Reading your café's profit numbers without an accountant
Margin, food cost, labor ratio, and break-even — the four numbers every café owner should know cold.
You don't need a CPA to read your café. You need four numbers and ten minutes a week.
1. Gross margin
Sales minus cost of goods (beans, milk, pastries, cups). A healthy café runs 65–75%. Below 60% and something's off — usually milk waste or under-priced specialty drinks.
2. Food + beverage cost ratio
COGS divided by sales. Same number from the other side. Track it weekly, not monthly — supplier price hikes show up here first.
3. Labor ratio
Payroll divided by sales. Specialty cafés tend to land between 28% and 35%. Above 40% sustainably and you have a scheduling problem, not a sales problem.
4. Break-even
Fixed costs (rent, insurance, software, base payroll) divided by margin. That's the dollar amount you need to sell every day before you make a cent. Owners who know this number cold make better decisions about hours, hiring, and pricing.
Where to find them in Coffee Shop Dashboard
The Insights page surfaces margin and category trends. The Café Health box on the dashboard tells you, in a sentence, whether today is on or off pace. Start tracking your café's numbers — create an account today.