Restaurant Break Even Calculator — Free Online Tool

What is a Restaurant Break Even Point?

Your restaurant's break even point is the exact level of revenue — and number of customers — at which you cover 100% of your costs with zero profit and zero loss. Every rupee earned above the break even point is pure profit. Every rupee below it is a loss your business absorbs.

Understanding your break even is the most fundamental financial exercise a restaurant owner can do. It answers the questions that matter most: "How many covers do I need today just to keep the lights on?", "Is my current customer volume actually sustainable?", and "How much of a slow week can I absorb before I lose money?"

This free restaurant break even calculator does all the maths instantly — no spreadsheet needed. Enter your fixed costs, average ticket value, and food cost percentage, and you'll see your break even revenue, customers per month, and customers per day in seconds.

How to Calculate Break Even Point for a Restaurant (Step-by-Step Formula)

The restaurant break even point formula follows three clear steps. You don't need an accountant — just your cost numbers.

1. Step 1 — Find your Contribution Margin %: Contribution Margin % = 100 − Food Cost %
2. Step 2 — Calculate Break Even Revenue: Break Even Revenue = Total Fixed Monthly Costs ÷ Contribution Margin %
3. Step 3 — Calculate Break Even Customers: Break Even Customers = Break Even Revenue ÷ Average Ticket Value per Customer
4. Step 4 — Find your Daily Target: Break Even Customers per Day = Break Even Customers ÷ Operating Days per Month

This restaurant must serve at least 39 customers per day to break even. Every customer above that number contributes pure profit. Every day below that number creates a loss that must be recovered later in the month.

How Many Guests Do You Need to Break Even in a Restaurant?

This is the most searched question by restaurant owners — and rightly so. Knowing your minimum daily guest count is more actionable than knowing your monthly break even revenue. Here's a quick reference for typical Indian restaurant scenarios:

These are estimates — your actual break even depends on your specific fixed costs, average ticket value, and food cost percentage. Use the free restaurant break even calculator above to get your exact daily guest target.

What is Contribution Margin in a Restaurant?

The contribution margin is the amount left from each customer's bill after deducting food and variable costs. It's the money that "contributes" toward covering your fixed costs — and eventually becomes profit.

Contribution Margin per Customer = Average Ticket Value × (1 − Food Cost %)

Example: If a customer pays ₹400 and your food cost is 35% (₹140), the contribution margin is ₹260 per customer. Your restaurant needs to collect enough ₹260 contributions to cover the entire fixed cost base before a single rupee of profit is earned.

A higher contribution margin means you need fewer customers to break even. The two ways to improve it: reduce food cost, or increase menu prices. Use our Menu Pricing Calculator to find the optimal price point for each dish.

How to Use This Free Restaurant Break Even Calculator

This free restaurant break even calculator online takes less than 2 minutes to use:

1. Enter Monthly Fixed Costs — Fill in rent, staff salaries, utilities, marketing, and any other recurring fixed expenses. The calculator shows a running total as you type.
2. Enter Average Ticket Value — The average amount each customer spends per visit. If unsure, divide last month's total revenue by total customers.
3. Enter Food Cost % — What percentage of your selling price goes toward ingredients. Typically 28–38% for most Indian restaurants.
4. Optionally, enter current monthly customers — The calculator will show a progress bar comparing your current footfall to your break even target.
5. Click "Calculate Break Even Point" — See your break even revenue, customers per month, customers per day, and get a smart insight on your contribution margin health.

Restaurant Break Even Point Calculator — Industry Benchmarks India

These benchmarks help you understand where your break even point sits relative to industry norms. If your break even is significantly higher than these benchmarks, your fixed cost structure is too heavy and needs optimisation.

• QSR / Fast Food: Break even at 55–70% occupancy. With high table turns (3–4×/day) and lower average spends (₹120–200), these restaurants need high volume. Typical break even: 80–150 customers/day.
• Casual Dining (40 seats): Break even at 50–65% occupancy, typically 2 table turns/day. Typical break even: 35–55 customers/day at ₹350–500 average spend.
• Fine Dining (30 seats): High ticket values (₹800–2,000+) mean break even at lower customer counts — often just 15–30 covers/day — but fixed costs are also higher.
• Cloud Kitchens: Low fixed costs (no dine-in space or décor) mean break even at just 15–25 orders/day for most setups. The fastest restaurant type to reach break even.
• Café / Bakery: Moderate fixed costs, high margins on beverages. Break even typically at 25–50 customers/day depending on location and rent.
• Dhaba / Thali: Low average spend (₹100–200), but also lower fixed costs. Break even typically at 50–80 customers/day.

How to Lower Your Restaurant's Break Even Point

Every restaurant owner should aim to lower their break even point — not by cutting quality, but by running a leaner, smarter operation. Here are the four proven levers:

1. Reduce Fixed Costs

Fixed costs are the single biggest driver of your break even point. A 10% reduction in rent or salaries can cut your break even customer count by 10% overnight. Strategies: negotiate lease renewals (especially post-COVID, landlords are often flexible), cross-train staff to reduce specialist headcount, switch to LED lighting and energy-efficient kitchen equipment, and audit every software subscription for necessity.

2. Increase Average Ticket Value

When each guest spends more, you need fewer of them to cover your fixed costs. This is the highest-ROI lever for most restaurants. Use QR digital menus with upsell prompts to suggest beverages, sides, and desserts at the point of ordering. Loop Menu restaurants see an average 18% increase in ticket value after switching to digital menus. A ₹30 increase in average spend at 40 customers/day = ₹36,000 extra revenue per month.

3. Lower Your Food Cost Percentage

Every 1% reduction in food cost % directly improves your contribution margin by 1%, which lowers your break even revenue. Strategies: standardise all recipes with gram-level precision, implement FIFO stock rotation to reduce spoilage, renegotiate supplier contracts quarterly, and use our Food Cost Calculator to track the cost of every dish accurately.

4. Improve Table Turnover

More customers per day means your fixed costs are spread across more revenue. Self-ordering via QR codes removes the friction points that slow down service — customers browse and order immediately without waiting for staff. Most QR menu adopters see 25–40% faster table turnover, adding 0.5–1 extra turn per day. That translates directly to lower effective break even cost per customer.

Restaurant Break Even Analysis: What to Do After You Calculate

Running the calculator is only Step 1. Here's what to do with the results:

• If you're above break even: Great — every extra customer is profit. Now use our Profit Calculator to see exactly how much you're making and where your costs rank versus industry benchmarks.
• If you're below break even: Identify which fixed cost is proportionally highest. If rent is above 12% of your break even revenue, it's the problem. If food cost is above 38%, your menu needs repricing — use the Menu Pricing Calculator to find the right prices.
• If you're new or pre-launch: Use the calculator to model different scenarios. What if rent is 20% lower? What if average spend is ₹50 higher? Run multiple scenarios to find a business model that break evens at an achievable customer count.
• If your break even seems impossibly high: Your fixed cost structure is too heavy for your revenue model. Either renegotiate costs, or use the Revenue Calculator to understand what occupancy and ticket size you'd need to reach that level.

Frequently Asked Questions About Restaurant Break Even

How do I know if my restaurant is above or below break even?

Compare your actual monthly revenue to your break even revenue from this calculator. If your monthly revenue consistently exceeds your break even revenue, you're profitable. If it's below, you're losing money. Enter your current monthly customer count in the optional field above to see a visual progress bar comparing your current footfall to your break even target.

What is a good contribution margin for a restaurant in India?

A healthy contribution margin for Indian restaurants is 62–72%. For every ₹100 in sales, ₹62–₹72 should go toward covering fixed costs and profit, while ₹28–₹38 covers food and variable costs. A contribution margin below 58% makes it very difficult to break even without extremely high sales volumes. A margin below 50% usually signals unsustainable pricing or excessive food waste.

How many days per month should I take to break even?

Industry convention for a healthy restaurant: break even by Day 18–22 of each month, leaving 8–12 days of pure profit. If you're breaking even on Day 25 or later, your cost structure is too heavy. Calculate: break even customers ÷ average daily customers = days to break even. Aim to push this number below 20.

How long does a new restaurant take to break even on the full investment?

Operational break even (covering monthly running costs) typically happens in Month 3–6 for a well-planned Indian restaurant. Full investment break even (recovering setup costs, interior work, equipment) typically takes 2–4 years. To accelerate: keep setup costs low, reach operational break even quickly by building revenue through delivery channels immediately, and reinvest early profits rather than drawing a large owner's salary in Year 1.

Can I use this break even calculator for a cloud kitchen?

Yes — this calculator works for any restaurant type including cloud kitchens. For a cloud kitchen, your fixed costs are typically much lower (no dine-in space, minimal décor, smaller team), and your average ticket value is your average delivery order value. Most cloud kitchens have a very low break even point of 15–30 orders/day, making them one of the most financially accessible restaurant formats.

What is the difference between break even revenue and break even profit?

Break even revenue is the total sales figure at which you make zero profit. Break even profit is literally zero — it's the point where revenue exactly equals total costs. There is no "break even profit" — at the break even point, profit is ₹0. Any revenue above break even is your actual profit. Use our Restaurant Profit Calculator to calculate your actual net profit once you know you're above break even.

Other Free Restaurant Calculators

Use these tools alongside the break even calculator to get a complete financial picture of your restaurant: