Prime cost calculator
What is your prime cost, and what is it costing you?
Prime cost is cost of goods plus labour, over net sales. It is the one ratio that decides whether a location makes money — and the only large cost you can still change this week.
One location, one period
How to read the result
| Band | What it usually means | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Under 55% | Strong. Either genuinely efficient, or some labour is not being counted. | Check your labour cost coverage before celebrating. |
| 55–65% | Healthy for most formats. The target band. | Compare store to store — the average hides the outlier. |
| 65–72% | Thin. Rent and utilities will consume most of what is left. | Attack whichever of food or labour is furthest from your best store. |
| Over 72% | Structurally unprofitable at this volume. | Not a scheduling problem. Menu pricing, portioning or the site itself. |
If your prime cost came out unusually low, check what share of your worked hours actually carry a cost. In one twelve-store group only 67.9% of hours were costed — which made every store's labour percentage, and therefore its prime cost, read better than reality. Run the labour blind spot auditor before you trust a good number.
The number that matters more than your average
A group-level prime cost is an average, and averages hide the store that is losing money. Across a live twelve-store deployment in August 2026 the group ran 50.2% — a perfectly respectable figure. Underneath it, the best location ran 23.60% and the worst ran 75.84%, on the same brand, the same menu and the same suppliers.
The gap between your best and worst location is almost always a larger opportunity than the gap between your average and your target.