Break-Even Calculator
Know the number that keeps the lights on: exactly how much revenue — and how many customers — a unit needs each month before it makes a cent of profit.
What this calculates
Break-even is the monthly revenue at which a unit stops losing money. This splits your costs into the ones that do not move with sales — rent, base payroll, insurance, any flat franchise minimum — and the ones that do, then solves for the revenue where the two meet, and converts it into a daily customer count you can actually manage against.
What you will need
Monthly fixed costs. Everything you owe in a month with the doors shut. In franchising, include royalty or ad-fund contributions if they are charged as a flat minimum rather than purely as a percentage.
Variable cost as a share of revenue. The portion of each sale that goes straight back out — goods, packaging, card fees, and percentage-based royalties. Percentage royalties belong here, not in fixed costs.
Average ticket. Used to convert the revenue figure into a daily customer count. A revenue target is abstract; a covers-per-day target is something a shift manager can act on.
How to read the result
The revenue figure is the floor, not the goal. Two checks matter. First, how far above it is your current revenue — that gap is your margin of safety, and a thin one means an ordinary slow month puts you into losses. Second, is the implied daily customer count physically possible given your seats, your service speed and your trading hours? A break-even that needs more covers than the room can serve is a site and format problem, not a pricing problem.
Questions about this tool
Where does the royalty go, fixed or variable?
A percentage royalty is variable, since it rises with sales. A flat monthly minimum is fixed. If your agreement has a percentage with a minimum, model it as variable but check the minimum does not bite at your break-even revenue.
Should my own wage be in fixed costs?
If you take a wage, yes. Leaving it out produces a break-even that is only achievable while you work unpaid, which hides the real cost of running the unit.
My break-even revenue looks achievable. Am I safe?
Only if the implied customer count is achievable too. Convert it to covers per day and per hour and check it against your capacity — that is where an apparently fine break-even often falls apart.
For reference only; not legal, tax, or investment advice. Results depend entirely on the figures you enter — check them against your own quotes and your franchise agreement before acting on them.