Franchise labour cost calculator for multi-site operators
Roll up your labour cost percentage across every location, see which sites are dragging the average, and compare each against the Australian benchmark for your format.
This calculator provides general estimates only. Labour cost benchmarks vary by brand, format and location, and this is not financial, payroll or franchising advice — verify figures with your accountant and your franchisor's disclosure document before making business decisions. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Franchise labour cost calculator
Enter weekly revenue and wages for each site. Pick your business type to set the benchmark, and use the advanced options to add sites, on-costs and COGS.
Your labour cost breakdown
Estimates only — verify before making decisions.
How to read your franchise labour cost %
Labour cost percentage is the share of your revenue spent on staffing: labour cost % = (total wages ÷ revenue) × 100. Across a franchise network, the number that matters is the roll-up — but the averages hide the problem sites.
This calculator adds up wages and revenue across every location, applies your on-costs (super, payroll tax, workers’ comp), and shows a franchise-wide figure alongside each site. If one store runs 8 points above the others, that’s where your margin is leaking — usually through over-rostering during quiet trade or too many hours landing on penalty rates.
Australian labour cost benchmarks by format
Use these as a starting target, then track your own trend. The right number depends on your brand, rent and trading hours.
QSR / fast food: 20–25%
High casual and junior mix; the challenge is holding the % through weekend and late-night penalty hours.
Café: 25–32%
Labour-heavy service with lower average spend keeps the ratio higher.
Casual dining: 25–30%
Table service adds hours; demand-based rostering is the main lever.
Fine dining: 27–32%
Skilled, higher-paid staff push labour up as a share of revenue.
Pub / bar: 22–27%
Mixed food and beverage trade with heavy weekend peaks.
Retail: 15–25%
Varies with product margin and service model.
Why a franchise-wide average is misleading
Two sites at 22% and 34% average out to a healthy-looking 28% — but the 34% store may be wiping out the profit the 22% store earns. Compare each site to the benchmark, not just the network total, and fix the outliers first.
How to bring a site back to benchmark
The fastest wins across a franchise network:
Roster to demand, site by site
Match each store’s staffing to its own sales pattern instead of a copy-paste roster — see multi-site rostering.
Move hours off penalty windows
Small shifts in start/finish times cut penalty rate exposure without cutting service.
Right-size the casual/permanent mix
Balance flexibility against loading costs — casual vs permanent.
Track actual vs rostered weekly
Catch creeping hours before they become a quarter of lost margin.
See labour cost update live as you roster
RosterElf shows each site's wage cost against forecast sales while you build the schedule, with award rates applied automatically — so you hit your target labour % before the week starts, not after.
Control labour cost across every site
RosterElf tracks live wage cost against sales as you build the roster — across all your locations.
Free calculator
Great for a quick multi-site health check
- Roll up labour % across sites
- Compare each site to a benchmark
- Include on-costs and COGS
- No signup required
- Live wage-vs-sales while rostering
- Per-site budget alerts
- Automatic award interpretation
- Payroll export (Xero & MYOB)
Full Suite
Rostering, payroll & HR in one
per employee per month
+ GST, billed annually
Payroll & HR tools in one system
- Smart rostering & availability
- Time & attendance (GPS & photo)
- Award interpretation & penalties
- Payroll export (Xero & MYOB)
- HR Hub with employee profiles
- Digital onboarding & contracts
- Policies, certificates & compliance tracking
- Payroll sync with employee records
- Workwise AI compliance assistant
- Central document storage & management
- Leave management with approvals
No credit card required · 15-day free trial
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Frequently asked questions
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Add up total wages across all locations and divide by total revenue for the same period, then multiply by 100. This calculator does it for up to four sites at once and also shows each site individually, so you can see the franchise-wide figure and the outliers together.
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Use weekly figures for each site (the labels assume one week). The percentage is the same whichever period you use, as long as revenue and wages cover the same window — but the dollar outputs and the annualised saving assume weekly inputs.
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On-costs are the amounts you pay on top of gross wages — superannuation (12% from 1 July 2025), payroll tax and workers’ compensation. Enter the combined uplift as a percentage (around 12% if you only want to add super), or leave it at 0 if your wage figures already include super.
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Prime cost is labour plus cost of goods sold (food and stock) as a share of revenue. Hospitality operators aim to keep it at or below 60%, with best-in-class around 55%. Enter your COGS percentage in the advanced options to see it.