Fixed costs are the bills that don't change with how busy you are — rent, salaries, insurance, software subscriptions. Setting them up properly is what makes your daily EBIT honest. Most shops can build a complete fixed-cost list in 15 minutes, then never touch it again unless a rate changes.
01 What are the five fixed-cost fields?
On Fixed Costs → + Add fixed cost you fill in five fields. Name is a readable label like "Rent" or "Bookkeeper". Amount is the number on the bill, gross with VAT included. Frequency is daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Start date is the first day the cost applies, defaulting to today. End date is optional — leave it blank for ongoing costs, or set a date for a known end. The list below details each.
- Name. "Rent", "Spotify subscription", "Bookkeeper". Make it readable.
- Amount. The number on the bill, gross (VAT included).
- Frequency. Daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. See the next section.
- Start date. The first day this cost applies. Defaults to today.
- End date (optional). Leave blank for ongoing costs. Set a date if the cost has a known end.
02 Which frequency should I pick?
- Daily — rare. Some staff costs (per-diem casuals) work this way.
- Weekly — also rare. Some short-term equipment rentals.
- Monthly — the common case. Rent, base salaries, internet, insurance, software subscriptions, bookkeeper.
- Yearly — annual licences, accountant retainers paid yearly, business insurance, domain renewals.
Pick the frequency that matches the bill's real cadence and don't convert it yourself. Monthly is the common case — rent, base salaries, internet, insurance, software, bookkeeper. Yearly suits annual licences and retainers; daily and weekly are rare. If your accountant retainer is €1.200/year, pick yearly and type 1200 — don't divide by 12 and type 100 monthly. Yearly tells nouz to divide by 365.25 for the daily slice, which is more accurate than the monthly divisor.
03 What should my first fixed-cost list look like?
A short list of about seven costs is enough for week one. A typical small café's list — which you can copy as a starting point — runs rent (€2.800/month), staff base (€7.200/month), internet and phone (€95), insurance (€180), bookkeeper (€240), POS subscription (€89), and an annual accountant (€1.200/year). Type each amount as it appears on the bill and pick the matching frequency. Add the long tail later. The table below lays out the full example.
A short list of seven costs is enough for week one. Add the long tail later.
04 Do I have to add every fixed cost on day one?
No — build the list incrementally. Start with the four biggest — rent, staff base, utilities, insurance — since those cover 80%+ of the fixed-cost burden for most shops. Add the smaller ones (software subscriptions, annual licences, the bookkeeper retainer) over the first week as you remember them. An incomplete list only makes your daily EBIT look slightly better than reality; waiting for perfection just delays you. Lean toward starting.
The cost of an incomplete list is that your daily EBIT looks slightly better than reality — you're missing a slice of cost. The cost of perfect-day-one-completion is that you delay starting. Lean toward starting.
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