Restaurant break-even calculator

Break-even is rarely a single number on a napkin — it is the relationship between covers, average spend, fixed costs, and the gross profit you can hold on food. Still, before you build a full seasonal model, it helps to see whether monthly sales and costs even share the same postcode.

The calculator below uses the same public logic as our Reality Check modeler: six trading days per week, even flow through the year, and VAT excluded. Slide in rent, any finance repayments, staffing, and your target gross profit. When you are ready for timing, sensitivity tables, and menu-level margin work, continue in the full Clove modeler.

Read more about margin drift and pricing on our blog.

Revenue

Let's start with what comes in.

On an average day, how many customers do you expect?

Roughly how much does one customer spend?

Fixed costs

These are costs you pay whether it's busy or quiet.

Include rent, rates, and fixed property costs.

If none, leave as zero.

Variable costs

These rise and fall with how busy you are.

Total wages before tax and on-costs.

Typical hospitality targets are 65–75%.

70%

This means ingredients cost about 30% of sales.

Snapshot

Compare monthly revenue to costs to see how tight the gap is — a practical lens before you model full break-even timing.

Enter your revenue basics and costs, then load the snapshot when you're ready — nothing updates until you click.

Add clients per day and average spend per head to continue.

Assumptions used
  • Open 6 days per week.
  • Even trading across the year.
  • VAT excluded.

These can be adjusted in the full model.

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Indicative only. Not financial advice.

Go deeper in Clove

This page is a quick, public sanity check. When you are ready for line-level dishes, menu lists, and sales benchmarks, move into the product with a free account.