A tracker is only as steady as the numbers going in.
Enter vendor bills in QuickBooks® as they arrive, so purchases land in the right week.
Keep food, beverage and supplies in separate accounts, so only food and beverage feed this number.
Use one labor figure every week.
When a week looks off, check for a missing bill, a delivery entered twice, or a sales day that hasn't been closed out.
Want your restaurant books current every month?
LiveFixPro Bookkeeping's published price for monthly bookkeeping is $499/mo. What it includes is confirmed on the free consult. Book a free consult and we'll talk through where your books stand.
FAQ
What is a restaurant prime cost calculator?
It adds the cost of food and beverage used and your labor cost, then divides that by sales to give a prime cost percent. This tracker does it for each week you enter and shows the change from the week before.
How do I calculate restaurant prime cost?
Add the cost of food and beverage used and labor cost, then divide by sales. If you track inventory, enter the change in inventory and the tracker adjusts purchases for it.
Does the tracker tell me what my prime cost percent should be?
No. It uses no industry targets. You can enter your own target, and the tool will mark the weeks that go over it.
Why track prime cost weekly instead of monthly?
A weekly view shows a change while you can still look into it, such as a missing bill or a labor week that ran long. Use the same method every week so the weeks compare fairly.
Does it upload or store my numbers?
No. It runs in your browser, and nothing you enter is uploaded, sent or stored.
Run your week now
Use the tracker above to enter this week's numbers, and book a free consult if you'd like help keeping your restaurant books current.
QuickBooks® is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. LiveFixPro is independent and not endorsed by Intuit.
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QuickBooks® is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. LiveFixPro is independent and not endorsed by Intuit.