Labour cost calculator
What the team costs each month, employer contributions included, and its share of your turnover: the figure that tells you whether the rota holds up.
Contributions vary with wages and allowances: your accountant will give you the exact rate.
| Role | People | Hours per week | Gross hourly rate (€) | Cost per month |
|---|
Your team
- Hours per month
- —
- Gross wages
- —
- Employer cost, contributions included
- —
- Share of turnover
- —
Labour cost, the first line to watch
Along with food, the team is a restaurant's biggest expense. The right time to manage it is when you plan the rota, not when payroll lands.
In Popote, each day's cost shows while you build the rota, and clocked hours are compared with the day's sales.
How do you work out a restaurant's labour cost?
For each person: hours in the month × gross hourly rate, plus employer contributions. The total, divided by the month's turnover excluding VAT, gives the labour cost ratio.
What labour cost ratio should you aim for?
For a restaurant, 30 to 35% of turnover excluding VAT is a commonly quoted benchmark. Above 40%, look closely at the rota: overstaffed services, overtime, quiet periods badly covered.
Why 4.33 weeks per month?
A year has 52 weeks, so 52 ÷ 12 = 4.33 weeks per month on average. It's the usual basis for converting weekly hours into monthly ones.
What if these sums did themselves?
In Popote, each recipe's cost follows purchase prices, labour cost follows the rota and the hygiene log fills itself in during service.