Financial Management
Restaurant Break-Even Calculator
Find the monthly sales, daily sales, and covers per day your restaurant needs before it makes a dollar of profit. List your fixed costs, set variable costs as a percent of sales, and add your average check. Pair it with the restaurant budget template to keep the inputs honest month to month.
Pre-filled with a realistic 70-seat casual restaurant. Edit every line to match your own numbers.
Total fixed costs: $27,900/mo
Variable costs (% of every sales dollar)
Monthly break-even revenue
$71,538
$27,900 fixed costs / 39.0% contribution margin
Per week
$16,692
Per day (30 open)
$2,385
Covers per day
100
at $24.00 avg check
Contribution margin
39.0%
Healthy
Sensitivity: what moves the number
| Scenario | Lower | Current | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Variable cost % (±3 pts)monthly break-even revenue | $66,42958% | $71,53861% | $77,50064% |
| Average check (±$2)covers needed per day | 109$22.00 | 100$24.00 | 92$26.00 |
Raising the check does not change break-even revenue, only how many guests you need to reach it. Cutting variable cost % changes both.
The Restaurant Break-Even Point Formula
Your break-even point is the sales volume where revenue exactly covers every cost and profit is zero. Below it you are burning cash; above it each extra dollar of sales drops contribution margin to the bottom line. The formula has two inputs: total monthly fixed costs, and the share of each sales dollar left after variable costs (your contribution margin).
Break-Even Revenue = Fixed Costs / Contribution Margin %
where Contribution Margin % = 1 - (Variable Costs / Sales)
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Total fixed costs | rent 9,500 + salaries 11,500 + insurance 1,200 + loans 2,400 + utilities 1,800 + software 600 + marketing 900 | $27,900 |
| 2. Variable cost % | COGS 30% + hourly labor 25% + other 6% | 61% |
| 3. Contribution margin | 100% - 61% | 39% |
| 4. Break-even revenue | $27,900 / 0.39 | $71,538 / mo |
| 5. Per day | $71,538 / 30 days open | $2,385 |
| 6. Covers per day | $2,385 / $24 average check | 100 covers |
To get covers instead of dollars, divide the daily break-even revenue by your average check. In the example above, $2,385 a day at a $24 check is 100 covers, about 1.4 turns of a 70-seat room every day you are open. Use the food cost calculator to pin down the COGS percentage before you trust the result.
Fixed vs Variable Costs in a Restaurant
Most break-even mistakes happen here. A cost is fixed if the bill arrives whether or not you sell anything; it is variable if it rises with every cover. Labor is the trap: salaried managers are fixed, hourly staff are variable, and both need to land in the right bucket or the answer is off by thousands.
| Line item | Bucket | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Rent, CAM & property tax | Fixed | Same bill whether you serve 10 covers or 300 |
| Salaried GM, chef, kitchen manager | Fixed | Paid the same on a dead Tuesday |
| Hourly servers, cooks, dish | Variable | Scheduled up and down with volume; enter as % of sales |
| Food & beverage purchases (COGS) | Variable | Scales one-for-one with every plate sold |
| Insurance (GL, property, workers' comp) | Fixed | Annual premium, paid monthly |
| Equipment & build-out loan payments | Fixed | Fixed principal + interest until paid off |
| Utilities | Semi-variable | Walk-in and hood run regardless; the rest tracks volume. Put the base load in fixed |
| POS, scheduling & accounting software | Fixed | Flat subscriptions |
| Credit card processing | Variable | A % of every ticket, usually 2.5-3.5% |
| Paper, to-go packaging, linen | Variable | Consumed per cover |
| Payroll taxes & benefits | Semi-variable | Follow the labor they attach to: salaried share is fixed, hourly share is variable |
| Marketing | Semi-variable | Retainers and signage are fixed; per-order delivery-app commissions are variable |
If you already run a monthly P&L, the restaurant budget template groups these lines the same way, so you can copy the totals straight across.
Loan payments are a fixed cost you chose
Every $1,000 of monthly equipment or build-out payments adds roughly $2,500 to your break-even at a 40% contribution margin. Before you sign for the walk-in and the combi oven, read how restaurant equipment loans and leases are structured, and price the monthly payment into this calculator first.
How Long Does a New Restaurant Take to Break Even?
Monthly break-even
6-18 months
typical range for new restaurants, per Restroworks' 2026 profitability statistics roundup
Consistent profitability
up to 3 years
some concepts need this long, per the same roundup
Be careful with these numbers. There are two different break-evens. The first is the month your sales finally cover that month's costs, which is what this calculator measures. The second is recouping the startup investment you spent before opening day, and that takes years longer. Industry surveys put the first at 6 to 18 months for most concepts; lean counter-service spots in strong locations hit the low end, and large full-service builds run past it. Nobody has a reliable average for the second, because it depends entirely on how much you spent and how far above break-even you operate afterward.
The practical takeaway: your opening cash reserve should cover the gap between break-even and actual sales for at least six months. Work that number into the financials of your business plan and the timeline in our guide on how to start a restaurant.
5 Ways to Lower Your Break-Even Point
Get occupancy under 10% of sales
Rent is usually the biggest fixed line. If the lease is above 10% of realistic sales, renegotiate at renewal, sublease a private room on off-nights, or add a ghost brand out of the same kitchen so the rent is spread over more revenue.
Refinance or restructure equipment debt
A $2,400 monthly loan payment at 39% contribution margin needs $6,150 in sales just to service it. Longer terms or a lower rate drop the payment directly off the break-even line.
Move labor from salaried to scheduled
A salaried sous chef is fixed; a cross-trained hourly lead is variable. Keep the GM and chef on salary, but let the rest of the roster flex with the forecast so slow weeks cost less.
Raise contribution margin with the menu
Every point of variable cost you shave lowers break-even. Re-engineer the menu toward high-margin items and re-price the dishes that have quietly drifted above a 35% food cost.
Tighten purchasing and waste
Bid your top 20 SKUs across two suppliers, standardize portions, and log waste daily. Taking COGS from 33% to 30% on $70,000 of sales is $2,100 a month straight to contribution.
The menu lever is the one most operators underuse. Our guide to restaurant menu engineering walks through re-pricing and re-positioning dishes by margin.
Break-Even Is Not Profitability
Hitting break-even means the restaurant paid its own bills. It does not mean it paid you. Three things sit above the break-even line and still need cash:
- Owner pay. If you are working 60 hours and not on payroll, add a market salary to fixed costs. A $60,000 owner salary raises the example break-even by about $12,800 a month.
- Debt principal and reserves. Loan payments cover principal, but replacing a compressor or a hood fan comes from cash you set aside on top.
- Taxes and a real margin. Full-service restaurants that survive keep prime cost (COGS plus all labor) at or below 65% of sales and aim for 60%, per Restaurant365 — lower is always better. That leaves room for occupancy, everything else, and a 3-5% profit. Break-even leaves zero.
A useful habit: run this calculator twice. Once with true fixed costs to find survival, and once with owner pay and a 5% profit target added to fixed costs to find the sales number you actually need.
Related Tools & Guides
Restaurant Budget Template
Build the monthly budget that feeds your fixed and variable cost lines
Food Cost Calculator
Nail down the COGS percentage you enter in the calculator above
Restaurant Startup Costs
What it costs to open, line by line, before you ever reach break-even
Restaurant Equipment Financing
Loans, leases, and terms that set your monthly equipment payment
Restaurant Business Plan Template
Put your break-even analysis into the financial section lenders read first
Average Restaurant Profit Margin
The margin benchmarks to aim for once you clear break-even