I know, you would rather get out your pencil, paper and calculator to make your own liquor cost calculator to figure out how much you’d like to charge for that shiny new bottle you brought into your bar, right? Wrong!
Use the calculator I made below to quickly do the math based on bottle size, shot size, tax style and price you would like to charge.
If you’re not sure about some of the settings, I’ll give you some more detailed definitions below the calculator.
In the meantime, enjoy!
Check out our FREE Draft Beer Calculator!
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Liquor Cost Calculator Instructions
As simple as it is, if you’re not familiar it can be confusing:
Bottle Size
In the Liquor cost calculator, choose from the standard Litre size bottle or
750ml (some people call a “Fifth”) or
1.75ml which some call a “handle.”
Bottle Cost
This should be the actual, invoiced bottle cost you pay. Include any service fees, sin-tax, etc. The more accurate the info, the more accurate your results.
Tax Rate
This is the total sales tax rate you pay in your county, city, state. Enter it as a decimal (pennies.) For example a 7% sales tax is entered at $0.07 in this field.
Drink Sale Price
Enter the amount in the Liquor cost calculator you would like to charge for a one shot pour of this drink.This is not a recipe card for use with multiple ingredients. Check our resource page for other, more complicated downloadable forms.
Cost Percentage (Add-on Sales Tax)
Some establishments charge Sales Tax in addition to the drink price. Example a Rum and Coke is $4.50 + 7% sales tax, the customer is charged $4.82. This result represents the “Cost of Goods %” for this particular drink in this particular scenario.
Profit with Add-on Sales Tax (per drink)
This result is the Dollar figure profit from the drink sold at this price. (Price-Cost=Profit)
Cost Percentage (Inclusive Tax)
Some establishments charge a customer a price which includes the sales tax in order to not deal with small change. In this scenario the customer is charged $4.50 for a Rum and Coke which includes the 7% sales tax. The result is the establishment only realizes 93% of the sale price in the profit.
Some bars will use both types of sales (inclusive and add-on) in different outlets or order types. Different localities and states have different laws so make sure you run it by your tax accountant before making any changes.
Profit with Inclusive Tax (per drink)
As explained in the Cost percentage, the establishment only realizes the drink price minus the sales tax percentage. The formula here in the Liquor cost calculator is basically (Drink Price – Sales tax – Cost of Goods = Profit)
Check out our FREE Draft Beer Calculator!
Chuck Johnson is a 30 year hospitality industry veteran, former owner and has contributed his expertise to various operations, print publications and radio programs throughout his career. Email at: cjohnson@eriehospitality.com
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thank you for your calculators they make my job easiser but they seem to be down now.
Sorry about that – broken code from an update. Should be good now, cheers!