Free tools · break-even
Every business has a number it must take before it makes any profit. Below that number, you are losing money. Above it, you are making money. Put in your monthly costs and how many days you open, and this tool tells you what you need to take each day through the till to cover your costs.
The calculator
Nothing is sent anywhere — the maths runs in your browser and we never see what you type. Every field starts at a deliberately ordinary default rather than a flattering one.
Before you quote the figure at anyone
01
Some costs sit in the middle. Energy goes up a little when you are busy, and some staff hours are fixed even on quiet days. Put each cost where it mostly belongs. The answer will be close enough to plan with.
02
At break-even, you pay your costs and nothing is left. There is no money for repairs, for paying back loans faster, or for a bad month later. Most operators want to trade well above this line, not just on it.
03
A Tuesday in January and a Saturday in December are very different. This tool divides the month evenly across the days you open. Use it to set a target, then look at which days actually reach it.
Questions
Getting a number you don’t recognise from your own accounts is usually worth a conversation rather than another spreadsheet.
Take your fixed costs for the month. Work out how much of each £1 of sales is left after variable costs such as food, drink and hourly wages. Divide the fixed costs by that amount. The answer is the sales you need each month, without VAT, to cover every cost.
Fixed costs stay about the same every month, busy or quiet. Rent, business rates, insurance and salaried staff are fixed. Variable costs rise and fall with your sales. Food and drink stock, card fees and extra hourly staff on busy days are variable.
Your costs and profit are measured without VAT, because VAT goes to HMRC and is not your money. But the till shows sales with VAT. So this tool works out break-even without VAT, then adds VAT so you get a figure you can check against the till each day.
There are three ways to bring it down. Lower your fixed costs, for example by renegotiating rent or energy. Keep more from each sale, by improving gross profit on dishes and drinks. Or open on fewer, busier days, so quiet days stop adding cost without adding much in sales.
WHY Hospitality