Does one transaction leave enough behind?
Contribution pays the costs that do not sit on the ticket: rent, minimum staffing, software, insurance, management, and shared support. If contribution is thin, volume has to work unusually hard.
Free QSR unit economics calculator
See what one order carries before you count on the next thousand.
This restaurant break-even calculator puts ticket, food, labor, royalty, fixed-cost, traffic, operating-day, and opening-cash assumptions on the same page. You will see contribution per transaction, monthly and daily break-even volume, and what a modest downside does to the store.
Run the numbersYour operating test
Start with a month you can defend.
Use current quotes, schedules, agreements, and a traffic case you are willing to challenge.
1
Build one transactionKeep sales tax out of the ticket if it is passed through
2
Carry the monthSeparate the store from shared overhead
3
Make the case uncomfortableStress traffic, food cost, and opening cash
Read the result in order
A clean base case is only the first question.
How much room sits between traffic and break-even?
The margin of safety matters more than simply clearing the line. A store projected barely above break-even has little room for a slower week, downtime, waste, or a scheduling miss.
What breaks when traffic softens and food moves?
The downside is not a prediction. It is a controlled challenge to the plan. If a modest stress wipes out the month, that deserves attention before the story gets polished.
Does the opening budget leave actual runway?
Build cost and operating reserve are different jobs for the same cash. A fully funded opening can still leave the store exposed if the reserve disappeared into capex.
When one month is not enough
Carry the operating logic into a full opening and multi-unit plan.
The QSR Unit Economics Starter Kit is an editable Excel 365 planning template. Change the green inputs and the linked unit economics, twelve-month model, sensitivity table, dashboard, and checks update with them.
- Eight-sheet Microsoft Excel 365 model
- Unit economics, break-even, capex, cash, and twelve-month model
- Two-variable sensitivity analysis and visible checks
- Seven-page quick-start guide
- Four-slide editable PowerPoint story example
All included examples are fictional. Replace every assumption with sourced business inputs. The template does not provide accounting, tax, legal, valuation, financing, or investment advice.
Before you rely on it
A few practical boundaries.
How do I calculate daily restaurant break-even transactions?
First divide monthly fixed costs by contribution per transaction to get monthly break-even transactions. Then divide that result by the number of days the store will actually operate and round up. This calculator performs both steps from the inputs you provide.
What does contribution per transaction mean here?
It is the average ticket left after food and packaging, direct hourly labor allocated to one transaction, other variable costs, royalty and variable marketing fees, and payment fees. Store and central fixed costs are handled separately.
How should I treat labor that will not flex with traffic?
Put only the labor that reasonably changes with transaction volume into the per-transaction calculation. Manager salary, minimum staffing, and any other labor you expect to pay regardless of volume belong in monthly fixed costs.
Are the starter numbers restaurant benchmarks?
No. Every default is a fictional placeholder chosen to demonstrate the calculator. Replace it with your current menu, vendor, payroll, lease, franchise, processor, and opening-budget evidence.
Does a positive result prove demand or funding readiness?
No. The calculator cannot prove customer demand, execution quality, lender approval, or investor interest. It only shows what follows mathematically from the assumptions entered.
What is included in the paid starter kit?
The download includes an eight-sheet Microsoft Excel 365 model, a seven-page quick-start guide, and a four-slide editable PowerPoint story example. The included examples are fictional.
Different business, same discipline