# CostKit: full text

> CostKit is a food-cost calculator app for chefs, caterers, bakers, restaurant owners and home cooks, in any currency. It costs every recipe from the prices you actually paid at the market and turns the cost into a selling price that leaves a profit.

What CostKit is, then costkit.org's food-costing guides, glossary and spreadsheet comparison in one Markdown file, generated from the same data as the pages. The worked examples use round numbers; the maths is the same in any currency. Last updated 11 October 2026. The short index is at https://costkit.org/llms.txt.

## About CostKit

URL: https://costkit.org/

The food-cost calculator for every kitchen. CostKit works out what every dish really costs you, from the market price to the gas, and the price that leaves you a profit.

Who it's for: chefs, caterers, bakers, restaurant owners, cloud kitchens, people selling food from home, and home cooks, anyone who needs to know their exact margins and price their dishes profitably. Personal mode keeps it simple; Business mode adds staff, overheads and a monthly sales target.

Features: Dishes, pastry and drinks; Measure the way you cook; Costing calculator; Cost an event per guest; Market lists; Price history; Price check; Menus, costed per plate; Saved costings; Profit trends; PDF export; Staff and labour; Overheads and a sales target; Personal or Business; A guided first run; Any currency; Sign in with Google; Install it like an app.

### Pricing

URL: https://costkit.org/pricing

- **Free**: your first 2 recipes, no card needed
- **Pay Per Recipe**: ₦600 one-time per recipe (launch price, regular ₦1,500); credits never expire
- **Business (monthly)**: ₦6,000 a month for unlimited recipes (launch price, regular ₦15,000)

Every plan has every feature; plans only change how many recipes you can cost.

### Where to use it

- **Web app**: [https://app.costkit.org](https://app.costkit.org/) — available now, works in any browser
- **iOS & Android**: Coming soon

## Guides

### How to calculate food cost (formula and worked example)

URL: https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-calculate-food-cost  
Updated: 11 October 2026

Food cost is what the ingredients in a dish cost you. For each ingredient, divide what you paid by the size of the pack and multiply by the amount the recipe uses, then add the lines up and allow for waste. Divide by the number of portions for the cost per portion, and divide that by the selling price for your food-cost percentage.

#### The food cost formula

```text
Ingredient cost = price paid ÷ pack size × amount used
Recipe food cost = all the ingredient costs added together
Food cost per portion = recipe food cost ÷ number of portions
Food-cost % = food cost per portion ÷ selling price × 100
```

Use the same unit on both sides of the division. If you bought by the kilo and the recipe uses grams, convert first: 1 kg is 1,000 g and 1 L is 1,000 ml. Things you count need no conversion: 8 eggs from a tray of 30 is 8 ÷ 30 of what the tray cost.

#### Step by step

1. List every ingredient, including the small ones: oil, salt, stock, spices. Each is cheap on its own, but together they add up.
2. Write down what you actually paid and the size of what you bought: a 10 kg bag, a 2 L bottle, a tray of 30 eggs. Use your latest receipt, not a price you remember.
3. Write down how much of each the recipe uses for one batch.
4. Work out each line: price paid ÷ pack size × amount used.
5. Add the lines up. That is the food cost of the batch.
6. Allow for waste: trimmings, spoilage and food you cannot sell.
7. Divide by the number of portions the batch makes.
8. Divide the cost per portion by your selling price and multiply by 100 for the food-cost percentage.

#### Worked example: chicken and rice for 10

Here is a simple pot of chicken and rice that makes 10 portions. The prices are round numbers so the arithmetic is easy to follow; the method is the same in any currency.

*A pot of chicken and rice: ingredient costs for 10 portions*

| Ingredient | Bought | Paid | Used | Cost |
| --- | --- | ---: | --- | ---: |
| Rice | 10 kg bag | 15,000 | 2 kg | 3,000 |
| Chicken | 1 kg | 4,000 | 1 kg | 4,000 |
| Tomatoes, peppers and onions | 3 kg | 3,000 | 1.5 kg | 1,500 |
| Cooking oil | 2 L bottle | 2,000 | 300 ml | 300 |
| Stock cubes | pack of 10 | 500 | 4 cubes | 200 |
| Food cost of the pot |  |  |  | 9,000 |
| Food cost per portion |  |  |  | 900 |

Take the rice: the 10 kg bag cost 15,000, so a kilo cost 1,500, and the pot uses 2 kg: 15,000 ÷ 10 × 2 = 3,000. The oil needs a unit change first: the bottle holds 2,000 ml, so 2,000 ÷ 2,000 × 300 = 300. The stock cubes are counted: 4 cubes from a pack of 10 that cost 500 is 500 ÷ 10 × 4 = 200.

Added up, the pot costs 9,000 to make, so each of the 10 portions costs 900 in ingredients. Sold at 3,000 a plate, the food-cost percentage is 900 ÷ 3,000 × 100 = 30%.

> **Watch the big lines**
>
> In this pot the chicken and the rice make up more than three quarters of the cost. In many recipes a few ingredients carry most of the cost, and those are the prices worth checking most often.

#### Allowing for waste

Not everything you buy reaches the plate. Vegetables are trimmed, rice sticks to the pot, a portion gets dropped. If about 10% of the food is lost, you must buy enough to cover the loss as well, so divide the food cost by what is left, 0.9. That comes to a little more than adding 10%.

```text
Food cost with waste = food cost ÷ (1 − waste %)
900 ÷ (1 − 0.1) = 1,000 a portion
```

The same idea gives you the real cost of an ingredient with a known yield. If a kilo of whole fish gives 650 g of fillet, the fillet costs the price per kilo ÷ 0.65. Cooks call this the difference between the as-purchased and the edible portion.

#### Food cost is not the whole cost

Food cost covers ingredients only. The gas under the pot, the person who cooks it, the packs you serve it in and the trip to the market are real costs too. Keep them in view when you set a price: a food-cost percentage that looks healthy can still hide a loss once labour and packaging are paid. Monthly bills such as rent are easier to cover through your prices as a whole than through any one recipe; [how to price a menu item](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-price-a-menu-item) shows how.

#### Common mistakes

- Costing the pack instead of the amount used. A 2,000 bottle of oil is a 300 ingredient when the recipe uses 300 ml.
- Leaving out the small things. In the example, the oil and the stock cubes add 500 to the pot.
- Using old prices. Market prices move, and a recipe costed months ago can be well out of date.
- Mixing units. Dividing a price per kilo by an amount in grams makes a line a thousand times too cheap.
- Forgetting waste, so every plate quietly costs more than the sheet says.
- Treating the batch cost as the portion cost, or the other way round. Always divide by the number of portions the batch really makes, at the portion size you really serve.

#### How often to recalculate

Recost a recipe whenever the price of one of its main ingredients changes, and look over the rest regularly. Weigh a few portions now and then too: if the plates going out are bigger than the recipe says, the real food cost is higher than your sums.

Once you know the cost per portion, [choose a food-cost target](https://costkit.org/guides/food-cost-percentage) and [set your price](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-price-a-menu-item). If you talk about profit in percentages, [markup vs margin](https://costkit.org/guides/markup-vs-margin) explains which is which.

### What food-cost percentage should you aim for?

URL: https://costkit.org/guides/food-cost-percentage  
Updated: 11 October 2026

Food-cost percentage is the share of a dish’s selling price that goes on its ingredients: food cost per portion ÷ selling price × 100. For restaurants, roughly 28–35% is the range most often quoted, with 30% a common starting point. The right target for you depends on what you sell, what your labour and rent cost, and the profit you need.

#### How to work out food-cost percentage

```text
Food-cost % = food cost per portion ÷ selling price × 100
Price for a target = food cost per portion ÷ target food-cost %
```

If the ingredients in a dish cost 900 a portion and it sells for 3,000, in any currency, its food cost is 900 ÷ 3,000 × 100 = 30%. [How to calculate food cost](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-calculate-food-cost) shows where the cost per portion comes from.

#### What range is usual?

Industry guidance for restaurants most often puts food cost at roughly 28–35% of menu prices, and many operators start from 30%. Treat those figures as rules of thumb, not standards. They come from restaurants with paid staff and rent, published figures differ from source to source, and none of them knows your costs.

A food-cost percentage well above your target is a prompt to look again at the recipe, the portion or the price. A percentage far below it is worth a look too: it can mean a price your customers find too high, or portions smaller than they expect.

#### Why the right target differs between kitchens

Food is only one of the costs a price has to cover. Everything you take in is shared between food, labour, overheads and profit, so the less you spend on labour and overheads, the more room there is for food.

- Home cooks and small caterers often have low rent and few paid staff, so they can run a higher food-cost percentage and still make money, as long as their own time is counted somewhere.
- Full-service restaurants pay rent, wages and service costs every day, which usually pushes the food target lower.
- Dishes built on expensive ingredients, like whole fish or prime steak, tend to run at a higher percentage, yet can still bring in more cash per plate than a cheap dish at a low one.
- Bakeries and pastry kitchens use fairly cheap ingredients but a lot of skilled time and oven time, so a low food-cost percentage can still leave a thin profit.
- Drinks bought ready-made to resell need almost no labour, so they are usually judged on their cash margin rather than a food-cost target.
- Catering jobs carry costs that happen once per event, such as transport, hired equipment and extra hands. These are easier to price as their own lines than to squeeze into a food-cost target.

#### Work out your own target

Start from your other costs instead of a rule of thumb. Write labour, overheads and the profit you want as percentages of your sales; what is left is the most you can spend on food.

```text
Highest food-cost % = 100% − labour % − overheads % − profit %
100% − 30% − 25% − 10% = 35%
```

In this example labour takes 30% of sales, rent and other bills take 25%, and the owner wants 10% profit, so food can take at most 35%. If you do not know your own shares yet, start with a common target, cost every dish, then compare with your real figures after a month of trading.

#### Worked example: pricing from a target

Take a dish whose ingredients cost 900 a portion. Each price below is that cost divided by the target.

*Selling price for a dish with 900 of ingredients per portion*

| Target food cost | Selling price | Left after ingredients |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 25% | 3,600 | 2,700 |
| 30% | 3,000 | 2,100 |
| 35% | 2,571.43 | 1,671.43 |

The lower the target, the higher the price: moving from 35% to 25% takes this dish from 2,571.43 to 3,600. A price also has to make sense to your customers. If a target gives a price far above what your market pays, look at the recipe first (the portion size, a cheaper protein, less waste) before settling for a thinner margin.

#### Food-cost percentage and margin

When cost means food cost only, food-cost percentage and gross margin add up to 100%: a dish at 30% food cost has a 70% gross margin. Count labour and packaging as well and the margin on the full cost is lower. [Markup vs margin](https://costkit.org/guides/markup-vs-margin) explains the two ways of describing profit.

#### Check it against reality

Recipe costs give you a theoretical food cost: what a dish should cost if every portion is the right size and nothing is wasted. Your actual food cost for a period comes from what you bought and what you sold.

```text
Actual food-cost % = (opening stock + purchases − closing stock) ÷ food sales × 100
```

If the actual figure runs well above the recipe figures, common causes are waste, over-portioning, theft and prices that have risen since you last costed. Recost a dish when one of its main ingredients changes price, and work out your actual figure every month.

### How to price a menu item

URL: https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-price-a-menu-item  
Updated: 11 October 2026

Cost the dish first: its ingredients plus an allowance for waste, divided by the number of portions. Divide that food cost per portion by your target food-cost percentage for a starting price, check the price still leaves a profit after labour and packaging, then round it up and compare it with what your customers pay.

#### The method in six steps

1. Cost the ingredients for one batch from what you actually paid. [How to calculate food cost](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-calculate-food-cost) walks through it.
2. Allow for waste: trimmings, spoilage and portions you cannot sell.
3. Divide by the number of portions the batch makes to get the food cost per portion.
4. Pick a target food-cost percentage and divide: price = food cost per portion ÷ target.
5. Add up the other costs of the batch, such as a helper’s pay, gas and packaging, and check what each portion leaves once they are paid.
6. Round the price up, compare it with your market, and review it whenever your costs move.

#### Worked example: a cake cut into 12 slices

The numbers are round so the steps are easy to follow, and they work in any currency. Use your own prices and portions.

Steps 1 to 3: the ingredients for one cake cost 5,400. Allowing 10% for offcuts and the odd broken slice, the food cost is 5,400 ÷ 0.9 = 6,000, or 6,000 ÷ 12 = 500 a slice.

Step 4: at a 30% target, the price is 500 ÷ 0.3 = 1,666.67 a slice.

Step 5: say baking and finishing the cake takes 2,400 of a helper’s pay, and gas, electricity and boxes come to 1,200. That is another 3,600 ÷ 12 = 300 a slice, so a slice really costs 800.

Step 6: round up to the next 100 and the menu price is 1,700. Food is then 500 ÷ 1,700 × 100 = 29.4% of the price, and each slice leaves 1,700 − 800 = 900 once everything is paid: 10,800 for the whole cake.

*One slice at 1,700*

|  | Per slice |
| --- | ---: |
| Ingredients, with waste | 500 |
| Labour, gas and boxes | 300 |
| Full cost | 800 |
| Price | 1,700 |
| Profit | 900 |

#### Food-cost target or markup on full cost?

There are two common ways to turn a cost into a price, and both work.

- Price from a food-cost target: price = food cost per portion ÷ target %. It is quick and widely used, and it assumes the rest of the price covers labour, overheads and profit.
- Add a markup to the full cost: price = (ingredients + labour + other costs) per portion × (1 + markup %). Labour and the other costs are inside the price from the start.

Use one to set the price and the other to check it. In the example, 1,700 on a full cost of 800 is a markup of 900 ÷ 800 × 100 = 112.5%. [Markup vs margin](https://costkit.org/guides/markup-vs-margin) explains the difference between the two percentages.

#### Check the price against your market

A cost-based price tells you the least you can charge and still make the profit you planned. It does not tell you what customers will pay. Before you print it, compare it with similar dishes near you, at a similar portion size and standard.

- If your price is well above the market, change the dish before you cut the price: a smaller portion, a cheaper cut, a better supplier, or less waste.
- If your price is well below the market, you may be leaving money on the table, or your portions may be smaller than your competitors’.
- Some dishes will always earn less than others. That can be fine if they bring customers in, as long as you know their real numbers.

#### Round up, not down

Pick a rounding step that suits your currency and menu, such as the next 100 naira, the next 50 cents or the next whole pound, and always round up. Rounding down quietly takes away part of the margin you have just calculated.

#### Make sure the month adds up

Rent, salaries and electricity are paid whether or not you sell a single slice. Rather than spreading them over every recipe, check that your sales over a month leave enough to cover them.

```text
Monthly sales to break even = monthly fixed costs ÷ share of each sale left after its own costs
300,000 ÷ 0.6 = 500,000
```

In this example, monthly bills of 300,000 and 60% of each sale left after ingredients, labour and packaging mean 500,000 of sales a month just to break even. If your sales are below that, the prices, the costs or the volume have to change.

#### Pricing mistakes to avoid

- Copying a competitor’s price without knowing your own cost. Their rent, portions and suppliers are not yours.
- Leaving packaging out of takeaway and delivery prices. A box, a lid and a bag are part of the dish when it leaves the kitchen.
- Cutting the price when sales are slow, before checking whether the portion, the recipe or the presentation is the real problem.
- Pricing once and never again, while ingredient prices keep moving.

#### Review prices when costs move

A price is only right for the costs it was based on. When a main ingredient goes up, recost the dish and decide whether to change the price, the portion or the recipe. [The food-cost percentage guide](https://costkit.org/guides/food-cost-percentage) covers checking your targets against what you really spend.

### Markup vs margin: the difference, with examples

URL: https://costkit.org/guides/markup-vs-margin  
Updated: 11 October 2026

Markup is profit as a percentage of cost; margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. The same sale gives a bigger markup figure than margin figure: a dish that costs 40 to make and sells for 100 has a 150% markup and a 60% margin. To turn a margin into a price, divide the cost by (1 − margin).

#### The formulas

```text
Profit = selling price − cost
Markup % = profit ÷ cost × 100
Margin % = profit ÷ selling price × 100
Price from a markup = cost × (1 + markup %)
Price from a margin = cost ÷ (1 − margin %)
```

#### One dish, two percentages

Take a dish that costs 40 to make and sells for 100, in any currency. The profit is 60. As a share of the cost, 60 ÷ 40 × 100 = 150% markup. As a share of the price, 60 ÷ 100 × 100 = 60% margin. Both numbers describe the same 60 of profit.

Markup has no ceiling: a 300% markup is perfectly possible. Margin can never reach 100%, because the profit can never be bigger than the price itself.

#### Markup and margin conversion table

```text
Margin % = markup ÷ (100 + markup) × 100
Markup % = margin ÷ (100 − margin) × 100
```

*The margin each markup gives*

| Markup on cost | Margin of price |
| ---: | ---: |
| 25% | 20% |
| 50% | 33.3% |
| 75% | 42.9% |
| 100% | 50% |
| 150% | 60% |
| 200% | 66.7% |
| 300% | 75% |

*The markup you need for each margin*

| Margin you want | Markup to add |
| ---: | ---: |
| 20% | 25% |
| 30% | 42.9% |
| 40% | 66.7% |
| 50% | 100% |
| 60% | 150% |
| 70% | 233.3% |
| 75% | 300% |

#### The mistake that costs money

The common slip is adding a 30% markup and believing you have a 30% margin. On a cost of 100, a 30% markup gives a price of 130. The profit of 30 is only 30 ÷ 130 × 100 = 23.1% of that price. To keep 30% of the price as profit you need a 42.9% markup, which means a price of 100 ÷ 0.7 = 142.86.

It works the other way too: someone quoting a 50% margin is charging double the cost, which is a 100% markup. When a supplier, a partner or a price list says "30%", ask which one they mean.

#### Worked example: one dish at four markups

Take a dish whose ingredients cost 900 a portion. Here is what different markups do to its price and margin.

*Markup, price and margin on a cost of 900 a portion*

| Markup | Price per portion | Margin |
| ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 50% | 1,350 | 33.3% |
| 100% | 1,800 | 50% |
| 150% | 2,250 | 60% |
| 200% | 2,700 | 66.7% |

Want a 60% margin? Divide by what is left after it: 900 ÷ (1 − 0.6) = 2,250, which is the same as a 150% markup.

#### Shortcuts worth remembering

- Selling at 2 times the cost is a 100% markup and a 50% margin, so the cost is 50% of the price.
- Selling at 3 times the cost is a 200% markup and a 66.7% margin, so the cost is 33.3% of the price.
- Selling at 4 times the cost is a 300% markup and a 75% margin, so the cost is 25% of the price.

Those last figures are the food-cost percentages when the cost is food alone. A kitchen aiming for 30% food cost is selling at about 3.3 times the food cost.

#### A higher margin is not always more profit

Margin is a share, and you cannot pay bills with a share. Compare two dishes. Dish A costs 300 and sells for 1,000: a 70% margin and 700 of profit a plate. Dish B costs 1,500 and sells for 3,000: only a 50% margin, but 1,500 of profit a plate.

If they sell in similar numbers, Dish B earns more, even though its percentage looks worse. Use percentages to compare and to spot dishes that have drifted, and cash profit per plate, times how many you sell, to decide what earns its place on the menu.

#### How margin relates to food-cost percentage

When cost means food cost only, margin and food-cost percentage are two halves of the same price: margin = 100% − food-cost %. A 30% food cost is a 70% gross margin, which is a 233.3% markup on the food. [What food-cost percentage should you aim for?](https://costkit.org/guides/food-cost-percentage) covers choosing that target.

#### Which one should you use?

- Use markup when you build a price up from a cost. It is the quickest sum.
- Use margin when you talk about profit. It tells you how much of every sale you keep, and it is how gross profit is usually shown in accounts.
- Whichever you use, say which it is. "30%" on its own can be read either way, and the difference is real money.

#### Food cost or full cost?

Everything above works whatever you count as cost. Measured against food cost alone, markup and margin look generous; measured against the full cost per portion (ingredients, waste, labour and packaging) they show what you really keep. Know which cost a figure is based on before you compare it with anything. [How to price a menu item](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-price-a-menu-item) puts both to work on one dish.

### How to price food per head for events and catering

URL: https://costkit.org/guides/catering-price-per-head  
Updated: 11 October 2026

Price per head is your total cost for the event divided by the number of guests, plus your profit. Scale each dish to the guest count, add a waste allowance, staff, transport, hire and packaging, and divide by the guests. Then add your markup, or divide by one minus the margin you want.

#### The per-head formula

```text
Food cost = cost of every batch you cook, with waste
Cost per head = (food cost + staff + transport + hire + packaging) ÷ guests
Price per head = cost per head × (1 + markup %)
or: price per head = cost per head ÷ (1 − margin %)
```

#### Step by step

1. Agree the guest count and the menu: which dishes, and how much of each per guest.
2. Work out how many batches of each dish you need, and round up. You cannot cook half a cake.
3. Cost each batch from current prices and multiply by the number of batches. [How to calculate food cost](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-calculate-food-cost) shows how to cost a batch.
4. Add a waste allowance. Allow more for buffets and self-service, where portions are harder to control.
5. Add the costs that come with the job: staff for the day (including you), transport, fuel or gas, hired equipment, disposable plates and packs.
6. Divide the total by the number of guests for the cost per head.
7. Add your profit, as a markup on cost or a margin on price.
8. Round up, set a minimum number of guests, and put the price, what it includes and the date for final numbers in writing.

#### Worked example: 50 guests

The menu is one portion of a rice dish and one slice of cake per guest. A pot of the rice dish serves 10 and costs 9,000 in ingredients; a cake gives 12 slices and costs 6,000. The numbers are round so the steps are easy to follow, and they work in any currency.

*Food for 50 guests*

| Dish | One batch makes | Batches | Servings | Food cost |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Rice dish | 10 portions | 5 | 50 | 45,000 |
| Cake | 12 slices | 5 | 60 | 30,000 |
| Food for the event |  |  |  | 75,000 |

Five cakes give 60 slices for 50 guests, so 10 slices are spare. You pay for them either way, which is why the food comes to 75,000 ÷ 50 = 1,500 a head, more than one portion of each dish added together (900 + 500 = 1,400).

*Cost of the job for 50 guests*

| Cost | Amount |
| --- | ---: |
| Food | 75,000 |
| Staff for the day | 20,000 |
| Transport | 15,000 |
| Disposable plates and packs (50 × 200) | 10,000 |
| Total cost | 120,000 |
| Cost per head | 2,400 |

With a 100% markup, the cost per head of 2,400 becomes 2,400 × 2 = 4,800. Rounded up to the next 500, the quote is 5,000 a head, or 250,000 for the event. That leaves 250,000 − 120,000 = 130,000 once everything is paid, a margin of 52%. This example leaves out waste to keep the sums short; for a buffet, add an allowance before you divide.

#### Plated, buffet or packed meals

How the food is served changes the costing as much as what is on the menu.

- Plated service gives you the most control: each guest gets one measured portion, so food per head stays close to the recipe cost and waste stays low.
- A buffet lets guests serve themselves, so plan more food per head than a single portion and a bigger waste allowance. Agree in advance what happens to leftovers.
- Packed meals, in boxes or takeaway packs, keep portions exact but add a pack, a lid, cutlery and a napkin for every guest. Cost those per head like any ingredient.
- Family-style platters sit in between: count servings per table rather than per guest, and round up to whole platters.

#### What to include in a catering price

- Staff for the whole job, including set-up, service and clearing away, and your own time.
- Transport there and back, and fuel or gas for cooking on site.
- Hired equipment such as chafing dishes, tables or a generator.
- Disposable plates, cutlery, packs, napkins and foil.
- Drinks and ice, if you supply them.
- Any taxes or service charges that apply where you work.

#### Set a minimum and a deadline

A per-head price assumes the costs are shared by the agreed number of guests, but many of them do not shrink when fewer people come. In the example, staff and transport cost 35,000 whatever the headcount: 700 a head at 50 guests, but 875 at 40. Set a minimum number of guests, ask for final numbers by a set date, and charge for the number confirmed.

#### Ask for a deposit

For a large job you buy most of the food days before you are paid. A deposit when the booking is confirmed, sized to cover the shopping, protects you if the event is cancelled or the numbers drop, and makes the minimum guest number real. Put the deposit, the balance and when each is due in the same written quote as the price per head.

#### Offer clear options

Two or three menus at different per-head prices make it easier for a client to choose and easier for you to cost, because each menu is priced once. Price extra dishes, drinks or a dessert table as add-ons per head, worked out the same way. [How to price a menu item](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-price-a-menu-item) covers rounding and checking a price against your market, and [markup vs margin](https://costkit.org/guides/markup-vs-margin) explains the two ways to add profit.

## Food costing glossary

URL: https://costkit.org/glossary

- **As-purchased (AP) and edible portion (EP)**: As-purchased is food as you buy it; edible portion is what is left after trimming, peeling, boning or cooking. The edible portion costs more per kilo: EP cost = AP cost ÷ yield.
- **Break-even point**: The level of sales at which income exactly covers every cost, with no profit and no loss. Monthly break-even sales = fixed costs ÷ the share of each sale left after its own costs.
- **Contribution margin**: What each sale leaves towards fixed costs and profit once its own costs are paid: the price minus the food, packaging and other costs that rise with each sale.
- **Cost of goods sold (COGS)**: The cost of the food you actually used in a period: opening stock + purchases − closing stock. Divide it by food sales for your actual food-cost percentage.
- **Fixed and variable costs**: Fixed costs stay the same whatever you sell, like rent and salaries. Variable costs rise with every sale, like ingredients and packaging.
- **Food cost**: What the ingredients in a dish or recipe cost you, worked out from the prices you actually paid, usually with an allowance for waste.
- **Food-cost percentage**: Food cost per portion as a share of the selling price: food cost ÷ selling price × 100. A dish with 3 of ingredients that sells for 10 runs at 30%.
- **Gross profit**: Sales minus the cost of the food sold. For one dish, the selling price minus its food cost; before labour, overheads and tax.
- **Labour cost**: What you pay people to prepare, cook and serve food, including your own time if you want your prices to pay for it.
- **Margin**: Profit as a percentage of the selling price: (price − cost) ÷ price × 100. The same dish at 40 cost and 100 price has a 60% margin. Margin can never reach 100%.
- **Markup**: Profit as a percentage of cost: (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100. A dish that costs 40 and sells for 100 has a 150% markup.
- **Menu engineering**: Sorting the dishes on a menu by how popular and how profitable each one is, to decide what to promote, rework, reprice or drop.
- **Overheads**: Running costs that are not tied to any one dish, such as rent, electricity, internet, insurance and repairs. They are covered by your overall sales rather than by a single recipe.
- **Plate cost**: The cost of one portion as it is served, sides and garnish included. Also called portion cost: the cost of the batch divided by the number of portions it makes.
- **Portion control**: Serving the same measured amount every time, so what a dish really costs matches its recipe cost. Over-portioning is one of the quietest ways food cost creeps up.
- **Price per head**: What a caterer charges per guest for an event: the total cost of the job divided by the number of guests, plus profit.
- **Prime cost**: Food cost plus labour cost. They are the two biggest costs for many kitchens, so they are often watched together.
- **Recipe cost**: The cost of one full batch of a recipe, before it is divided into portions.
- **Theoretical and actual food cost**: Theoretical food cost is what your recipes say food should cost; actual food cost is what the stock and purchases say it did cost. The gap shows waste, over-portioning or out-of-date prices.
- **Unit cost**: What one unit of an ingredient costs: the pack price divided by the pack size, such as the price per kilo, per litre or per egg. Multiply it by the amount a recipe uses to cost that line.
- **Waste factor**: An allowance for food that is bought but never sold, such as trimmings, spoilage and leftovers. With 10% waste, divide the food cost by 0.9 to cover what is lost.
- **Yield**: How much usable food you get from what you buy, as a weight or a percentage: a kilo of fish that gives 650 g of fillet has a 65% yield. Also the number of portions a recipe makes.

## CostKit vs a spreadsheet for recipe costing

URL: https://costkit.org/compare/spreadsheets  
Updated: 11 October 2026

A spreadsheet is enough if you cost a handful of recipes, your prices rarely change and you are happy to build and maintain the formulas. CostKit saves time once prices move often, you cost many recipes, or you want menus and saved costings in one place without looking after a workbook.

### When a spreadsheet is enough

Plenty of good kitchens cost their food in a spreadsheet, and if yours works, you may not need anything else. A spreadsheet is a sensible choice when:

- you cost a few recipes and rarely add new ones;
- you buy from the same places and prices stay steady for months;
- you are comfortable writing formulas, including unit conversions such as kilos to grams;
- you do your costing at a computer rather than on your phone at the market.

If that is you, the formulas in [how to calculate food cost](https://costkit.org/guides/how-to-calculate-food-cost) are all a sheet needs.

### Where CostKit saves time

- It keeps your prices current. When the market moves, your recipe costs keep up, without hunting through sheets.
- It works in the packs and units you actually buy: by the bag, the bottle or the piece.
- It builds menus and shows what each plate costs and earns.
- It saves your costings, so you can come back to any dish later.
- It works in your own currency, on your phone or your computer.

In short, a spreadsheet gives you a blank grid and leaves the upkeep to you; CostKit is made for costing food and does that upkeep for you.

### Side by side

*Costing recipes in a spreadsheet and in CostKit*

|  | Spreadsheet | CostKit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Getting started | Build your own sheet and formulas | Made for food costing |
| Keeping prices current | Update every sheet by hand | Kept current for you |
| Packs and units you buy | Formulas you write | Built in |
| Menus and per-plate costs | Another sheet to build | Built in |
| Saved costings | Files and tabs you organise | Saved in your account |
| On a phone | Possible, but fiddly to edit | Made for phones |
| Custom reports and analysis | Anything you can build | Its own reports |
| Cost | Often free with software you already have | 2 free recipes, then ₦600 a recipe or ₦6,000 a month (Business) |

### Trying it alongside your sheet

Start with the dishes you sell most and compare CostKit's cost per portion with your sheet. Your first 2 recipes are free, so you can check the numbers agree before you pay.

### The short version

If your recipes and prices rarely change and you like building formulas, a spreadsheet is fine. If you cost often, buy at changing market prices, or want menus and saved costings in one place on your phone, CostKit does the upkeep for you.