Cost Control

The need for effective inventory management is clear: Food cost is second only to labor cost in its effect on a restaurant’s profit. Food cost isn’t easy to see: Spoilage, waste, over portioning and theft can happen without drawing your attention. Alone these events can be insignificant, but patterns easily develop that can make a restaurant cross the line from a profitable year to a loss.

Your Inventory System

Effective inventory management, and the cost control that comes with it, requires more than just the purchase of software. Getting the most from your investment includes:

Creating accurate recipes – Recipes should be followed closely to control portioning and ensure that your guests have a uniform experience. Recipes are used in Point of Success Inventory to calculate the quantity of each ingredient that should have been used to prepare every item you sell. Inaccurate recipes and poor portion control prevent accurate costing.

Controlling ordering and receiving – Thinking of inventory as money on the shelves puts this in perspective. Over-ordering invites spoilage or degraded quality of fresh foods. Every order should be counted immediately on receipt to ensure that order is complete.

Regular stock counting – Counting inventory and entering those counts into Point of Success Inventory is vital. Knowing the difference between the actual inventory on hand and the inventory that should be on hand provides the best basis for inventory control.

Tracking other inventory usage – Point of Success Inventory automatically tracks inventory used as the result of a sale. Other stock reductions like waste, spoilage and transfers of inventory must also be tracked.