Profit-building tip #6: Save Back-Office Effort

Are you still compiling manual reports and rekeying information into spreadsheets or accounting systems? A restaurant POS system collects data and feeds it into your accounting system, saving hours of data entry that would otherwise need to be done by hand.

Once all that data is in the system, you can quickly generate reports on almost any aspect of the operation. Reports that used to take days to prepare can run in seconds with up-to-the-minute real-time information. These reports can be critical to a restaurant’s ongoing success.

For instance, a “prime cost” report shows a running total on food, beverage, and payroll costs as a percentage of sales. Table-service restaurants most often aim to keep prime cost at 65% of sales or below. Quick-service outlets often aim for 60% or less. This is a valuable ratio, since it shows the biggest and most volatile costs that you can control in the short term; these costs usually account for 90% of a restaurant’s ongoing expenses.

With a POS system, you can see your prime cost every day, keeping a much tighter rein on your costs. As well as saving time on almost every aspect of your back-office duties:
· developing schedules
· ordering food and supplies
· controlling costs, and
· monitoring the key ratios that spell the difference between profit and loss.

Without being lost in the daily paper-burden of the back room, you have more time to analyze reports, think strategically, and take corrective action. In the back office, like everywhere else, saving time means saving money.