The 30-Minute Restaurant Cost Audit You Can Do Yourself

By Taylor Brewster · June 2026 · 5 min read

You don't need a consultant to find out whether you're overpaying. You need four documents, a calculator, and 30 minutes before the lunch rush. Here's the exact checklist I use on day one of every engagement.

Pull these four documents

1. Last month's merchant processing statement
2. Last month's delivery platform payout summaries (each platform)
3. The last electric and gas bills
4. Last month's P&L (or sales total at minimum)

Compute these five numbers

1. Processing effective rate = total card fees ÷ total card volume. Red flag above 3.0%. (Detailed walkthrough.)
2. Delivery all-in rate = (gross marketplace sales − actual payout) ÷ gross sales, per platform. Red flag above 30%.
3. Utility intensity = annualized electric+gas spend ÷ square feet. Red flag above $5/sq ft (benchmark ~$3.75).
4. Prime cost = (COGS + total labor) ÷ sales. Red flag above 67%. (Why this one rules them all.)
5. Direct ordering commission = what you pay on orders from your own website. Red flag: anything above 0%.

Score yourself

0 red flags: genuinely rare — you're in the top tier of operators. Re-check quarterly; every one of these creeps.
1–2 red flags: typical. Each flag is usually worth $3,000–$15,000/year. Fix the processing or utility flag first (fastest, invisible to guests), then attack delivery.
3+ red flags: you're likely leaving $20,000–$50,000+ on the table annually. The good news: that's not a business problem, it's a project list.

What DIY can't do

The checklist finds the leaks; fixing them is negotiation and paperwork — competing processor quotes, energy supply bids, platform re-tiering, direct-ordering migration. Some owners enjoy that work. Most don't have the hours, which is why my model is shared savings: the audit's free, and I'm only paid from what the fixes actually recover.