Restaurant Finance Guides
What Staff Turnover Really Costs a Restaurant
Nobody invoices you for a resignation. How to total the four costs a departure creates, and which fixes actually reduce them.
Pour Cost: How to Control Beverage Cost Behind the Bar
Pour cost moves faster than any other cost in the building. How to calculate it, split it by category, and tell a pricing problem from a pouring one.
Restaurant Inventory Turnover: What Good Looks Like
What inventory turnover means, what good looks like by category, and why turning stock too fast is its own problem.
Menu Engineering Explained: Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles and Dogs
Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles and Dogs explained, with a worked example and the specific action each category needs.
How to Reduce Food Waste in a Restaurant
Waste never arrives as an invoice. How to measure it, split it into the three categories that need different fixes, and cut it without touching quality.
How to Calculate Food Cost Percentage (With Examples)
Step-by-step guide to calculating food cost %, what a good number looks like, and the five most common reasons it creeps up.
Restaurant Labor Cost Formula — What to Include and How to Track It
The complete labor cost formula including taxes and benefits, plus how to separate fixed vs variable labor for better scheduling decisions.
What Is Prime Cost in a Restaurant? (And Why It's the Only Number That Matters)
Why prime cost beats food cost and labor cost as a standalone metric, with benchmarks by restaurant type.
How to Price a Menu Item — The Cost-Plus Method Explained
Turn plate cost into a menu price that protects your margin without pricing yourself out of the market.
Restaurant Inventory Management — Par Levels, Waste Tracking & Turnover
How to set par levels, track food waste cost, and calculate inventory turnover to keep COGS in check.
Restaurant Fixed Costs vs Variable Costs — Complete List & Examples
Every restaurant expense, sorted into fixed and variable — and why the split decides your break-even point and downturn resilience.
Restaurant Break-Even Analysis — How to Find Your Magic Number
Calculate the exact sales figure where your restaurant stops losing money and starts making it.