Track the number that makes or breaks a restaurant.

Prime cost is the sum of your cost of goods sold — food and beverage — plus your total labor cost, expressed as a share of sales. It captures the two largest costs a restaurant can actually control, which is why operators watch it more closely than almost any other number. Rent and utilities matter, but they're relatively fixed; prime cost moves week to week with purchasing, portioning, scheduling, and waste, so it's where day-to-day management shows up in the numbers.

Full-service operators often aim to keep prime cost under roughly two-thirds of sales, with quick-service and bar-heavy concepts sitting differently because their food, beverage, and labor mixes differ. The exact target is less important than tracking it consistently and reacting to the trend: a prime cost creeping upward means food cost, labor, or both are getting away from you. This tool combines the three components so you see the number every period and can act before it hurts profit.

A ready-to-use spreadsheet (Excel & Google Sheets): prime cost percentage by period from food, beverage, and labor against sales, with the components broken out — delivered instantly after checkout. AI-assisted, human-built; not financial advice.