Food truck profit calculator

Estimate what a food truck day earns after food, staff, fuel and commissary, and permits, and what that adds up to over a month. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

Covers per day Average ticket ($) Food cost % Staff hours per day (all staff) Hourly rate ($) Fuel + commissary per day ($) Permits + fees per day ($) Days open per month Other monthly costs ($)

Staff hours are the total for everyone, e.g. 3 people × 9 hours = 27. Other monthly costs are things like the truck payment and insurance. Card fees and tax are not included.

Need a real food cost % for your menu? The Recipe Cost Workbook keeps one ingredient price list for every recipe, handles kg/g, l/ml and dozen, and adds labor, packaging and overhead. $12, instant .xlsx download.

How it works

Daily sales = covers × average ticket. Food cost = daily sales × food cost %. Staff = staff hours × hourly rate. Daily profit = sales − food − staff − fuel and commissary − permits. Monthly profit = daily profit × days open − other monthly costs.

Worked example (the values above): sales are 100 × $13 = $1,300. Food is 30% of that, $390. Staff is 27 × $16 = $432. Take off $55 fuel and commissary and $12 permits: $1,300 − $390 − $432 − $55 − $12 = $411 a day, which is $411 ÷ $1,300 = 31.6% of sales. Over 22 days that is $9,042, minus $1,500 of other monthly costs = $7,542 a month.

Spread yearly costs such as an annual permit over the days you trade to get a per-day figure. To work out your food cost % from recipes, use the food cost percentage guide. See also the free recipe cost calculator and more calculators.