Helping Restaurants in North Loop, Northeast Minneapolis, St. Paul's Grand Avenue, Uptown, and across the Twin Cities since 1998
Common Questions from Restaurant Owners:
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What's a 'healthy' profit margin for a full-service restaurant? (Answer: 3-9% net profit; 10-15% EBITDA)
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How often should I be tracking food cost? (Answer: Daily for optimal control)
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What's 'prime cost' and why does it matter? (Answer: Food + labor combined; should be under 60%)
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Do you work with food trucks and catering operations? (Yes)
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What POS systems do you integrate with? (Yes. Toast, Clover, Square, Lightspeed, etc.)
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Can you help with tip credit compliance? (Yes)
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Do you handle multi-unit restaurant accounting? (Yes)
Get convenient and accurate accounting services for your Minneapolis, St Paul or western Wisconsin-based restaurant from Corneliuson.
Case Studies and Key Metrics
"Corneliuson helped us discover our lunch shift was losing money every single day. After adjusting our staffing model based on their labor analysis, we turned lunch from a $3K monthly loss to a $7K profit."
— Jennifer Chef/Owner, Farm-to-Table Restaurant, Minneapolis
Case Study:
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"Reduced food cost from 38% to 31% for a 60-seat bistro through better vendor management and portion control insights"
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"Identified $4,200/month in tip credit compliance issues before an audit"
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"Helped a food truck owner understand true per-event profitability, leading to strategic event selection that doubled net profit"
Some key factors to consider in your restaurant operations:
- Rent should not exceed 5-6% of revenue (with CAM 8-10%)
- Labor costs should be around 25% of sales
- Cost of food and payroll combined shouldn’t exceed 60% of sales (restaurant will not be profitable if over 70%)
- Food costs should be about 33% and liquor costs should be about 25% per IRS audit guidelines
Are You Flying Blind? Warning Signs:
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☐ You only see profit/loss once a month (or once a quarter)
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☐ You're not sure what your food cost % was yesterday
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☐ You can't quickly answer "Which menu items make the most profit?"
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☐ Your POS and accounting systems don't talk to each other
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☐ You've had surprise cash shortages and aren't sure why
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☐ You're guessing at menu prices instead of using cost data
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☐ You're not tracking variance between theoretical and actual food cost
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☐ Staff meal costs are buried in your food cost (inflating your %)
If you checked 3+ boxes, let's talk. Schedule a free restaurant profitability review →