Restaurants
Restaurant break even covers
Translate fixed costs into covers per service and check the result against your supplied seating and turn assumptions.
Your inputs
Complete the fields for your selected method. Zero means intentionally zero, not unknown. Currency selection labels amounts; it does not convert exchange rates.
How this calculation works
contribution/cover = spend - variable cost; required covers = fixed / contribution; capacity = seats × turns × services
A cover means one guest, not one party. Include all volume-dependent food, transaction and other costs per guest without duplicating fixed costs. Seat turns are assumptions. A capacity comparison neither forecasts demand nor establishes safe occupancy.
What information do I need?
Use records for the same job, equipment or accounting period. Only the fields for your selected entry method are required. An unknown amount is not zero.
Input definitions and where to find them
- Fixed costs for chosen planning period (selected currency): Cost budget, POS retained check, owner variable costs and established capacity. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Average net spend per guest (selected currency): Cost budget, POS retained check, owner variable costs and established capacity. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- All variable costs per guest (selected currency): Cost budget, POS retained check, owner variable costs and established capacity. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Service periods in chosen period (services): Cost budget, POS retained check, owner variable costs and established capacity. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Usable seats per service (seats): Cost budget, POS retained check, owner variable costs and established capacity. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
- Assumed seat turns per service (turns): Cost budget, POS retained check, owner variable costs and established capacity. Owner records or explicit assumption; no account connection or maintained rate tables required.
Use the Where to find this value controls beside the inputs for available work-it-out helpers. Estimates remain your assumptions; a helper does not verify the source figures.
Worked example
Example amounts use US dollars (USD).
Example answer: Whole covers needed in planning period is 1,000 covers for the illustrative inputs below.
Example inputs
- Fixed costs for chosen planning period: $12,000.00
- Average net spend per guest: $30.00
- All variable costs per guest: $18.00
- Service periods in chosen period: 20 services
- Usable seats per service: 40 seats
- Assumed seat turns per service: 2.00 turns
- Whole covers needed in planning period
- 1,000 covers
- Average covers needed per service
- 50.00 covers/service
- Entered period seating capacity
- 1,600.00 covers
- Capacity comparison
- Within entered capacity; demand is not predicted
These illustrative values are not recommended rates or industry averages. Replace every example input with your own figures.
Use the result well
Compare required covers with supplied service capacity.
Keep inputs on the same scope and time basis. Calculations retain precision internally; displayed values generally round to two decimal places, with extra precision for very small values and whole-unit rounding where required. Economic comparisons describe your supplied assumptions and do not guarantee future results.
This tool provides business arithmetic. It does not approve engineering designs, establish legal or tax treatment, select equipment or certify safe operating conditions.