Restaurant Prime Cost Calculator

Prime cost is the sum of everything you sell (cost of goods) and everyone who makes and serves it (labour), expressed as a share of sales. It is the most-watched health number in the industry because it combines the two costs an operator can actually manage week to week.

The formula, in the open

• Prime cost = cost of goods sold + total labour cost (wages, salaries and payroll costs) for the same period.
• Prime cost % = prime cost ÷ sales × 100.

We deliberately publish no "good" percentage: the honest range depends on your service style, city and rent structure. Track your own number weekly and watch its direction — the trend is worth more than any benchmark.

A worked example

A month with ₹2,10,000 of cost of goods, ₹1,65,000 of labour and ₹6,00,000 of sales: prime cost is ₹3,75,000, which is 62.5% of sales.

Try it

Enter your own month below. The defaults are the worked example — replace them with yours.