Restaurant profit margin calculator
Four numbers in, the full picture out: gross profit, net margin, and the prime cost percentage lenders and seasoned operators look at first.
Your monthly P&L, simplified
Enter revenue and COGS
Monthly sales and what you spent on food and beverage to produce them.
Add labor and overhead
Total labor including payroll taxes, then rent, utilities, fees, and everything else.
Read your margins
Gross margin shows kitchen efficiency, net margin shows the business, prime cost shows the lever you can actually pull weekly.
Questions restaurant owners ask
What is a good profit margin for a restaurant?
Full-service restaurants commonly net 3–9% after all costs; quick-service and takeout-heavy concepts can run higher. Anything consistently negative means pricing, prime cost, or volume needs attention.
What is the difference between gross and net margin?
Gross margin is revenue minus food and beverage costs — what the kitchen keeps. Net margin also subtracts labor and overhead — what the business keeps. A healthy gross with a weak net usually points at labor or rent.
What is prime cost and why does it matter?
Prime cost is COGS plus labor, expressed as a share of sales. It is the number you can influence week to week, and keeping it at or under about 60% is the common full-service target.
How can I improve my net margin fastest?
The usual levers, in order: re-cost and re-price your top sellers, tighten scheduling to sales, and shift commission-heavy delivery-app volume to direct ordering — a 25% commission on a third of your sales is often the single biggest hidden line item.
More free tools
Prime Cost Calculator
Add COGS and labor, divide by sales — see your prime cost percentage against the ~60% target.
Restaurant Break-Even Calculator
Find out how many orders and how much revenue you need each month just to cover your costs.
Delivery App Fee Calculator
See what DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub commissions really cost you per year — versus direct ordering.
Guides that pair with this tool
Fatten the margin, not the middleman
Commission-free direct ordering is the fastest margin lever most restaurants haven’t pulled. Menuline sets it up in minutes — $1/month for your first 3 months.