Pour cost calculator for bars
Type in what a bottle costs and what you charge for a pour. The calculator works out the cost per pour, your pour cost percentage and the price you need to hit your target, in your own currency.
Work out your pour cost
Fill in your numbers. The prices are for one bottle and one pour. The currency is picked from your location, so change it if it is wrong. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Your numbers
Your results
- Pours per bottle
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- Cost per pour
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- Selling price before tax
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- Pour cost
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- Gross profit per pour
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- Price needed for your target, before tax
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- Price needed for your target, tax included
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The results assume every pour is exactly the pour size and nothing is spilled, over-poured or given away. A stock take shows what really happens.
How the calculator works it out
Six short sums. You can do them on a phone calculator, and the page works the same way without JavaScript.
| Result | Formula |
|---|---|
| Pours per bottle | bottle size / pour size |
| Cost per pour | bottle cost / pours per bottle |
| Selling price before tax | selling price / (1 + tax rate) |
| Pour cost | cost per pour / selling price before tax, shown as a percentage |
| Gross profit per pour | selling price before tax - cost per pour |
| Price needed for your target | cost per pour / target pour cost, then x (1 + tax rate) if you quote prices with tax |
Pour cost is measured against the price before tax, because the tax is not yours to keep. The tax box starts at the usual rate for your country where we are sure of it: 15 percent in South Africa and Namibia, 16 in Kenya, 20 in the United Kingdom and 0 in the United States, where sales tax is added at the till. Anywhere else it starts at 15 percent, so check it against your own rate. If your menu prices already exclude tax, set it to 0.
A R240 bottle poured at 25 ml, sold at R42 a pour
A 750 ml bottle costs R240. A pour is 25 ml and sells for R42 with 15 percent tax included. The target pour cost is 20 percent.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Pours per bottle | 750 ml / 25 ml | 30 pours |
| Cost per pour | R240 / 30 | R8.00 |
| Selling price before tax | R42 / 1.15 | R36.52 |
| Pour cost | R8.00 / R36.52 | 21.9% |
| Gross profit per pour | R36.52 - R8.00 | R28.52 |
| Price needed for a 20% target, before tax | R8.00 / 0.20 | R40.00 |
| Price needed for a 20% target, tax included | R40.00 x 1.15 | R46.00 |
So this pour sits 1.9 points above the 20 percent target. Charging R46.00 with tax included would reach it. The example is in rand; the calculator above uses your own currency, and the sums are the same in any currency.
What a good pour cost looks like
There is no single right number. You will often see roughly 18 to 25 percent quoted for spirits as a rough industry rule of thumb. Treat it as a starting point, not a fact about your bar: the right figure depends on what you charge, what your customers pay for and how much of your sales are spirits.
The pour size moves the answer more than most people expect. A 750 ml bottle gives 30 pours at 25 ml but only 21.4 at 35 ml, so the same R240 bottle costs R8.00 a pour at the smaller size and R11.20 at the larger one.
The calculator gives the theoretical pour cost. Your actual pour cost is what the stock take shows: the cost of the stock that left the bar against what the till says you sold. Over-pours, spillage, free drinks and theft push the actual figure above the theoretical one, and the gap between the two is your variance.
To measure that gap, count your open bottles at every stock take. The free bar stock sheet gives you a count sheet and a variance tab, and the guide on weighing liquor bottles for inventory covers a more exact way to count open bottles.
What WeighIt costs
We set everything up: your products loaded from your spreadsheet, a Bluetooth scale included and couriered to you, and step-by-step guides and video tutorials for your first stock take. No subscription required.
Monthly variance report against POS sales, unlimited products and users, and priority support. Month to month, no long-term contract.
Questions about pour cost
What is pour cost?
Pour cost is the cost of the liquor in one pour as a percentage of what you sell that pour for, before tax. A pour that costs 8.00 and sells for 40.00 before tax has a pour cost of 20 percent.
How do I work out the cost per pour?
Divide the bottle size by the pour size to get the pours per bottle, then divide the bottle cost by that number. A 750 ml bottle that costs 240, poured at 25 ml, gives 30 pours at 8.00 each.
What is a good pour cost for a bar?
There is no single right number. Roughly 18 to 25 percent is often quoted for spirits as a rule of thumb, but it is not a fact about your bar. Use the target box to see the price your own target needs.
Should the selling price include tax?
Pour cost is worked out on the price before tax. If your menu prices include tax, enter the tax rate and the calculator takes it out. The box starts at 15 percent in South Africa and Namibia, 16 in Kenya, 20 in the United Kingdom and 0 in the United States, and at 15 anywhere else, so check it against your own rate. If your prices exclude tax, set the box to 0.
Why is my real pour cost higher than the calculator says?
The calculator assumes every pour is exactly the pour size and nothing is lost. In a bar, over-pours, spillage, free drinks and theft push the real figure up. A stock take shows the real figure by comparing what left the bottles with what the till sold.
Can I use ounces or another currency?
Yes. The calculator picks your currency from your time zone when you open it, and you can change it in the currency box. The list covers R, N$, P, KSh, USh, TSh, K, NGN, GHS, US$, GBP, EUR, A$ and C$. It only sets the label on the money boxes and results and does not convert anything. The pour size is in millilitres, so type 44 for a US 1.5 oz pour, which is about 44 ml.
Does the calculator keep what I type?
No. It runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us. The only thing it remembers on your device is the currency you pick, so it opens in that currency next time.
How much does WeighIt cost?
The once-off setup, scale included, is R7,500 per site. The variance programme is then R4,000 per site per month. The pour cost calculator is free whether or not you use WeighIt.
Get the app and watch how it works
WeighIt runs on iPhone, Android and the web. The tutorial videos cover the setup, the scale and a full stock take.
Ask about WeighIt for your bar
Tell us your venue type and how many sites you run. We reply by email.