# Restaurant Break-even Covers Calculator

> Find how many covers a restaurant must serve to cover fixed costs, or reach a target profit, from average spend per cover and variable cost percentage.

Category: Food & hospitality · Applies to: Worldwide · Last updated: 2026-10-29
Interactive calculator: https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/restaurant-break-even-covers-calculator

Each cover contributes its average spend minus the variable costs it causes. Divide fixed costs by that contribution to get the covers needed to break even.

Also called: Covers needed calculator, Restaurant break-even point calculator.

## Inputs
- Fixed costs for the period (default 30000)
- Average spend per cover (default 25)
- Variable costs as % of sales (unit %; default 40)
- Trading days in the period (default 30)
- Target profit (optional) (default ; optional)
- Currency

## Results
- Covers needed in the period
- Covers per trading day
- Sales at that level
- Contribution per cover

## Formula

```
Contribution per cover = Average spend × (1 − Variable% ÷ 100);  Covers = (Fixed costs + Target profit) ÷ Contribution, rounded up
```

Where:
- Average spend: net revenue per guest
- Variable%: costs that rise in proportion to sales
- Fixed costs: costs for the period that do not depend on covers

## Worked example
1. Contribution = 25 × (1 − 0.40) = 15 per cover.
2. Covers = 30,000 ÷ 15 = 2,000 in the month.
3. Per day = 2,000 ÷ 30 = 66.7, rounded up to 67.

**Result:** With 30,000 of fixed costs and 15 contribution per cover, the restaurant breaks even at 2,000 covers a month, about 67 a day.

## What the result means

Compare covers per day with your realistic capacity (seats × turns). If break-even needs more than about two-thirds of capacity on average, small dips in trade will cause losses; look at spend per cover or fixed costs first.

## Assumptions and limits
- Variable costs are a constant percentage of sales.
- Average spend stays the same at every volume.
- Labour is partly fixed and partly variable in practice; split it as best you can.

## Questions

### What counts as a cover?

One guest served a meal. Two people at a table are two covers.

### How do I include a profit goal?

Enter it as the target profit. It is added to fixed costs, so the result is the covers needed to earn that profit.

## Related calculators
- [Break-even Calculator](https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/break-even-calculator)
- [Restaurant Gross Margin Calculator](https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/restaurant-gross-margin-calculator)
- [Restaurant Seat Occupancy Calculator](https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/restaurant-seat-occupancy-calculator)
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Source: GM¹X CalcVerse — https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/restaurant-break-even-covers-calculator