Beverage Cost Percentage Calculator

Work out beverage cost percentage instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Beverage Cost Percentage Calculator

Beverage cost percentage is cost of sales over beverage revenue, and it should run well below food cost — commonly 18-25% overall. Stock turnover matters alongside it because slow-moving wine and spirits tie up cash and are the easiest stock to lose track of.

Formulas

Beverage cost percentage

Cost % = Beverage cost of sales / Beverage revenue x 100

Stock turnover

Turnover = Cost of sales / Average stock

Worked example

With the default values below, Beverage Cost Percentage Calculator returns Beverage cost percentage of 22.94%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Beverage cost of sales: 78,000
Beverage revenue: 340,000
Opening beverage stock: 62,000
Closing beverage stock: 68,000

Results

Beverage cost percentage: 22.94%
Beverage gross margin: 77.06%
Beverage gross profit: $262,000.00
Beverage stock turnover: 1.20

Step by step

1Values used
2Beverage cost percentage
3Stock turnover
4Beverage cost percentage= 22.94
5Beverage gross margin= 77.06
6Beverage gross profit= 262,000.00
7Beverage stock turnover= 1.20

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is beverage cost lower than food cost?

Because there is little preparation and almost no yield loss, and the perceived value of a drink supports a much higher markup than the ingredient cost.

What causes beverage cost to drift up?

Over-pouring, unrecorded staff drinks, spillage and theft. Regular stocktakes with a variance investigation threshold are the control.