| |
| |
| Free Hospitality Publications |
|
|
|
Restaurant Industry News
|
Monday August 6th, 2007 |
 |
Food & Beverage - Month End Surprises - By Joe Dunbar
|
 |
When food cost percentages are in flux, its common to experience numerous month end surprises. Most of the good surprises will spark a round of high fives and optimistic conversations about bonus time. On the other hand, a bad surprise marks the start of a cost reduction campaign and lots of meetings to find out the cause of the problem. |
Most surprises occur because communication is inadequate.
To prevent the majority of month end surprises, implement a simple weekly flash report. The flash report should be prepared at the operations level and communicated to general management via the accounting staff. At a minimum, the report should contain weekly statistics on sales, food and beverage purchases, other purchases, payroll recap, gross profit and management comments.
Once these reports become a reliable tool, the number of month end surprises will decline. As managers become aware of a bad week and take prompt action, profitability will become stable and fluctuations will be minor.
The key to implementing a flash report system is simplicity. Don't turn this into a production on the level of the month end close. The purpose of the flash report is to point out major issues in a timely fashion. Some reports will appear too good to be true. A lost invoice will stick out like a sore thumb in a weekly recap but go unnoticed in a monthly statement.
Joe Dunbar
Dunbar Associates
P.O. Box 579
Fairfax, VA 22038-0579
800-949-3295
http://www.joedunbar.com
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Mail Me 
Print Me 
PDF Me 
Save Me
