AI cost assistant
Analyze your fixed costs and costed recipes with AI and get recommended overhead, suggested markup, break-even, report charts, and a PDF export.
What it is
The AI cost assistant analyzes your fixed business costs and your costed recipes, and returns recommendations for overhead, markup, and break-even. It's an AI-assisted read of your costs designed to help you set prices with confidence.
Its on-screen description is: "Analyzes your fixed costs and costed recipes, and recommends overhead, markup, and break-even."
How to get there
- Path:
https://app.areacacao.com/cost-assistant - How to get there: from the Cost management hub, click the Analyze with AI tile (~8 credits). It isn't a sidebar item: you always enter from the cost hub.
The link at the top of this screen is Back to dashboard, which takes you to the dashboard (not to the cost hub). If you want to return to the cost hub, navigate there from the dashboard or from the sidebar (FORMULATION → Costs).
Each run uses about 8 credits. Generate the analysis when your fixed costs and recipe costs are up to date, so each run is worth it.
Before you start
The analysis draws on two sources, so keep them up to date:
- Your fixed business costs (Fixed business costs): their monthly total is the Monthly indirect costs figure. If you haven't logged any, the assistant uses the fixed amounts of your indirect-type cost centers instead.
- Your costed recipes: the ones with a saved calculation in their Costs tab, with their selling prices.
The screen itself reminds you: "This analysis draws on your business fixed costs and your costed recipes. Review them in /costs and in each recipe's Costs tab. Each run uses ~8 credits."
How to use it
Generate the analysis
Click Generate analysis. While the AI is working, the button shows Analyzing….
Review the results
When it finishes you'll see the indicators, your catalog, the charts, and the recommendations (detailed below). To recalculate with updated data, the button changes to Re-run analysis (which uses credits again).
Save or print the report
Next to the generate button you'll see Print / Save PDF. Click it to open your browser's print dialog and save the full report as a PDF or send it to the printer.
What you get
Three main indicators:
- Monthly indirect costs — the monthly total of your fixed costs, in your profile currency. The app calculates it, not the AI.
- Suggested overhead — the recommended overhead percentage.
- Break-even — the break-even point, as N units / month: your monthly fixed costs divided by the average contribution margin per unit of your costed recipes. The app calculates this too; if it can't be calculated, you'll see a dash.
Your catalog
A Your catalog block summarizes what the assistant read from your recipes:
- Costed recipes — how many have a cost calculation out of the total (for example 12 / 30).
- Average food cost — the average share of ingredients in the selling price, across recipes that have a price.
- Avg cost / unit.
- Most expensive recipe, with its cost per unit.
- If any recipe goes over 35% food cost, an amber notice names them: "N recipes with high food cost (>35%)".
If you don't have any costed recipes yet, the block says so: "You don't have any costed recipes yet. Add costs in your recipes' Costs tab so the analysis uses your real figures."
Report charts
A Report charts section visualizes the analysis with two charts:
- Break-even projection — a line chart where Fixed costs (flat line) and Cumulative contribution (rising line) cross exactly at break-even. The horizontal axis is in Units/mo and a dashed guide marks the crossover point. A note underneath clarifies: "Theoretical projection from your fixed costs and average contribution per unit; not actual sales."
- Suggested markup range — a bar chart comparing the Minimum factor with the Recommended one, so you can see the gap between the two limits.
Recommended markup
- Recommended markup — a suggested range with a Minimum factor (×N) and a Recommended (premium) factor (×N). The screen clarifies: "Multiply the base cost by the factor to get the suggested selling price." To learn more about turning these factors into selling prices, see Margin, markup, channels and break-even.
Insights and actions
- Insights — AI-generated observations about your cost structure, quoting your recipes and figures. Only shown if the analysis returns observations.
- Next steps — recommended actions. Only shown if the analysis returns recommendations.
At the bottom of the result you'll see "Generated with AI" along with the date.
Saving and printing
Once the analysis is generated, the Print / Save PDF button opens your browser's native print dialog. From there you can save the full report (indicators, catalog, charts, markup, insights, and next steps) as a PDF to archive it or share it with your team.
Error states
- Not enough credits: the "You're out of credits" window opens, with options to get more; if your subscription has a pending payment, the window is "Payment pending".
- Any other failure: you'll see "Couldn't generate analysis" or the server's message (for example, if the AI service is unavailable at that moment).
Plan availability
Available on all plans. Each run uses credits from your balance.