Disclosure: This article is written by Shaun McManus, founder of SmartPubTools and creator of the Restaurant Console. All operational claims reflect genuine experience at Teal Farm Pub, Washington.
Key Takeaway
A restaurant weekly P&L must show net revenue (after VAT), food cost%, labour% (including employer NI), gross profit%, and net profit. Tracking monthly is too late to act — by the time you see the problem, you have already lost the revenue. Weekly tracking gives you a 4-day response window. The most common mistake is calculating percentages against gross revenue instead of net, which understates every cost by around 17%.
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What a Restaurant Weekly P&L Must Show
A restaurant P&L (profit and loss statement) shows revenue, costs, and profit for a defined period. For operational management, that period should be one week — not one month. The structure below is the standard UK restaurant P&L format that industry benchmarks are based on.
| Line | Description | Example (£) | % of Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Revenue | Total sales inc. VAT — food + drink + delivery | £12,000 | — |
| Less: VAT | 20% of VAT-inclusive sales | £2,000 | — |
| Net Revenue | Revenue you actually keep — all benchmarks are % of this | £10,000 | 100% |
| Less: Food Cost | Ingredients used — target under 32% | £3,000 | 30% |
| Less: Drink Cost | Beverage cost — target 20–30% | £1,200 | 12% |
| Gross Profit | Revenue minus all cost of sales — target 63–68% | £5,800 | 58% |
| Less: Labour | Wages + employer NI — target under 30% | £2,800 | 28% |
| Less: Other Direct | Packaging, cleaning supplies, credit card fees | £400 | 4% |
| Contribution | Before fixed overheads | £2,600 | 26% |
| Less: Fixed Overheads | Rent, rates, utilities, insurance (weekly allocation) | £1,800 | 18% |
| Net Profit | EBITDA — target 8–15% for sustainable operation | £800 | 8% |
The Five Most Common P&L Mistakes UK Restaurants Make
1. Calculating percentages against gross revenue instead of net. If your food costs are £3,000 on gross revenue of £12,000 that looks like 25%. But your net revenue is £10,000, so your real food cost% is 30%. Industry benchmarks — food cost under 32%, labour under 30%, GP 63–68% — are all calculated against net revenue. Using gross understates every cost by roughly 17% and makes your business look more profitable than it is.
2. Not including employer National Insurance in labour cost. 2026 employer NI rate is 15% on earnings above £5,000 secondary threshold. On a head chef at £28/hour working 45 hours per week, employer NI adds £189/week to the wage cost — nearly £10,000 per year that many operators exclude from their labour% calculation.
3. Blending food and drink GP. Food GP% and drink GP% should be tracked separately. A blended GP% of 60% might look acceptable, but if food GP is 55% and drink GP is 68%, your food operation has a serious margin problem that the blended number hides. For a full guide to GP% calculation and targets see our restaurant GP% calculator guide.
4. Tracking monthly instead of weekly. Monthly P&L data arrives 2–4 weeks after the period ends. By then you have already run four more weeks at the same cost level. Weekly P&L gives you a 4-day response window — enough time to cut a shift, adjust ordering, or change a pricing decision before the damage compounds. At Teal Farm I do not wait for month-end. If food cost% is above 32% in week one, I am looking at the ordering sheet in week two.
5. Treating delivery revenue as full revenue. If Deliveroo sends you £1,000 in orders this week, your gross revenue is £1,000 but your net revenue from those orders is £700 after 30% commission — and if you calculate VAT on the gross figure first, the effective net is even lower. Delivery commission must be treated as a cost against delivery revenue, not buried in overheads. See our full guide to restaurant food cost tracking for how delivery commission interacts with your food margin.
Why Weekly — Not Monthly — Is the Only Option
A monthly P&L is a history lesson. It tells you what happened 2–4 weeks ago and gives you no time to correct it before month-end. A weekly P&L is a management tool. It tells you what happened 4 days ago and gives you a full working week to respond.
The operational decisions that affect your P&L — staffing, ordering, menu pricing, promotional activity — are all made at the week level. A weekly P&L creates direct feedback between those decisions and the results they produce. Without it you are flying blind.
The Restaurant Console Weekly Report module produces your complete P&L automatically every week — net revenue, food cost%, labour%, GP%, and net profit — with RAG status against your targets. See the full Restaurant Console →
UK Restaurant P&L Benchmarks 2026
| Metric | Target | Warning | Danger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Cost% | Under 32% | 32–35% | Over 35% |
| Labour% | Under 30% | 30–35% | Over 35% |
| GP% (combined) | 63–68% | 58–63% | Under 58% |
| Net Profit% | 8–15% | 3–8% | Under 3% |
These benchmarks are calculated against net revenue (after VAT). If you are calculating against gross you will need to adjust every figure by approximately 17% to make meaningful comparisons.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be on a restaurant weekly P&L?
A restaurant weekly P&L should show: gross revenue, VAT deduction, net revenue, food cost (£ and %), drink cost (£ and %), gross profit (£ and %), labour cost including employer NI (£ and %), other direct costs, contribution, fixed overhead allocation, and net profit (£ and %). All percentages must be calculated against net revenue — not gross.
What is the difference between gross and net restaurant revenue?
Gross revenue is your total sales including VAT. Net revenue is what remains after VAT is deducted — the revenue that actually belongs to your business. All restaurant cost benchmarks (food cost%, labour%, GP%) are calculated against net revenue. Using gross revenue to calculate percentages understates every cost metric by approximately 17%.
What is a good net profit margin for a UK restaurant?
A sustainable UK restaurant net profit margin is 8–15% of net revenue. Below 5% the business is vulnerable to any cost increase or revenue dip. Above 15% is excellent. Many UK restaurants run at 3–5% net margin — which is why labour and food cost management is so critical. A 2% improvement in food cost% on £500,000 annual net revenue is £10,000 straight to the bottom line.
Should I track restaurant P&L weekly or monthly?
Weekly. Monthly P&L data arrives 2–4 weeks after the period ends, leaving no time to correct problems before they compound. Weekly P&L data gives a 4-day response window — enough time to adjust ordering, cut a shift, or change a pricing decision before the next week compounds the loss. The operational decisions that affect your P&L are made at the week level.
How do I include delivery commission in my P&L?
Delivery commission should be treated as a cost against delivery revenue — not buried in overheads. Record gross delivery revenue (the order total), then deduct the platform commission (Deliveroo 30%, Uber Eats 30%, Just Eat 14%) to get net delivery revenue. This gives you the true margin on your delivery channel and shows which platform is most profitable to use.
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By Shaun McManus | Last Updated: May 2026
Shaun McManus is the licensee of Teal Farm Pub, Washington, Tyne and Wear. He has 15+ years in hospitality management and built the Restaurant Console for his own operation.
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