Free 2026 Hotel Break-Even Calculator Spreadsheet Excel Template

How to use the template

1. Set the property assumptions

Open the Assumptions sheet and enter the property name, property type, reporting year, and default cost assumptions. Monetary values are presented in U.S. dollars.

• Default room variable cost per occupied room
• Default distribution commission rate
• Default food-and-beverage variable cost rate
• Default other revenue variable cost rate

The sheet also includes internal thresholds for occupancy warnings, minimum margin of safety, and high out-of-order room-night rates.

2. Enter one row for each month

On the Monthly Plan sheet, use the first day of the month in the Month field and assign a Plan Status of Actual, Forecast, or Budget. Enter rooms in inventory, days open, out-of-order room nights, planned occupancy, and average daily rate.

Add food-and-beverage revenue per occupied room, other monthly revenue, fixed payroll and benefits, other fixed operating costs, and target operating profit. Revenue inputs should be net of guest-paid lodging taxes, sales taxes, and similar pass-through amounts.

3. Use defaults or monthly overrides

Leave the override fields blank when the default assumptions apply. For an individual month, enter overrides for room variable cost, commission rate, food-and-beverage variable cost, or other revenue variable cost. The workbook then uses those values as the month’s effective variable-cost assumptions.

4. Review the calculated monthly results

The Monthly Plan calculates gross available and sellable room nights, planned rooms sold, revenue, variable costs, contribution margin, fixed costs, and operating profit or loss. It also calculates break-even occupied room nights, break-even occupancy, break-even revenue, target-profit occupancy, occupancy gap, and margin of safety.

5. Select a Dashboard reporting month

Choose a month in the Dashboard’s Selected Reporting Month field. Review the selected-month KPI summary, break-even status, 2026 summary, conditional formatting, and two charts based on Monthly Plan results.

How does the hotel break-even occupancy calculation work?

The spreadsheet first calculates gross available room nights from rooms in inventory and days open. It subtracts out-of-order room nights to determine sellable room nights, then applies planned occupancy to estimate rooms sold.

Contribution margin equals total net operating revenue less variable costs. Room contribution reflects average daily rate after distribution commissions, food-and-beverage contribution associated with occupied rooms, and room-level variable cost. Other monthly revenue contributes after its applicable variable cost.

Break-even occupied room nights represent the occupied nights needed to cover the remaining fixed costs. Dividing that result by sellable room nights produces break-even occupancy. The workbook also calculates break-even revenue and compares planned occupancy with the break-even requirement.

What hotel revenue and cost inputs are included?

Monthly revenue planning covers room revenue, food-and-beverage revenue per occupied room, and other monthly revenue. Room revenue is calculated from planned rooms sold and average daily rate. Food-and-beverage revenue is tied to occupied room volume, while other revenue is entered as a monthly amount.

Variable-cost inputs include room variable cost per occupied room, distribution commission rate, food-and-beverage variable cost rate, and other revenue variable cost rate. Fixed costs are divided into fixed payroll and benefits and other fixed operating costs.

The Assumptions notes explain that interest, depreciation, owner distributions, and capital expenditures are excluded unless management intentionally includes them in other fixed operating costs. That makes a consistent operating-profit definition important when entering assumptions.

How can hotel teams use the monthly plan?

The Monthly Plan supports Actual, Forecast, and Budget status selections. Revenue management can update occupancy and average daily rate, while operations leaders can review out-of-order rooms and room-level variable costs. Food-and-beverage leaders can maintain revenue per occupied room and its variable cost rate.

Finance can update fixed payroll, other fixed operating costs, and target operating profit. The general manager can then review operating profit or loss, occupancy gap, margin of safety, break-even status, and operational checks.

After month-end, a Forecast or Budget row can be changed to Actual and its planning inputs replaced with final operating results. This creates a consistent structure for reviewing monthly performance without changing the calculated columns.

What does target-profit occupancy show?

Break-even occupancy identifies the occupancy required to cover the entered operating costs. Target-profit occupancy goes further by adding the monthly target operating profit to the amount that must be covered.

This allows operators to compare three distinct figures: planned occupancy, break-even occupancy, and target-profit occupancy. The occupancy gap shows the difference between the plan and break-even point, while margin of safety indicates the operating cushion above break-even.

If break-even occupancy or target-profit occupancy exceeds 100%, the entered revenue and cost structure cannot reach that result within the month’s sellable room-night capacity. Operators can then review ADR, ancillary revenue, out-of-order inventory, variable costs, fixed costs, or the target itself.