Restaurant & Business Tools — Instructions

Every KPI tool in CloudFran with what it measures, the formula, how to interpret the result, and what to do if the number looks wrong. Use this as the canonical reference when training staff or troubleshooting tenant issues.
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Financial KPIs Operational KPIs Labor & Staffing Customer KPIs Menu & Inventory Dashboards Deprecated
Convention: Tools with a _All suffix show the same KPI rolled up across every store the user has access to. Tools without _All show the metric for a single store (the one selected in the session). Tools marked new are revised versions; the unsuffixed older version stays for backward compatibility. Tools marked deprecated have filename markers (----- suffix) and should not be used — they're slated for removal.
Financial KPIs profitability, cost ratios, contribution analysis

Cost of Goods Sold (CoGS) Open →

The direct cost of the food + beverage you sold this period. The single most important cost line in F&B operations — small ratio swings hit profit hard.
Formula
(Beginning Inventory + Purchases) − Ending Inventory
Healthy range
28–35% of revenue (full-service); 25–30% (QSR/fast-casual). Above 38% = leak somewhere (waste, theft, mispriced menu, supplier price increase you didn't pass through).
How to interpret
Compare CoGS% to last 4 weeks. Spike = check (1) recent supplier invoices, (2) menu price changes, (3) waste log, (4) inventory count accuracy.
If high
Run a portion-control audit; recount inventory; check for unrecorded comps/voids; renegotiate top-3 supplier contracts.
Cross-store view
CoGS_All.aspx multi-store

EBITDA Open →

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. The cleanest proxy for "how much cash does this restaurant actually throw off" before financing/accounting decisions distort the picture. Used by buyers + lenders.
Formula
Revenue − CoGS − Operating Expenses (excluding interest, taxes, D&A)
Healthy range
15–25% of revenue is good for a single-unit restaurant; multi-unit chains can hit 25–35% via shared overhead.
How to interpret
EBITDA margin = EBITDA / Revenue. Look at the trend over 6+ months. Single-month spikes/dips are usually accounting timing.
Watch for
EBITDA can hide aging-asset problems — a high EBITDA on a restaurant with worn-out equipment will be revised down once D&A catches up.
Cross-store
EBITDA_All.aspx multi-store

Break-Even Point Open →

The revenue level at which your restaurant covers all fixed + variable costs — below it you lose money, above it you start banking profit.
Formula
Fixed Costs / Contribution Margin Ratio  where CMR = (Revenue − Variable Costs) / Revenue
How to interpret
If your monthly break-even is $80K and you do $100K revenue, your "safety margin" is 20% — revenue can drop 20% before you lose money. Below 10% = fragile.
If too high
Either raise menu prices, cut fixed costs (rent renegotiate, insurance shop), or shift the menu mix toward higher-margin items.
Cross-store
BreakEvenPoint_All.aspx multi-store

Contribution Margin Open →

For each menu item: how much of the selling price is left after the direct ingredient cost. Drives menu-engineering decisions (which items to feature, which to cut).
Formula
Selling Price − Variable Cost per Unit
How to interpret
Sort menu items by CM. Top quartile = "Stars" (promote heavily). Bottom quartile = "Dogs" (re-engineer recipe or remove). Plot CM vs popularity for the classic 4-quadrant menu matrix.
Cross-store
ContributionMargin_All.aspx multi-store

Gross Profit & Gross Profit Margin Open →

Revenue minus CoGS, in absolute dollars (Gross Profit) and as a % of revenue (Margin). The "headline" of every P&L summary.
Formula
GP = Revenue − CoGS. Margin = GP / Revenue × 100
Healthy range
Margin 65–72% (full-service); 70–75% (QSR). Beverage-heavy concepts can hit 75–80%.
Cross-store
GrossProfit_All.aspx multi-store

Net Profit Margin old  |  NetProfitMargin (new) new Open →

The bottom line. What's left after EVERY cost — CoGS, labor, rent, utilities, marketing, debt service, taxes.
Formula
(Net Income / Revenue) × 100
Healthy range
3–5% (full-service); 6–9% (QSR); 10%+ for top-quartile multi-unit operators with shared overhead.
How to interpret
If revenue is up but NPM is down, costs are scaling faster than sales — classic franchise growth trap.
Migration
Use NetProfitMargin_new.aspx — the unsuffixed version is kept for legacy bookmarks. Old version will be removed once Sentry shows zero traffic for 30 days.

Prime Cost old  |  PrimeCost (new) new Open →

CoGS + Labor as a % of revenue. The single number most operators watch daily — it's the leading indicator of whether the restaurant is profitable BEFORE rent + overhead.
Formula
(CoGS + Total Labor) / Revenue × 100
Healthy range
Industry benchmark: < 60%. Above 65% = the unit is in trouble. World-class QSR operators run 50–55%.
If high
Prime Cost is two levers: cut CoGS (recipe portioning, supplier negotiation) OR cut labor (schedule optimization, cross-training). Don't cut both at once — you'll tank service quality.

Overhead Rate Open →

Fixed indirect costs (rent, insurance, utilities, manager salaries, software) expressed as % of revenue. Tells you what you're paying just to keep the doors open.
Formula
Total Overhead / Revenue × 100
Cross-store
OverheadRate_All.aspx multi-store
Operational KPIs throughput, table economics, asset productivity

Table Turnover Open →

How many parties you seat at the same table per service period. Direct lever on revenue without adding capacity.
Formula
Total Parties Served / Number of Tables
Healthy range
Lunch: 1.5–2.5 turns. Dinner: 1.5–3.0 turns. Brunch: 2.0–3.5 turns. QSR doesn't measure this — use ticket-time instead.
If low
Speed of service. Audit kitchen ticket times, server table-bussing time, payment-terminal placement. Reservation-only restaurants: tighten reservation slots.
Cross-store
TableTurnover_All.aspx multi-store

Table Turn (revised) Open →

Newer version of the table-turn calc with per-meal-period breakdown.
Note
Two older variants exist with ----- filename suffixes (TimeperTableTurn, TimeperTableTurn_All) — deprecated, do not link to.

Revenue per Seat Open →

Annual revenue divided by total seats. The yardstick for capacity utilization — tells you if your seat count + average check + turn rate are working together.
Healthy range
$5K–$15K per seat per year (casual); $15K–$30K (full-service); $30K+ (high-end fine dining).
Cross-store
RestaurantRevenueperSeat_All.aspx multi-store

Revenue per Square Foot Open →

The real-estate-efficiency metric. Lenders and franchisors use this to compare units regardless of seat count or layout.
Healthy range
$300–$500/sq ft annually (casual); $500–$800 (full-service); $1000+ (high-volume QSR).
Cross-store
RevenueperSquareFoot_All.aspx multi-store

Revenue per Available Seat-Hour deprecated

A combined-time-and-capacity metric (RevPASH). The file (RevenueperAvailableSeatHour-----.aspx) has the deprecation marker. Will be removed; do not link to. The combined Revenue-per-Seat + Table Turnover gives the same insight.
Labor & Staffing payroll efficiency, turnover, scheduling

Labor Cost old  |  LaborCost (new) new Open →

Total wages + benefits + payroll taxes as a % of revenue. The biggest controllable cost in any restaurant after CoGS.
Formula
(Wages + Benefits + Payroll Taxes) / Revenue × 100
Healthy range
25–35% (full-service); 20–30% (QSR). Above 38% = scheduling problem or wage drift; investigate.
If high
(1) Schedule against actual demand curve, not "warm bodies." (2) Cross-train so one position covers two during off-peak. (3) Audit overtime — OT pay creep often the silent killer.

Employee Turnover Rate Open →

% of staff who left during the period. F&B industry average is brutal (75–100% annually for hourly); top operators run 30–50%.
Formula
(Departures during period / Average headcount) × 100
Why it matters
Each turnover costs ~$2,000 in recruiting + training + lost productivity. Cutting turnover 20% pts often beats any other margin lever.
If high
Exit interviews; pay benchmark vs local market; manager training; flexible scheduling; breakroom + uniform investments.
Cross-store
EmployeeTurnoverRate_All.aspx multi-store
Customer KPIs acquisition, retention, lifetime value

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Open →

All-in cost to acquire one new paying customer. Marketing spend + sales commissions + onboarding costs.
Formula
Total Acquisition Spend / New Customers Acquired
How to interpret
Compare to Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Healthy: CLV/CAC > 3:1. Below 1:1 = you're losing money on every new customer.

Customer Retention Rate Open →

% of customers who return within a defined period. Highest-leverage metric in F&B because retained customers cost ~5x less to serve than new ones.
Formula
((End-period Customers − New Customers) / Start-period Customers) × 100
Healthy range
QSR: 30–50% monthly. Casual dining: 25–40%. Loyalty-program operators can hit 60%+.

Average Customer Headcount Open →

Average # of customers per service period. Pairs with average ticket to give you total revenue forecast.
How to interpret
Trend over weeks — flatlining = market saturation, declining = competitive pressure. Spike on a specific day-of-week = look for a local trigger (event, promo, competitor closing).
Menu & Inventory product mix, food cost, stock turn

Menu Item Profitability Open →

Per-item profit (selling price minus ingredient cost minus allocated labor). Drives menu engineering decisions.
How to use
Sort by profit per unit. Top items = "Stars" (feature on menu, train staff to upsell). Bottom items = "Dogs" (re-engineer recipe or cut). Mid-popularity / high-profit = "Puzzles" (work on raising demand). High-popularity / low-profit = "Plowhorses" (raise price OR cut portion).
Cross-store
MenuItemProfitability_All.aspx multi-store

Food Cost Open →

Food spend as % of food revenue (excludes beverage). The narrower-focused sibling of CoGS.
Healthy range
28–35% (full-service); 25–30% (QSR).
Cross-store
FoodCost_All.aspx multi-store

Inventory Turnover Ratio Open →

How many times you cycle through your average inventory in a period. High = efficient stock + fresh ingredients. Low = capital tied up + waste risk.
Formula
CoGS / Average Inventory Value
Healthy range
Restaurant industry: 4–6 turns/month is typical. > 8 = stockouts likely; < 3 = excess inventory.
Cross-store
InventoryTurnoverRatio_All.aspx multi-store
Dashboards consolidated views

Dashboard (v1)  |  Dashboard v2 Open v2 →

Consolidated KPI dashboard combining the most-watched restaurant metrics on a single page.
Note
Two versions exist (Dashboard.aspx + Dashboard-2.aspx). Default to v2 for new training; v1 is kept for tenant bookmarks. Long-term, consolidate to one and remove the other — tracked as a follow-up cleanup.
Deprecated do not link to; will be removed
These files have ----- filename markers indicating retirement:
Cleanup TODO: Once Sentry / App Service log shows zero traffic to these for 30 consecutive days, delete from filesystem and from Cloudfran.csproj. Tracked in the dead-code cleanup round 2.
Other Business Tools outside RestaurantTools/ but part of the operator surface

POS — Point of Sale Open →

Front-of-house transaction terminal. Used by cashiers + servers to enter orders, take payment, manage cash drawer. Variants in /POS/.

Inventory — Stock Management Open →

Stock counts, receiving, transfers between locations, par-level alerts.

HACCP — Food Safety Logs Open →

Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points logging. Required by health departments. Records temperature checks, cleaning logs, supplier hygiene certifications.

Reservations & Table Management Open →  |  TableMgmt →

Booking calendar, party seating, waitlist, no-show tracking. Feeds Table Turnover KPI above.

Sales & Royalty Reporting Open Sales →  |  Royalty →

Daily/weekly/monthly sales summaries. Royalty calc for franchisor remittance — usually 4–7% of gross sales depending on franchise agreement.
Maintained by CloudFran engineering. To suggest an edit / new tool entry, file via CloudFran Ops → Diagnostics or message Anthony directly. Last revised 2026-05-06.