5 Restaurant KPIs Every Owner Should Track

Why KPIs matter

Sales tell you what came in. KPIs tell you what’s working. The best operators look at five numbers every week — not to micromanage, but to steer the ship before it drifts.

Prime Cost (% of Sales)

Formula: (Cost of Goods Sold + Labor) ÷ Sales

Your north star metric.
Target 60–65% for full-service, 55–60% for quick-serve. Anything higher means waste, overtime, or pricing gaps.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Labor Cost %

Formula: Total Wages + Payroll Taxes ÷ Sales

Track it weekly.
Compare kitchen vs. front-of-house.
Labor tends to creep up quietly — catching it early saves thousands each quarter.

Food Cost %

Formula: Food Purchases ÷ Food Sales

Break this out by category: proteins, produce, paper.
It’s the only way to spot where inflation or waste is eating profit.

Average Check

Formula: Total Sales ÷ Guest Count

A powerful lens for pricing and upselling.
Rising costs don’t always mean you need to raise every price — sometimes a focused menu tweak moves the needle more.

Net Operating Profit %

Formula: Net Income ÷ Sales

After everything — including occupancy and admin — this tells you if the business is sustainable.
Target 10–15% for full-service; 15–20% for quick-serve.

Bonus KPI: Weekly Cash Flow

Cash timing breaks more restaurants than profitability does.
Your POS may show “profit,” but if cash isn’t flowing, payroll will tell you first.

How to track all this automatically

Steady Plate Accounting connects your POS, payroll, and vendor data to produce these KPIs weekly — not months later.
You’ll know where margins stand before the month is over.

Numbers that make sense, without the spreadsheet stress.