Overhead Cost Allocation
Every fixed cost in your business, spread across every item you make
Enter your rent, utilities, equipment and other monthly costs once. MenuCost works out how much overhead each menu item carries, and that number feeds straight into every recipe.
- No card needed
- Rent split by production share
- Updates every recipe
Example from MenuCost's demo restaurant.
Why this matters
Fixed costs don't stop costing money because they're fixed
Rent, electricity, water, gas and equipment cost the same every month, however much you sell. Leave them out of the cost per serving and your margin looks bigger than it is, by exactly your overhead. And the fewer portions you make, the more each one has to carry.
SAR 17,116.67 across 20,000 portions
A busy kitchen spreads the cost thin.
The same overhead across 5,000 portions
Four times the overhead on every plate.
Most owners know their monthly overhead total. Few put it into their recipe costs. MenuCost does it for you, and updates every recipe when a figure changes.
Four overhead categories, added up automatically
Rent, with a production share
Enter your rent and how often you pay it. Set the share of your space used for food production, and only that part counts. 35% of SAR 5,000 puts SAR 1,750 in overhead. Lease start and renewal dates are tracked too.
Utilities, as monthly averages
Electricity, water and gas, added into one total: SAR 400 + SAR 200 + SAR 550 = SAR 1,150. Averages are fine; the goal is a fair cost, not perfect accounting.
Equipment, depreciated monthly
Add each item with its price and useful life in months. A SAR 40,000 coffee machine over 60 months is SAR 666.67 a month, totalled across everything you list.
Other: fixed and variable costs
Fixed recurring costs, like a SAR 3,000 marketing retainer, are entered once. Variable ones take three months of figures and use the average: SAR 350, 300 and 400 average to SAR 350.
One summary, one number per item
All four categories plus indirect staff, divided by your estimated monthly portions, give your overhead per item. It's applied to every menu item automatically.
What changes when overhead is in every recipe
The fourth cost layer, complete
Ingredients, labour, packaging and overhead: the margin you see is the one you earn.
Rent charged fairly
Only the space that makes food is charged to your recipes, not the dining room.
Spikes smoothed out
A three-month average keeps one expensive month from distorting your costs.
Change once, update everywhere
Profitability, reports and catering quotes all pick up the new overhead.
What is the production allocation percentage?
Most F&B spaces include production areas, like the kitchen and prep, and non-production areas, like the dining room and office. Set the share used for food production, and only that part of your rent counts toward recipe overhead. With 35%, only SAR 1,750 of a SAR 5,000 rent counts.
Why is staff overhead shown separately?
Direct staff are already costed in each recipe through Labour Cost Management, so counting them in overhead too would double count. Only indirect staff, like managers and admin, go into overhead. The summary shows who's included and who's excluded.
What are estimated monthly portions?
The total number of items you make in an average month. MenuCost divides your monthly overhead by it: SAR 17,116.67 across 20,000 portions is SAR 0.86 per item, but across 5,000 it's SAR 3.42. Use your most accurate estimate, because it directly sets the overhead on each recipe.
What's the difference between fixed recurring and variable monthly?
Fixed recurring costs stay the same every period, like a SAR 3,000 marketing retainer, so you enter them once. Variable costs change month to month, like gas or waste disposal: enter the last three months and MenuCost uses the average, smoothing out seasonal swings.
If I update my rent, does everything recalculate?
Yes. Save a change to any overhead figure and the summary recalculates the total and the overhead per item, which then applies to every recipe automatically.
Start costing recipes with all costs included
Rent, utilities, equipment and more, in every recipe automatically.
- No card needed
- Set up in minutes
- Unlimited recipes