Restaurant Food Cost Calculator

Calculate your actual restaurant food cost using inventory, purchases and food sales — and see how much of every food sales dollar is being consumed by product cost.

Calculate Your Actual Food Cost

Use numbers from the same accounting period — typically one week or one month.

Beginning Food Inventory Value of food inventory at the beginning of the period.

Food Purchases Food purchases received during the same period.

Ending Food Inventory Value of food remaining at the end of the period.

Food Sales Food sales only for the same period.

Your Food Cost Results

Food COGS

Actual Food Cost

How Restaurant Food Cost Is Calculated

Looking only at your food purchases does not tell you what food actually cost you during the period. Inventory movement has to be included.

Beginning Inventory + Purchases − Ending Inventory = Food COGS
Food COGS ÷ Food Sales × 100 = Food Cost %

Your beginning inventory represents what you started with. Purchases add the food received during the period. Ending inventory represents product you still have.

What's left after subtracting ending inventory is the cost of food used during the period. Comparing that amount to food sales gives you your actual food cost percentage.

If food cost is moving in the wrong direction, investigate purchasing, vendor pricing, waste, portioning, comps, inventory accuracy, theft and menu pricing rather than assuming one issue is responsible.

Your Food Cost Is Only Part of the Story.

Margin & Menu's 360° Restaurant Financial Audit follows the money across food cost, labor, inventory, POS deposits, accounting and profitability to identify where margin is actually being lost.

Explore the 360° Audit →