Cake pricing calculator
for bakers

How to price a cake: calculate your true cost

The cost price adds up three items that many artisans underestimate:

• 1. Raw materials — every ingredient at its real purchase price, down to the gram: (price per kg × quantity in g) ÷ 1000. This is the classic recipe cost sheet.
• 2. Labor — your hours have a price, even when it's you doing the work: time spent × hourly rate. A fraisier that takes 2 hours at €25/h is €50 of work before the first gram of flour.
• 3. Overheads — oven energy, packaging, travel, subscriptions, waste and mishaps: count on 10 to 20% of the subtotal depending on your setup.

From cost price to selling price

The selling price isn't the cost price plus “a little something”: set a target margin (30% is a reasonable floor for custom work) — net price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). Then add VAT: 5.5% for take-away sweet products, 10% for on-site consumption — and 20% on certain add-on services. When in doubt, your accountant decides based on your activity.

The costliest mistakes: forgetting your own time, “rounding down” to please people, ignoring waste, and copying a competitor's prices when their costs have nothing to do with yours.