A restaurant dashboard built around food cost.
Food and labor are where restaurant margins are won or lost. This sample dashboard shows how we put food cost, prime cost, and sales per cover in front of an owner every month, with a target beside every number so you know what to fix first.
Sample dashboard
One screen, every number that runs the restaurant.
Mesquite & Main Kitchen is a fictional business and every number above is made up. Your dashboard is built from your own books, and only you and our team see it.
Reading the dashboard
What each number tells you.
Food & beverage cost
What you spent on food and drinks, divided by what you sold. On $400,000 a month, a two-point swing is $8,000 every month. Watching it closely brings waste, portion creep, and supplier price increases to the surface fast.
Labor cost
Wages, payroll taxes, and benefits as a share of sales. Split by front and back of house, it shows whether the problem is the schedule or the size of the team.
Prime cost
Food and labor together, in one number. Many full-service restaurants aim to keep it near 60% of sales. It's the clearest single read on whether the month was run well.
Average check
Sales divided by covers. It tells you whether pricing, specials, and upselling are working, separately from how busy you were.
Net profit
What's left after rent, utilities, marketing, and everything else. Seeing it monthly makes a bad month a signal to act on, not a surprise at tax time.
Cash on hand
How many weeks of expenses your bank balance covers. Restaurants run on thin cash, and this tells you when it's safe to replace the walk-in or sign a lease.
Other industries
See a dashboard built for another industry.
Material cost, margin, and backlog
For fabricators, machine shops, and makers who need to price ahead of material costs and keep the floor busy.
See the sample dashboard →Job profit, WIP, and backlog
For general contractors and trades (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roofing) who want to know which jobs make money before they close out.
See the sample dashboard →Production, collections, and AR
For medical, dental, and therapy practices, and for firms that bill by the hour, who want to turn booked work into collected cash.
See the sample dashboard →Common questions
What restaurant owners ask about the dashboard.
Is this real client data?
No. Mesquite & Main Kitchen is a fictional restaurant and every number on this page is made up. Your dashboard is built from your own books, and only you and our team see it.
What food cost percentage should a restaurant aim for?
It depends on the concept. Many full-service restaurants land somewhere around 28% to 35% of sales. A steakhouse runs higher than a pizza shop. We set your target from your menu and your own history, then track against it.
Do my books need to be in good shape first?
Accurate books make the dashboard worth trusting, but they don't need to be perfect before we start. If they're behind, our bookkeeping team gets them current first.
The next step
Let's build the dashboard for your restaurant.
The first consultation is free. Bring your last few months of numbers and we'll show you what your dashboard would track and what it would tell you.
Kika Rogers, EA · Co-Founder & President
Small Business Services of San Antonio · 101 Business Center, 101 Sunflower Lane, San Antonio, TX 78213
(210) 884-5067 · info@sbsofsa.com · Hablamos español