Free tools Bakery pricing
Add the ingredient cost of the batch, the labour cost (hours times your hourly rate) and an overhead allowance, then divide by the number of cakes the batch makes. That is your true cost per cake. Divide that cost by one minus your target margin to get the selling price. A 60% margin on a $12 cake cost gives a $30 price.
Price per unit = ((ingredients + hours × rate) × (1 + overhead %) ÷ yield) ÷ (1 − margin %)
For information and estimates only. Makeable's formulas, batch limits and margin calculations are mathematical estimates based on your inputs. They are not certified accounting, financial, pricing or tax advice. You are solely responsible for setting your own wholesale and retail prices, ensuring profitability, and checking cost calculations before committing money.
A batch of four 8 inch cakes uses $18 of ingredients and 2.5 hours of work at $18 an hour, with 15% overhead.
Result. Price each cake at about $30. Anything under $18.11 loses money once your time is counted.
Enter the extra decorating hours and any special ingredients as their own batch. If the price the customer offers is below the price the calculator shows at your minimum margin, the order is subsidised by your time.
The second question is whether you can make it at all this week. Makeable checks the order against the flour, butter and boxes you actually have and tells you which ingredient runs out first.
A spreadsheet works for one recipe. It breaks when butter goes up and twenty recipe tabs need editing, or when three orders compete for the same stock. Makeable stores each ingredient once, so a price change updates every recipe cost and every order's feasibility at the same time.
Many home and cottage food bakers aim for 30 to 50% margin after paying themselves an hourly wage. Below 20% there is little room for waste, failed bakes or price rises.
Set the yield to the number of slices across the batch instead of the number of cakes. The calculator returns cost and price per slice.
Yes. If labour is left out the price only covers ingredients, and the business cannot pay you or anyone you hire later.
Margin is profit divided by price. Markup is profit divided by cost. A 50% margin equals a 100% markup.
Express each ingredient as a percentage of flour weight, then multiply each weight by its cost per gram. The total is the batch cost, which you divide by yield as above.
For information and estimates only. Makeable's formulas, batch limits and margin calculations are mathematical estimates based on your inputs. They are not certified accounting, financial, pricing or tax advice. You are solely responsible for setting your own wholesale and retail prices, ensuring profitability, and checking cost calculations before committing money.