# Monthly P&L review for a café: the lines to read and the questions to ask

*Guides · Mays Team · May 17, 2026*

![Mays cover card: Monthly P&L review for a café: the lines to read and the questions to ask — One hour, every line, three actions for next month](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/blog__cafe-monthly-profit-and-loss-review-template__cover.7c65c76c34.png)

Your accountant sends the profit and loss statement for last month. It's two pages of numbers, the bottom line is a little lower than you hoped, and it's not obvious why. So it gets filed, and next month the same thing happens.

A P&L is only useful if you read it the same way every month and ask the same questions. This post is that routine: how to lay the P&L out so it reads like a café, which lines to look at first, what to ask when a line moves, and a worked example. Our [bookkeeping setup post](https://www.mays.app/blog/restaurant-bookkeeping-setup-chart-of-accounts) has the chart of accounts behind it; this is what you do with the statement once the month is closed.

*This is general information, not tax or accounting advice. Your accountant should set up the statement and decide how items are categorized. All figures below are hypothetical.*

## Lay it out around prime cost

Ask your accountant to group the P&L like this. Every line also gets a **% of net sales** column, because dollars rise and fall with sales and percentages tell you whether you're running the place differently.

1. **Sales**, by type (beverage, food, retail, catering), then discounts and comps, then **net sales**.
2. **Cost of goods sold**, by the same types, plus packaging.
3. **Labor**: hourly wages, salaries, payroll taxes, benefits and workers' comp.
4. **Prime cost** = COGS + labor. The two biggest costs, together. Our [prime cost guide](https://www.mays.app/blog/prime-cost-restaurant-weekly) explains it.
5. **Operating expenses**: occupancy, utilities, card fees, delivery commissions, repairs, supplies, marketing, software, insurance, professional fees.
6. **Operating profit**, then interest and depreciation, then **net profit before tax**.

## The worked example

A hypothetical café, one month:

| Line | This month | % of net sales |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Beverage sales | $38,000 |  |
| Food sales | $17,000 |  |
| Retail (beans, merchandise) | $2,000 |  |
| Catering | $3,000 |  |
| Discounts and comps | −$1,200 |  |
| **Net sales** | **$58,800** | **100%** |
| Beverage COGS | $7,600 |  |
| Food COGS | $5,950 |  |
| Retail COGS | $1,000 |  |
| Packaging and paper | $2,350 |  |
| **Total COGS** | **$16,900** | **28.7%** |
| Hourly wages | $15,800 |  |
| Manager salary | $4,500 |  |
| Payroll taxes | $1,630 |  |
| Benefits and workers' comp | $900 |  |
| **Total labor** | **$22,830** | **38.8%** |
| **Prime cost** | **$39,730** | **67.6%** |
| Rent and common area charges | $5,400 | 9.2% |
| Utilities | $1,450 | 2.5% |
| Card processing fees | $1,650 | 2.8% |
| Delivery app commissions | $600 | 1.0% |
| Repairs and maintenance | $500 | 0.9% |
| Cleaning supplies and smallwares | $650 | 1.1% |
| Marketing | $400 | 0.7% |
| Software and subscriptions | $450 | 0.8% |
| Insurance | $550 | 0.9% |
| Accounting and legal | $400 | 0.7% |
| Other | $250 | 0.4% |
| **Total operating expenses** | **$12,300** | **20.9%** |
| **Operating profit** | **$6,770** | **11.5%** |
| Loan interest | $420 |  |
| Depreciation | $900 |  |
| **Net profit before tax** | **$5,450** | **9.3%** |

And the comparison that makes it useful:

| Line | Last month | This month | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Net sales | $55,000 | $58,800 | +$3,800 |
| COGS % | 27.6% | 28.7% | +1.1 points |
| Labor % | 39.4% | 38.8% | −0.6 points |
| Prime cost % | 67.0% | 67.6% | +0.6 points |
| Operating expenses % | 21.8% | 20.9% | −0.9 points |
| Operating profit | $6,150 (11.2%) | $6,770 (11.5%) | +$620 |

Sales grew, labor and fixed costs were spread over more sales, and profit went up, but less than it could have: COGS rose 1.1 points. That's the line to dig into this month.

## The review sheet

Fill this in each month. Compare with last month, with the same month last year once you have one, and with your own target.

**Month** ________ **Reviewed by** ________ **Date** ________

| Line | This month % | Last month % | Target % | Moved more than you expected? | Why (your answer) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Net sales ($) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Discounts and comps |  |  |  |  |  |
| COGS |  |  |  |  |  |
| Labor |  |  |  |  |  |
| Prime cost |  |  |  |  |  |
| Occupancy |  |  |  |  |  |
| Card fees |  |  |  |  |  |
| Delivery commissions |  |  |  |  |  |
| Repairs |  |  |  |  |  |
| Operating profit |  |  |  |  |  |

**Three actions for next month:**

1. ________________________________ Owner ________
2. ________________________________ Owner ________
3. ________________________________ Owner ________

Set your targets from your own first few months and your [break-even math](https://www.mays.app/blog/break-even-point-small-cafe), not from someone else's café.

## The questions to ask, line by line

### Sales

- **Up or down, and why?** Weather, a holiday, a closed day, a catering order, a price change. Write the reason next to the number.
- **The mix:** did food grow faster than beverage? If your food runs at a higher cost % than your drinks (your plate costs will tell you), a shift in the mix moves COGS % even if nothing else changed.
- **Discounts and comps:** who gave them and for what? A rising comp line is often a training or quality problem, not a marketing one.

### Cost of goods sold

COGS for a month is **opening inventory + purchases − closing inventory**. If one of the three is off, COGS is off.

- **Was the count right?** A rushed or skipped end-of-month count moves COGS more than any price change. Our [inventory count sheet](https://www.mays.app/blog/weekly-inventory-count-sheet-template) makes the counts consistent.
- **Invoice timing:** did a big order arrive on the 30th and get counted as a purchase but not on the shelf? Or the other way round?
- **Prices:** which items went up? Check the invoices for your top ten items by spend.
- **Waste:** what does the [waste log](https://www.mays.app/blog/cafe-food-waste-log) say for the month?
- **Portions and recipes:** if prices and counts are right, compare what you used with what your recipes say you should have used. The gap is over-portioning, waste nobody logged, or theft.

### Labor

- **Hours or rate?** Labor % moves when hours go up, when wages go up, or when sales go down. Split them. Our [labor cost % guide](https://www.mays.app/blog/labor-cost-percentage-weekly-review) has the weekly version.
- **Overtime:** how much, who, and was it planned?
- **Payroll timing:** a month with three pay dates instead of two can make labor look high on a cash-basis P&L. Ask your accountant whether wages are booked when earned or when paid.

### Operating expenses

- **Card fees** rise with card sales. If they rose faster than sales, look at your statement's effective rate. See [card processing fees](https://www.mays.app/blog/card-processing-fees-surcharging-cafe).
- **Delivery commissions:** are the apps' sales worth what they cost? Our [delivery apps cost guide](https://www.mays.app/blog/delivery-apps-cost-small-restaurant) shows the math.
- **Repairs:** a one-off, or the same machine again? Check the [equipment maintenance log](https://www.mays.app/blog/equipment-maintenance-log-template).
- **Subscriptions:** anything you're paying for and no longer use?

### The bottom

- **Operating profit vs cash:** profit isn't cash. Loan principal, equipment purchases and owner draws don't show on the P&L but come out of the bank. Keep the [13-week cash flow forecast](https://www.mays.app/blog/cafe-13-week-cash-flow-forecast) next to it.

## The one-hour routine

| Minutes | What |
| --- | --- |
| 0 to 10 | Check the statement is complete: every vendor invoice in, the month's inventory count entered, payroll for the month booked |
| 10 to 25 | Fill the review sheet: % of sales for every line, last month and target |
| 25 to 45 | For the two or three lines that moved most, answer the questions above, with invoices and reports open |
| 45 to 55 | Write three actions, each with an owner |
| 55 to 60 | Check last month's three actions: done, or carried over? |

## Where Mays fits

Mays isn't accounting software: it doesn't keep your rent, utilities or other expenses, and it doesn't produce a P&L. It keeps several of the inputs, by month:

- **Prime Cost** (**Insights → Prime Cost**, for admins): **Revenue** from Square or Union POS, **Labor Cost**, **Theoretical COGS** from your recipes and mapped sales, and **Invoice Spend** from posted invoices, with **Labor %**, **Food %** and **Prime Cost %**, grouped by **Day**, **Week** or **Month**. See [Prime cost](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/prime-cost).
- **What you bought** (**Insights → Vendor Spend**): posted invoices **By Vendor** or **By Category**, by week, month or quarter, for the "prices" question. See [Vendor spend](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/vendor-spend).
- **Hours and overtime** (**Insights → Labor Cost** and **Scheduling → Reports**): scheduled against worked hours, and **Actuals** per day with **Export CSV**.
- **Every invoice** under **Inventory → Invoices**, with the document attached, for the "invoice timing" question. See [Vendor invoices](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/vendor-invoices).

Two things to know so the numbers match your P&L. **Mays's labor cost is wages only:** payroll taxes and benefits aren't included, so it will be lower than the labor line on your statement. And **its food cost is theoretical:** what your recipes say your sales used. Your P&L's COGS is actual, so the gap between the two is the waste, portioning and theft question above.

## Read it the same way every month

Lay the P&L out around prime cost, put a % next to every line, ask the same questions when a line moves, and leave the hour with three actions. After a few months, the P&L stops being a surprise.

[**Start your free trial**](https://go.mays.app/register): 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or [book a walkthrough](https://www.mays.app/book?from=blog-cafe-monthly-profit-and-loss-review-template) and we'll set up your prime cost view with you.

## Related help articles

- Reports & insights: [Prime cost](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/prime-cost) — Prime Cost puts each day's sales next to its labor cost and theoretical food cost, and shows the share of sales each one takes. Web app, admins by default.
- Reports & insights: [Labor cost insights](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/labor-cost-insights) — Labor Cost compares staffing with sales hour by hour, scheduled hours with hours worked, and tracks labor cost as a share of sales over time. Web app, admins by default.
- Reports & insights: [Vendor spend](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/vendor-spend) — Vendor Spend totals what you spent with each vendor from posted invoices, shows it by week, month or quarter, and flags items whose price moved. Web app, admins by default.
- Inventory: [Vendor invoices](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/vendor-invoices) — Record what vendors delivered and charged. Scan or photograph an invoice, upload its PDF, share it from your phone or email it in, and the AI drafts it; check the lines next to the document, then post it to add the stock and update your prices.
- Scheduling: [Scheduling reports](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/scheduling-reports) — Ten ready-made reports on sales, labor, hours, overtime, time off, attendance, the shift pool and tips — for any date range, one location at a time, with CSV export.
- Reports & insights: [Alerts and scheduled reports](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/alerts-and-scheduled-reports) — Get a notification when labor runs hot, a vendor raises a price or a form reading is out of range, and have a labor, prime cost or vendor spend summary emailed every week or month.

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/blog/cafe-monthly-profit-and-loss-review-template