Fast Food Restaurant Break-Even Revenue: About $56K/Month

Fixed costs $50.1K/mo Payroll plus overhead

Contribution margin 82% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $61.0K/mo Monthly sales target

Break-even timing Month 4 Modeled ramp point

Break-even calculator

Test monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs against the break-even line for a fast food restaurant.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Sales set the pool that contribution must cover. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses These rise with sales, like ingredients, card fees, and promos. $ Low direct cost High direct cost

Money available to cover fixed costs $61,250 $69,000 revenue - $7,750 variable expenses

Margin ratio

89%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly overhead contribution margin has to cover. $ Lean overhead Heavy overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which fast food restaurant expenses are fixed, and which move with sales?

Cost classification

Break-even is only useful if each expense behaves the way the model says it does. Misclassifying payroll, utilities, or repairs as sales-driven can hide the real monthly sales threshold.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Rent	Fixed	Use $10,000 per month from Month 1 through Month 60.	Treating rent as lower on slow sales days.
Baseline payroll	Fixed	Use $34,250 per month in the first year for scheduled staffing.	Making all labor rise and fall with orders.
Food Ingredients	Variable	Apply 7.5% in the first year, then step down by year.	Using one blended food margin for every sales category.
Beverage Ingredients	Variable	Apply 5.5% in the first year, then step down by year.	Mixing beverage margin into food margin.
Credit Card Processing Fees	Variable	Apply 2.2% of sales in the first year.	Forgetting card fees when average order value rises.
Marketing & Promotions	Variable	Apply 2.8% of sales in the first year.	Modeling promotions as fixed while sales campaigns scale.
Utilities	Semi-variable	Start with $2,000 per month, then review usage as traffic grows.	Treating power, water, and gas as purely sales-driven.
POS System & Software Fees	Semi-fixed	Use $350 per month until systems or locations expand.	Assuming software rises smoothly with each order.

How does break-even change from lean to base to full operations for this fast food restaurant?

Scenario table

Sales volume and fixed payroll do most of the work here. Lean stays underwater, Base clears the $56,400 monthly break-even threshold, and Full adds a much wider cushion.

Planning cases only; real results will move with traffic, menu mix, labor, and waste.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean opening month	$45,000	$5,040	$50,050	88.8%	$-10,090	Still below break-even, so cash burn stays high.
Base Year 1 run-rate	$93,000	$10,400	$50,050	88.8%	$32,550	Clears break-even and starts covering overhead.
Full Year 2 run-rate	$130,900	$13,900	$54,925	89.4%	$62,100	Well above break-even, so the cushion is much wider.

What breaks first if traffic slows or costs creep up?

Stress test

The plan clears break-even at about $56.4k in monthly revenue against $50.1k of fixed costs. The cushion is decent, but slower weekday traffic, wage creep, and ingredient or fee pressure can eat through it fast.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$56,400	$36,600 cushion	The cushion is solid, but not wide.
Revenue shortfall	Monthly revenue falls by $10,000 from slower weekday traffic.	$56,400	$26,600 cushion	A $10,000 miss cuts contribution by about $8,900.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed overhead rises by $1,000 per month.	$57,500	$35,500 cushion	Each extra $1,000 lifts break-even by about $1,100.
Margin pressure	Contribution margin falls by 1 point to 87.8%.	$57,000	$36,000 cushion	A 1-point margin slip adds about $650 to break-even.
Combined pressure	Revenue falls by $10,000, fixed costs rise by $1,000, and margin falls by 1 point.	$58,200	$24,800 cushion	Traffic, overhead, and margin pressure together shrink the buffer fast.

What should you verify before you sign the lease and hire the full crew?

Founder checklist

Before you commit, test whether this fast food restaurant can clear the $56.4K monthly break-even revenue test and still survive the Month 5 cash dip. Month 4 break-even is not cash safety, so the lease, payroll, menu price, and throughput all need to work together.

1Lease load$56.4K/mo

Confirm $10K monthly rent fits inside the break-even test, because the lease has to clear fixed costs even before weekday traffic gets to full speed.

2Payroll lock$34.25K/mo

Lock the staffing plan before signing, since Year 1 payroll averages $34,250 per month and the crew has to match open-hours demand without pushing costs past break-even.

3Supply cost88.8% CM

Keep food ingredients near 7.5% of sales and beverage ingredients near 5.5%, plus card fees and promotions, or the contribution margin (cash left after variable costs) drops fast.

4Menu price$38 / $50 AOV

Use $38 midweek average order value (AOV) and $50 weekend AOV to make sure guests will buy at the price point that supports the break-even case.

5Kitchen speed120 covers

Check the line can handle 120 covers on Saturday in Year 1, because weekend demand is the cleanest stress test for kitchen speed and labor coverage.

6Cash cushion$603K / Month 5

Hold the $603K minimum cash need through Month 5, because the $390K build-out, equipment, fixtures, systems, signage, and launch spend lands before the cash trough.