Restaurant Prime Cost Calculator
Prime cost is your cost of goods sold plus total labor. It is the largest controllable cost in most restaurants. Enter a week or a month of figures.
Your numbers
Calculations run in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to or stored by AccoTiva.
Results
—COGS % of sales
—Labor % of sales
—Prime cost
—Prime cost % of sales
—Difference vs target ($)
—Sales left after prime cost
What is a good prime cost?
Many full-service restaurants aim for prime cost of roughly 60–65% of sales, and limited-service concepts often run lower. The right target depends on your concept, rent and pricing, so treat any benchmark as a starting point rather than a rule.
Getting an accurate prime cost
- Use inventory-adjusted cost of goods sold, not just purchases.
- Include payroll taxes and benefits in labor.
- Track it weekly so problems surface before month end.
Related: restaurant bookkeeping, prime cost guide.
Want numbers you can rely on every month?
A tool is only as good as the books behind it. AccoTiva keeps your records reconciled so calculations like this reflect reality.