Restaurant ERP
Basic ERP to understand restaurant businesses
Start simulating a restaurant business
Restaurant ERP (Minimal Simulator)
| Month | Revenue | COGS | Labor | Fixed | EBITDA | Tax | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | $36,960 | $12,936 | $9,240 | $9,000 | $5,784 | $578 | $5,206 |
| Feb 25 | $37,699 | $13,195 | $9,425 | $9,000 | $6,080 | $608 | $5,472 |
| Mar 25 | $38,453 | $13,459 | $9,613 | $9,000 | $6,381 | $638 | $5,743 |
| Apr 25 | $39,222 | $13,728 | $9,806 | $9,000 | $6,689 | $669 | $6,020 |
| May 25 | $40,007 | $14,002 | $10,002 | $9,000 | $7,003 | $700 | $6,302 |
| Jun 25 | $40,807 | $14,282 | $10,202 | $9,000 | $7,323 | $732 | $6,590 |
| Jul 25 | $41,623 | $14,568 | $10,406 | $9,000 | $7,649 | $765 | $6,884 |
| Aug 25 | $42,455 | $14,859 | $10,614 | $9,000 | $7,982 | $798 | $7,184 |
| Sep 25 | $43,305 | $15,157 | $10,826 | $9,000 | $8,322 | $832 | $7,490 |
| Oct 25 | $44,171 | $15,460 | $11,043 | $9,000 | $8,668 | $867 | $7,801 |
| Nov 25 | $45,054 | $15,769 | $11,264 | $9,000 | $9,022 | $902 | $8,119 |
| Dec 25 | $45,955 | $16,084 | $11,489 | $9,000 | $9,382 | $938 | $8,444 |
How to use: Adjust seats, covers, ticket size, and costs. The simulator projects 12 months.
Breakeven: Revenue needed to cover fixed costs after food and labor. Focus on increasing covers, ticket, or improving margins.
Layman’s takeaway: If Net is negative, either raise prices, improve table turns, reduce food/labor %, or lower fixed costs.
What Is This About?
A minimal restaurant simulator to understand breakeven and profitability with a few key levers. This tool helps you model how changes in seating capacity, average ticket size, food costs, labor costs, and fixed expenses affect your restaurant's bottom line.
The Challenge: Understanding Breakeven
Restaurant businesses have complex cost structures:
- Variable Costs: Food cost percentage, labor costs that scale with revenue
- Fixed Costs: Rent, utilities, insurance, equipment
- Capacity Constraints: Limited seats, operating hours, covers per seat per day
Understanding your breakeven point is critical for making informed decisions about pricing, capacity, and operational efficiency.
Who Is This For?
This simulator is designed for:
- Restaurant Owners & Operators: Understanding profitability drivers and breakeven analysis
- Restaurant Managers: Planning capacity, pricing, and staffing decisions
- Aspiring Restaurant Entrepreneurs: Learning the financial fundamentals before opening
- Business Analysts: Modeling restaurant economics and financial projections
- Students & Learners: Understanding basic business finance through a practical example
How to Do This Properly on Your Own
Suggested Inputs
- Capacity: Seats, covers per seat per day, average ticket, days open per month
- Costs: Food cost %, labor cost %, rent, utilities, other fixed expenses
- Financial: Tax rate % on profit, monthly revenue growth %
Outputs (Plain English)
- Revenue: Monthly revenue from covers and average ticket
- COGS: Cost of goods sold (food cost)
- Labor: Labor costs based on revenue percentage
- Fixed: Rent, utilities, and other fixed expenses
- EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization
- Tax: Tax on profit
- Net Profit: Final profit after all expenses and taxes
- Contribution Margin: Revenue minus variable costs
- Breakeven Revenue/Month: Minimum revenue needed to cover all costs
- Breakeven Covers/Day: Required covers per day at current ticket and schedule
Use the sliders above to see how small changes affect breakeven and net profit.
For more complex simulation with inventory management, demand forecasting, and supply chain optimization, go to Material Requirements Planning.
Has This Helped You?
If you found this restaurant simulator useful for understanding business fundamentals:
- Share it with your team or on social media
- Bookmark this page for future reference
- Write backlinks to this page when referencing restaurant financial modeling
This simulator provides a practical foundation for:
- Breakeven analysis
- Profitability modeling
- Capacity planning
- Cost structure understanding
Starting Point for Those Who Want to Do It Properly Themselves
Ready to build your own restaurant financial model? The core calculations involve:
- Revenue Calculation:
Revenue = Seats × Covers per Seat per Day × Days Open × Average Ticket - Variable Costs:
COGS = Revenue × Food Cost %,Labor = Revenue × Labor Cost % - Fixed Costs: Sum of rent, utilities, and other fixed expenses
- Breakeven:
Breakeven Revenue = Fixed Costs / (1 - Variable Cost %) - Profitability:
Net Profit = Revenue - Variable Costs - Fixed Costs - Taxes
You can extend this model with:
- Inventory management (see MRP)
- Seasonal variations
- Multiple revenue streams
- Staff scheduling optimization
- Menu engineering analysis