Restaurant Break-Even Calculator
Enter your fixed costs, variable cost %, and see the sales figure you need to hit to break even.
Rent, salaries, insurance, subscriptions — costs that don't change with sales volume.
Usually your prime cost % — food, hourly labor, card fees.
Result
Enter your fixed costs and variable cost % to see your break-even sales.
How restaurant break-even works
Break-even sales is the revenue you need before you start making a profit. Below this line, every sale is covering costs. Above it, the contribution margin on each sale becomes profit.
Break-Even Sales = Fixed Costs ÷ (1 − Variable Cost %)
Why variable cost % matters more than people think
Your variable cost % — largely prime cost plus card processing fees — determines your contribution margin. A restaurant with a 70% variable cost rate needs significantly more sales to break even than one running at 60%, even with identical fixed costs.