Work out what a dish — or anything you make — really costs

What you get

• Per-unit cost worked out from pack prices automatically
• Ingredients or raw materials — the same maths either way
• Margin in dollars and per cent, beside the sell price
• A recommended sell price from the margin you want to hit
• Spreadsheet view and report view of the same costing
• A clean, professional PDF report
• Re-open a costing later and change it when prices move
• Free on every plan

Questions

Is it really free?

It is free on every plan, including the free account — not a trial. You need an account so your work saves, and that is all.

How do I work out food cost percentage?

Divide what the ingredients cost by what you sell the dish for, then multiply by 100. A burger whose ingredients cost $5.19, sold at $18.00 excluding GST, is 28.8%. The step people get wrong is the ingredient side: use the cost of the amount you use, not the price of the pack — 40g out of an $18 kilo of cheese is $0.72, not $18. That conversion is what this calculator does for every line.

Should the sell price include GST when I work out food cost?

Keep both sides of the sum on the same basis. If you are registered for GST you claim it back on what you buy, so use the GST-exclusive ingredient cost against a GST-exclusive sell price. Mixing them makes every dish look worse than it is.

Can I change a costing after I save it?

Yes. Open it again and edit it — you are not starting from scratch when a price changes.

Does it handle products that aren't food?

Yes. Nothing in it is food-specific — it is parts, pack sizes and amounts. Food is just where the maths bites hardest.

Can I use it as a raw materials calculator?

That is the same job under another name. A metre of webbing off a 30m roll and 180g out of a 5kg bag are one calculation, so wax, fabric, timber, beads and hardware all cost the same way ingredients do.

Will it tell me what to charge?

It shows the margin beside your sell price as you change it, so you can work backwards to the price that hits the margin you want rather than guessing and checking.