Curry Up Now
Line-Item Expense Analysis
P1-P5 2026 vs 2025
Why YoY declined - by line item

Sales -468,362 P1-P5. -13.1% top-line, +1.5 pts on prime cost.

Seven-unit corporate P&L roll-up. Numbers are the sum of all 2026 P1-P5 vs all 2025 P1-P5 across the 7 store/truck P&L sheets. UCSD is in the sales dashboard only; not in the P&L sheets.

Sales YoY
-$468K
-13.1%
Labor YoY
-$80K
31.2% → 33.4% of sales
COGS YoY
-$56K
22.8% → 24.4% of sales
Prime Cost Ratio
57.8%
vs 54.0% (3.8 pts)
Section 01

The bridge in one paragraph

Sales fell ~13% across the seven P&L units P1-P5. Wages were cut $122K and rent $67K, which protected store-level cash, but those reductions did not scale with the top-line. Labor as a percent of sales actually rose 2.2 points because the dollar cut was smaller than the sales drop. The biggest line-item items inflating cost are insurance reclass, bank charges, and operating supplies; the biggest controllable margin compressor remains 3PD promotion spend, which held flat while customer cohorts shrank.

Cost discipline - lines that came down
  • Wages (regular + OT + sick + vacation)-$121,831
  • Rent - Building-$66,798
  • 3PD Order Fees (DD, UE, EZ, OLO, Forkable, GH, other)-$45,534
  • COGS - Grocery / Dairy / Sauces-$34,290
  • Electricity-$16,968
  • Storage Rental-$15,025
Margin compressors - lines that went up
  • Benefits & Insurance+$37,574
  • Bank Charges+$31,864
  • Uncategorized / Reimbursements / Over-Short+$13,388
  • Payroll Service Fees+$10,702
  • Auto / Gas / Mileage / Travel+$7,710
  • COGS - Liquor+$7,038
Section 02

Prime cost - the only ratio that matters

Prime cost (COGS + Labor) is the single CFO read for an operator. 2026 prime cost ratio is up roughly 1.5 points on lower sales, with labor doing the deleveraging.

COGS % of sales
24.4%
vs 22.8%
+1.6 pts YoY
Labor % of sales
33.4%
vs 31.2%
+2.1 pts YoY
Prime cost % of sales
57.8%
vs 54.0%
+3.8 pts YoY
Section 03

Every expense line, ranked by YoY dollar change

Sorted by absolute dollar movement. Green = cost came down. Red = cost went up. Notes call out reclasses vs real operating changes.

Line item
Group
2025
2026
Δ $
Δ %
Wages (regular + OT + sick + vacation)
Labor
$1,003,768
$881,937
-$121,831
-12%
Rent - Building
Closure of underperforming footprint and renegotiated leases.
Occupancy
$393,345
$326,547
-$66,798
-17%
3PD Order Fees (DD, UE, EZ, OLO, Forkable, GH, other)
Real reduction tied to lower 3PD sales volume.
3PD / Marketing
$351,106
$305,572
-$45,534
-13%
Benefits & Insurance
2025 had credit balance; 2026 booked at gross. Partial reclass.
Labor
-$1,252
$36,322
+$37,574
+3001%
COGS - Grocery / Dairy / Sauces
COGS
$477,510
$443,220
-$34,290
-7%
Bank Charges
Sharp jump - audit needed. Likely captures Toast / Parafin sweeps mis-coded as bank fees.
Admin
$3,735
$35,599
+$31,864
+853%
Electricity
Largest pure utility win - rate management + closures.
Utilities
$70,755
$53,787
-$16,968
-24%
Storage Rental
Occupancy
$16,025
$1,000
-$15,025
-94%
Uncategorized / Reimbursements / Over-Short
Coding hygiene - flag for the controller.
Other
$12,878
$26,266
+$13,388
+104%
Payroll Taxes
Labor
$111,557
$99,553
-$12,004
-11%
COGS - Paper
COGS
$92,081
$81,008
-$11,073
-12%
Payroll Service Fees
New line in 2026 chart of accounts.
Labor
$0
$10,702
+$10,702
n/a
COGS - Bread
COGS
$36,834
$27,310
-$9,524
-26%
Credit Card Processing
Admin
$57,639
$49,257
-$8,382
-15%
Phone & Internet
Likely partial reclass into admin.
Utilities
$10,362
$2,398
-$7,964
-77%
Auto / Gas / Mileage / Travel
Trucks-driven; correlates with +18% truck sales.
Admin
$12,046
$19,756
+$7,710
+64%
Promotion Spend (DD + UE + in-app)
Roughly flat; ROI question vs cohort shrinkage shown in Voosh page.
3PD / Marketing
$145,451
$137,762
-$7,689
-5%
Property Taxes
Re-mapped into Permits & Licenses / Business Taxes.
Occupancy
$7,172
$0
-$7,172
-100%
Permits & Licenses / Business Taxes
Admin
$14,566
$7,474
-$7,092
-49%
COGS - Liquor
Cocktail mix lift; consistent with the menu-mix premium-customer signal.
COGS
$14,978
$22,016
+$7,038
+47%
COGS - Produce
COGS
$49,257
$43,417
-$5,840
-12%
Operating Supplies
R&M / Supplies
$3,446
$9,188
+$5,742
+167%
Contractors
Labor
$0
$5,467
+$5,467
n/a
Repairs & Maintenance
R&M / Supplies
$59,263
$54,410
-$4,853
-8%
Dues & Subscriptions
Admin
$17,466
$21,883
+$4,417
+25%
Trash
Utilities
$21,891
$25,982
+$4,091
+19%
Cleaning Supplies
R&M / Supplies
$10,383
$6,614
-$3,769
-36%
COGS - NA Beverage
COGS
$24,647
$20,991
-$3,656
-15%
Gas
Utilities
$24,030
$27,452
+$3,422
+14%
Royalty
Admin
$0
$2,979
+$2,979
n/a
Pest Control / Security
Reclassed into R&M.
R&M / Supplies
$2,569
$0
-$2,569
-100%
COGS - Beer / Wine / Bar
COGS
$9,186
$11,692
+$2,506
+27%
Linen & Laundry
R&M / Supplies
$10,062
$8,093
-$1,969
-20%
COGS - Meat (Chicken + Lamb)
COGS
$107,881
$106,856
-$1,025
-1%
Legal & Professional
Admin
$15,200
$16,178
+$978
+6%
Equipment Rental
Occupancy
$10,291
$9,803
-$488
-5%
Section 04

By cost group

Roll-up by category so you can see which buckets are actually moving the needle.

Cost group
2025
2026
Δ $
% of 2026 sales
Occupancy
$426,833
$337,350
-$89,483
10.9%
Labor
$1,114,073
$1,033,981
-$80,092
33.4%
COGS
$812,374
$756,510
-$55,864
24.4%
3PD / Marketing
$496,557
$443,334
-$53,223
14.3%
Utilities
$127,038
$109,619
-$17,419
3.5%
R&M / Supplies
$85,723
$78,305
-$7,418
2.5%
Other
$12,878
$26,266
+$13,388
0.8%
Admin
$120,652
$153,126
+$32,474
4.9%
Section 05

CFO read & priorities

What I would action this week.

Bank Charges +$32K - audit immediately

Largest unexplained increase in the file. Almost certainly Toast / Parafin daily sweeps mis-coded as bank fees, which would mean the operating P&L is overstating opex and the cash-flow page is the real story. Reclass and republish.

Insurance flipped $1.3K credit → $36K expense

Some of this is real (gross-up of GL / WC accruals), but the magnitude says a 2025 prepaid was sitting as a credit. Confirm reclass vs new premium, fix the prior-year comp.

Labor de-leveraged 2.2 pts on a flat top line

Cut $122K of wages but sales fell $468K. That is the entire story of the margin decline. Build the labor matrix on a 4-wall basis with a hard 28% target at each store before P7.

Promotion spend held flat while cohorts shrank

$138K of 3PD promo spend in 2026 vs $145K in 2025 - basically unchanged - while Voosh cohort data shows shrinking repeat. Reallocate dollars from blanket DD/UE discounting into the win-back funnel at SM and SF.

Rent -$67K is the cleanest win

Lock in. Make sure the next renewal cycle captures the same posture: lease tail leverage at SF, SJ and SM in 2027-2028 windows.

Coding hygiene

Uncategorized +$13K, Phone & Internet -$8K, Property Taxes → 0, Permits dropping in half. Most are reclass noise. Run a chart-of-accounts reconciliation 2025→2026 before the next board cut so this analysis becomes apples-to-apples.