Labour Cost & Wage % Calculator
Excel (.xlsx) — also opens in Google Sheets & Numbers
Wage % is your total labour cost divided by sales, and labour cost is more than the hourly rates: employer National Insurance, pension and holiday pay add roughly 15–20% on top. This calculator lists each role's hours and rate, adds your on-costs %, and shows the true labour cost and wage % against your target, in Excel or Google Sheets.
What's inside
- Wage cost per person + on-costs (NI, pension, holiday)
- Wage % of sales vs your target
- Catch overstaffing before payday
- Worked example built in
What it does
Labour is your second-biggest cost after food, and the on-costs are where it hides. List your team's hours and rates, add NI, pension and holiday, and see your true labour cost and wage percentage against sales — compared to your target.
The point is timing: seeing the wage % mid-week, while the rota can still change, instead of at payroll.
Who it's for
Restaurants, cafés and pubs writing their own rotas. A worked example is built in so you can see a full week before entering your own.
Worked example: one week, four roles
The Labour % tab opens with this week filled in:
| Role | Hours | Rate | Wage cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head chef | 45 | £16.00 | £720.00 |
| Chef de partie | 40 | £13.00 | £520.00 |
| KP | 30 | £11.50 | £345.00 |
| Front of house | 60 | £11.50 | £690.00 |
| Total wages | £2,275.00 |
With 18% on-costs for NI, pension and holiday, the total labour cost is £2,684.50. Against £9,000 of sales that is a wage % of 29.8%, 0.2 points under the 30% target. Leave the on-costs out and the same week looks like 25.3%, which is how rotas end up overstaffed without anyone noticing.
How to use it
- List each person or role with the hours on the rota and their hourly rate (up to 18 lines).
- Set your on-costs %. 15–20% is a realistic range; ask your payroll provider for your own figure.
- Enter forecast sales for the period to check a rota before the week starts, or actual sales to review it after.
- Compare the wage % with your target and adjust shifts while the rota can still change.
What it does not do
It does not calculate NI thresholds, pension rules or holiday accrual person by person; the on-costs % is a single estimate you set. Salaried staff go in as their weekly hours and an equivalent hourly rate. It is a planning tool, not payroll.
Questions people ask
Is this a subscription?
No. It is a one-off £8.99, with no VAT charged: buy it once, download the file and it is yours to keep. It works offline.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the formulas carry over. It also opens in Apple Numbers.
What is a good wage percentage for a restaurant?
Many UK restaurants and pubs work to roughly 25–35% of sales, depending on service style. Food cost plus labour (prime cost) is the figure to watch together; see the kitchen costing glossary.
Should sales be ex-VAT?
Yes. Use net sales without VAT, the same basis as your food cost %, so the two percentages add up meaningfully.
Goes well with
Try the numbers first, free: the food cost & GP calculator and the recipe costing tool run in your browser.