What “Prime Cost” covers
Prime Cost = Cost of Goods Sold (Food + Beverage) + Total Labor. It’s the fastest weekly health check for a restaurant because it captures the two levers you can actually move in real time.
Target range: Many full-service concepts live around 60–65%. Quick service can run lower. Your number depends on price point, mix, and labor model — use this tool to find your baseline and hold it.
What’s in the sheet
- Inputs: Net Sales, Food COGS, Beverage COGS, Labor (FOH, BOH, Mgmt or Total).
- Auto-calculated: Total COGS, Total Labor, Prime $, Prime %, and a 52-week trend with a summary box.
- Read Me: short notes and definitions so your managers enter numbers the same way every week.
How to use it weekly (5 minutes)
- Pick the week ending date (e.g., Sundays).
- Enter Net Sales (after comps/discounts).
- Enter Food COGS and Beverage COGS from your inventory/P&L.
- Enter Labor (include taxes/benefits if you always include them — stay consistent).
- Glance at the Prime %. If it’s high versus your baseline, skim mix and staffing notes for that week and set one correction for next week.
Data dictionary (keep it consistent)
- Net Sales: Gross sales minus comps/discounts (exclude sales tax).
- COGS: Beginning + Purchases − Ending inventory, by category (Food, Beverage).
- Labor: Hourly + salaries (+ taxes/benefits if you always include them).
Troubleshooting
- Prime % jumping week to week? Check that inventory counts landed on the same day and that comps are treated the same every week.
- Labor looks low? You may have left out manager salary or payroll taxes — align on a standard and stick to it.
- Beverage swinging? Separate beer vs liquor if needed to see the mix impact.
Next steps
- Use the Menu Engineering Reprice Sheet to push margin from winners.
- Run a Yield / Trim / Cook Loss test on high-volume proteins to fix silent COGS creep.