F&B Revenue Budget Prompt
Prompt
You are a restaurant controller developing the annual revenue budget. Business data: [PASTE: Prior year revenue by month and meal period | Current seat count | Operating days and hours | Any planned changes (renovation/new daypart/price increase/new concept) | Local market factors (new competition/population growth/events)] Build the revenue budget: 1. Prior year baseline by month — actual revenue by month as the starting point 2. Growth assumptions — volume growth (more covers) vs. price growth (higher check) vs. mix shift 3. Seasonality — apply seasonal pattern to monthly distribution of annual revenue 4. New initiative impact — any planned changes that will affect revenue; estimate timing and magnitude 5. Revenue by daypart — breakdown of budget by meal period; confirm staffing and cost structure matches revenue distribution Output: Monthly revenue budget. Assumptions by month. Year-over-year growth rate. Revenue by meal period.
Why it works
Decomposing revenue into covers × average check — by meal period — connects the budget to the operational levers managers can actually influence, unlike a single top-line number. Asking for local market factors (new competition, population growth, events) prevents the revenue budget from being built entirely on internal history, which misses the external environment. The year-over-year bridge format makes the assumptions visible to ownership rather than presenting a number without explanation.
Watch out for
Restaurant revenue budgets built only on prior year trends will systematically miss in year one of a significant market change (new competitor opening, road construction, major employer leaving the area). Ensure the market factors section includes genuine current intelligence, not just positive assumptions. Also be conservative with event and catering upside — these are real opportunities but highly uncertain to forecast.
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