Wage cost is hours times hourly pay times staff, for each week it runs, for practices, grocers and crews alike. The four restaurant examples below work that out by hand, then run the total through the calculator on this page.
Worked Example: Wages Cost Calculator for a Restaurant Planning Food Orders
A kitchen whose food order and payroll fall in the same week needs both totals side by side. The calculator on this page does not compute wages; the arithmetic in this example does, and the total can then go into the calculator as an amount.
Enter the amount, the annual rate and the term in months, and the calculator returns the estimated monthly payment, the total interest and the total repaid. Practices paying front-desk staff, grocers covering cashiers and landscaping crews paying laborers can follow the same steps: count heads, hours and hourly pay, multiply by the weeks the gap lasts, then enter that total.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Line cooks | 5 |
| Hours each this week | 32 |
| Hourly pay | $17 |
| Kitchen wages for the week | $2,720 |
| Food order due the same week | $6,800 |
| Cash needed that week | $9,520 |
Accommodation and food services employers in Cumberland County, NJ reported $77.1 million in annual payroll for 2023 across 250 establishments (County Business Patterns). Employer payroll taxes and benefits come on top of gross wages; an accountant can give the exact figure.
Worked Example: Wages Cost Calculator for a Restaurant Planning Dining-Room Equipment Replacement
Dining-room equipment replacement can keep servers and bussers on reduced shifts while part of the room is closed. Their wages for those weeks are operating costs, separate from the supplier quote.
The ZBP file for 2023 puts 58 accommodation and food services employers at ZIP 08302 addresses; for any of them with a dining room, an equipment-replacement week still has a payroll attached.
Illustration only, invented figures: 9 front-of-house staff at 28 hours a week and $16 an hour cost $8,064 over 2 weeks. Entered in the calculator as $8,064 at an annual rate of 12% for 12 months, the payment is $716.48, the total interest $533.72 and the total repaid $8,597.72.
Worked Example: Wages Cost Calculator for a Restaurant Planning Slow-Week Payroll
When sales fall short of payroll for a few weeks, the gap is the shortfall, not the whole payroll. Add up the shortfall for each slow week and finance only that.
Count paydays, not months. Illustration only: a 30-day gap holds 2 or 3 biweekly paydays, depending on the date of the first one, so a request sized for the higher count covers either case.
Illustration only, invented figures: a restaurant comes up $2,350 short of payroll in each of 3 slow weeks, a gap of $7,050. In the calculator, $7,050 over 6 months at 13% gives a payment of $1,219.95 and $269.71 of interest. A line of credit can carry a gap like this too, with interest only while the draw is out.
Worked Example: Wages Cost Calculator for a Restaurant Planning New Patio Furniture and Staff
New patio seating adds two costs: the tables, chairs and umbrellas, and the extra staff to run the new seats. The calculator handles both once they are added together.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Added servers | 3 |
| Hours each per week | 24 |
| Hourly pay | $15 |
| Added wages over 8 weeks | $8,640 |
| Patio tables, chairs and umbrellas quote | $18,500 |
| Total to finance | $27,140 |
At an annual rate of 11% over 24 months, the calculator returns a payment of $1,264.94 and $3,218.48 of total interest. A term loan fits the furniture; the wages could also come from working capital. Splitting the request this way lets each part carry a term that suits it: the furniture lasts for years, while the added wages are a short run of paydays that a long term would keep charging interest on.
By Southshire Business Capital ยท Updated