It is food, beverage, and labor as a share of sales, the single most controllable lever you have.
See where your numbers stand in 90 seconds.
Enter three figures from last month. We compare them against US benchmarks for your segment and your state's labor market, then show you what is in healthy range and what is leaking.
Those numbers look off. Double-check that net sales, food, and labor all cover the same period and the same single location, then try again.
Your food and labor together come to more than 100% of sales. That can be a genuinely brutal month, but it is usually a typo or a period mismatch. If these figures are right for one month at one location, run it anyway.
Your numbers vs. the benchmark
| Metric | Your % | Healthy range | Status |
|---|
How to read this
Food and net-profit ranges are national by segment. The labor and prime ranges are shifted by your state's restaurant wage level (BLS QCEW 2024), applied at half strength since higher-wage markets also carry higher menu prices that absorb part of the cost.
It assumes a standard 35% for everything outside prime cost (rent, utilities, marketing, delivery commissions, card fees, admin, insurance). If your real overhead runs higher, your true margin is thinner than this shows.
One month, one location. It cannot see shrinkage, drift between locations, vendor price creep, or whether your reports reconcile. The Red-Flags Audit measures all of that against your actual systems.
Benchmarks blend published sources, and labor reporting conventions vary, so treat the ranges as a guide, not a verdict.
Want the full picture?
This snapshot flags what is outside range. The Red-Flags Audit finds why, across all your locations, in 21 days.