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Free tool

Late Ticket Cost Calculator

Puts a monthly and yearly dollar figure on tickets that leave the pass late, for operators deciding whether a slow station or a messy expo is worth fixing.

Your numbers

Results update as you type.

Your estimate

Late tickets per week...
Expected cost per late ticket...
Monthly cost of late tickets...
Annual cost of late tickets...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

Every kitchen knows it has late tickets. Very few know what they cost. A ticket that leaves the window twelve minutes after it was fired usually ends in one of three places: a comped appetizer, a remade entree, or a discount the manager quietly applies at the table. Each one is small on its own. Multiplied over six nights a week, they are often the size of a full-time salary. This calculator turns your late ticket rate into a number you can defend in a budget meeting.

It starts with your covers per night and the average covers per ticket to estimate how many tickets you actually run. Your late ticket percentage gives the late count. Not every late ticket costs money, so you enter the share that ends in a comp, remake or discount, and the average dollar cost when it does. The tool multiplies those out to a weekly, monthly and yearly figure. It counts direct costs only. Lost tips, lost regulars and slower table turns are real but are not included, so the result is a floor, not a ceiling.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter covers per night, nights per week and average covers per ticket from your POS reports.
  2. Set the percentage of tickets that leave late using your KDS summary or a hand count over two busy nights.
  3. Estimate how often a late ticket turns into a comp and what it costs, then read the monthly and annual figures.

What the math assumes

  • A year has 52 operating weeks and a month is 52 divided by 12 weeks; closed weeks and holidays are not subtracted.
  • Every ticket has the same chance of running late; in practice large parties and multi-station tickets run late more often than two-tops.
  • Only direct costs are counted: comps, remakes and discounts. Lost tips, bad reviews and slower table turns are excluded.
  • The expected cost per late ticket is the comp rate multiplied by the average comp cost; late tickets the guest never notices cost nothing here.
  • Covers per ticket converts covers into tickets and should come from your own POS, not from a benchmark.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a late ticket?

Whatever standard your kitchen already holds itself to, for example any entree ticket over 15 minutes from fire to pass. Use the same definition you use on the line so the rate matches reality.

Why is the cost per late ticket so low?

Because most late tickets do not end in a comp. The tool multiplies the chance of a comp by its cost, so a $22 comp that happens on one in four late tickets is worth $5.50 per late ticket on average.

Can I use this to justify a kitchen display system or expo software?

You can compare the annual figure against the cost of a fix, but be honest about how much of the late rate the fix will remove. Cutting late tickets by a third is a more realistic target than eliminating them.

Link to this toolhttps://platepassr.com/tools/late-ticket-cost-calculator/

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