Version française de ce calculateur
What EBITDA actually tells you
EBITDA is what a business earns from trading, before the cost of its debt, its tax position and the wear on its equipment. Strip those three away and what remains is the performance of the activity itself — which is why it is the figure buyers, lenders and investors reach for first.
It is not profit, and it is not cash. A business can show a healthy EBITDA and still run out of money, because EBITDA says nothing about loan repayments, about the equipment you will have to replace, or about customers who pay late. Read it as a measure of trading, not of survival.
The formula
Revenue − cost of goods and materials − external charges − taxes other than income tax − staff costs
A worked example. A business invoices €450,000 over the year. It spends €180,000 on goods and materials, €90,000 on rent, utilities, insurance and professional fees, €8,000 on local business taxes, and €120,000 on salaries and social contributions. Its EBITDA is €52,000, a margin of 11.6% of revenue. All figures exclude VAT.
There is a second route, starting from net profit and adding back interest, tax and depreciation. It reaches the same number from the other end, and is useful when you have a finished set of accounts rather than a list of costs.
What counts as a good margin
Nothing, in the abstract. The same margin can be excellent or alarming depending on what the business does. These are median EBITDA margins for French companies under €2m of revenue — half of each sector sits below the figure shown, half above.
| Sector | Median EBITDA margin |
|---|---|
| Healthcare practices | 14.5% |
| Hotels and accommodation | 13.2% |
| Restaurants | 12.4% |
| Real estate | 12.2% |
| Fast food and bars | 10.8% |
| Consulting and business services | 10.7% |
| Non-food retail | 9.3% |
| Bakery and artisan food | 8.8% |
| Software and IT services | 8.0% |
| Manufacturing | 5.7% |
| Construction and building trades | 5.3% |
| Hairdressing and beauty | 5.1% |
| Transport and logistics | 3.7% |
| Grocery and convenience stores | 2.7% |
| Supermarkets and minimarkets | 0.6% |
Source: INPI/BCE sector financial indicators, data.economie.gouv.fr, Open Licence 2.0. Medians calculated on filed accounts, 2021 vintage, companies under €2m of revenue.
A French calculator, in English
This page is written for people who run or advise a business that files its accounts in France and would rather work in English — founders who moved here, finance teams with international members, buyers looking at a French target.
That is a deliberate limit, and it is worth being plain about. The line references in the calculator point to the French tax return — forms 2033-B for the simplified regime and 2052 for the standard one. The benchmark table above comes from French public filings. The arithmetic is universal and you are welcome to use it anywhere; the comparison is not, and measuring a business in Leeds or Chicago against French medians would tell you nothing useful.
Frequently asked questions
What is EBITDA?
EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation. It measures what a business earns from trading alone, before the cost of its debt, its tax position and the wear on its equipment. Because it strips out financing and accounting choices, it is the figure most often used to compare two businesses, or to price one.
How do you calculate EBITDA?
The simplest route subtracts operating costs from revenue: revenue − cost of goods and materials − external charges − taxes other than income tax − staff costs. On €450,000 of revenue with €180,000 of purchases, €90,000 of external charges, €8,000 of taxes and €120,000 of staff costs, EBITDA is €52,000, a margin of 11.6%.
What is a good EBITDA margin?
There is no universal answer: it depends entirely on the sector. Among French businesses under €2m of revenue, the median operating margin ranges from 0.5% in supermarkets to 14.5% in healthcare practices. A 6% margin is weak for a consultancy and strong for a grocery. That is why this calculator asks for your sector rather than issuing a verdict in the abstract.
Is EBITDA the same as operating profit?
No. Operating profit is calculated after depreciation and amortisation; EBITDA is calculated before. The gap between the two is the annual write-down of equipment and intangibles. In a capital-intensive business the gap is wide; in a consultancy with a laptop and a desk it is almost nil.
Does this calculator work outside France?
The arithmetic does — the five items exist in every accounting system. Two things do not travel: the line references point to the French tax return, forms 2033-B and 2052; and the sector medians come from French public filings. If your business files elsewhere, use the calculator and ignore the benchmark.
Is anything stored or sent?
No. There is no account, no email capture and no analytics cookie. Your figures live in the address bar of your own browser and nowhere else, which is also why the site needs no consent banner.
The rest of the site is in French: EBITDA, EBE, break-even point and food cost.