Fixed business costs
Log your recurring business costs and let AreaCacao allocate them to a monthly total to spread across your recipes.
What it is
Fixed business costs are the recurring costs that aren't tied to a specific recipe (rent, utilities, insurance, marketing…). This screen logs them and allocates them to a monthly total so the app can spread them proportionally across your production.
The screen subtitle reads: "Monthly fixed costs to allocate across your recipes."
How to get there
- Path:
https://app.areacacao.com/costs/business - How to reach it: Cost management hub → Fixed business costs tile.
Why it matters
Without accounting for fixed costs, the calculated cost of a recipe is optimistic: margins that look healthy on screen but don't cover your real costs. Allocating them to a monthly total gives you the indirect cost that each product carries.
What you see
KPIs
- Total monthly (allocated) — the sum of all your costs already normalized to a monthly figure.
- Costs defined — how many costs you have on file.
- Average / cost — the average amount per cost.
List grouped by category
Costs are grouped by category. Each group shows its icon, its number of costs, and its total € /mo. The available categories are:
- Facility costs
- Utilities
- Administrative staff
- Insurance and licenses
- Marketing and advertising
- Maintenance and repairs
- Professional services
- Cleaning
- Other costs
How allocation works
Allocation is solely a normalization by recurrence to a monthly total. The app applies:
| Recurrence | Contribution to the monthly total |
|---|---|
| Monthly | The full amount |
| Quarterly | The amount divided by 3 |
| Annual | The amount divided by 12 |
| One-time | Does not add to the monthly total |
| Custom | Does not add to the monthly total |
There are no allocation methods "by productive hours," "by weight produced," or "manual." The only criterion is the cost's recurrence normalized to a monthly figure.
Add or edit a cost
Open the form
Click New cost (or Create your first cost if you don't have any yet). The New business cost modal opens, with the subtitle "It will be allocated monthly across your recipes." To edit an existing one, use its pencil icon: it opens the same modal in Edit cost mode.
Fill in the fields
- Name (required) — placeholder e.g. Workshop rent, Electricity, Liability insurance…
- Category — one of the nine listed above.
- Recurrence — Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, One-time, or Custom. The default value when you create a cost is Monthly.
- Amount (required) — in euros (for example 800.00).
- Type — Fixed or Variable.
- Description — optional; placeholder Supplier, terms, notes.
Save
Click Save (or Cancel). The cost lands in its category group and the KPIs recalculate.
To delete a cost, use its trash icon; the app asks for confirmation: "Delete this cost?".
Empty states
- Empty: "You haven't logged any business costs yet. Start by adding rent, utilities, marketing, and so on."
- Modal validation: "Enter a name", "Enter a valid amount".
Best practices
- Review your fixed costs at least every six months.
- Add each cost with the recurrence at which you actually pay it (annual, quarterly, monthly); the app normalizes it for you.
Availability by plan
Available on all plans.
Next steps
Rate Settings
Set your labor's hourly rate (with a burden %) and your equipment cost by depreciation or per use, from the cost screen or without leaving the recipe.
Cost breakdown (PDF)
Printable report with a recipe's batch and per-unit cost, food cost, cost composition, and selling prices per sales channel.