A modern POS system can provide
you with reports on gross sales, over-rings, voids, product mix (P-mix), an employee time clock, inventory control and
about 50 other categories. Which data
and reports are most important? Here
are my picks, as well as picks from
several well-known beverage managers
for “must-have” data.
Gross sales data: This is probably
the most common and useful report to
which we have access. Knowing how
much you sell is of paramount importance. Think of it as your report card:
The report should be broken down into
parts of the day — lunch, happy hour,
dinner and late-night. Set up a schedule
with your managers to run the reports
at certain points throughout the day; at
first you may want to run the reports
hourly. Review the first two weeks’
reports and chart your sales and guest
count, and you will notice patterns
starting to emerge. You might see that
you need to extend your happy hour.
You might see that starting a late-night
program too early is scaring off your
dinner guests. No matter what patterns
emerge, they are real; numbers don’t
lie and it would be a mistake to ignore
what they are telling you.
Tracy Finklang, corporate beverage
manager for Louisville, Colo.-based
Rock Bottom Restaurants, suggests using your day-part sales/guest report to
help in managing labor. “These patterns
assist our bar managers in scheduling,”
she explains. “They watch for weekly
and hourly patterns to help predict precisely when to begin certain shifts and
when to cut them.”
P-mix data: Knowing what and how
much you are selling helps in a number
of ways. Just like the gross sales data,
you should run the P-mix report by
day part. Again, review the
data and start charting what is
selling and what is not. David
Brown, vice president of op-
erations support at Leawood,
Kan.-based Houlihan’s Res-
taurants, recommends coming
up with your top-selling drinks
and comparing them to what you are
promoting on your menus, table tents,
The greatest deterrent to theft is the fear of getting
caught, so it’s important to communicate to the bar staff
that theft will not be tolerated. Bartenders are not your
partners; they are your employees. Advise them and have
them agree as a condition of employment that they will be
subject to periodic unannounced “cash drawer” audits.
coasters or whatever other POP you’re
using. “If there are drinks that are being
promoted but are not part of your top
sellers, then consider making a switch,
but always look to see what the gross
profit is on that drink; you may not sell
as many as you want to, but your profit
per drink may warrant that drink stays
on the menu,” Brown says.
Over-rings and voids: This report,
coupled with a sales report by your
bartender, will assist you with spotting
employee theft. One of my favorite bar
sayings is: “What do you get when you
cross an elephant with a bartender? An
elephant that steals.” Now, we know
not all bartenders steal; however, the
opportunities and temptations are very
real and numerous in such a cash-domi-nated area as the bar.
The greatest deterrent to theft is the
fear of getting caught, so it’s important
to communicate to the bar staff that
theft will not be tolerated. Bartenders
are not your partners; they are your
employees. Advise them and have
them agree as a condition of employment that they will be subject to
periodic unannounced “cash drawer”
audits. Select a somewhat busy time
— say, the middle of happy hour or the
middle of the dinner rush. Why do this
at peak times, when the bartender is
needed behind the bar most? Because
it is precisely at those times that a
bartender who believes he or she has
a system is most vulnerable to being
caught, as there is no time to “
balance” the cash drawer until after the
rush. Run a sales report by bartender;
the report should include any voids and
over-rings. Have a backup cash drawer
ready so an assistant manager can step
in for the bartender being audited. The
cash drawer should balance to the sales
report, minus any over-rings and voids,
to the penny. Being over is just as bad,
if not worse, than being short. It means
the bartender is not ringing drinks before or at the time of service (whichever
is your policy). How you handle an “out
of balance” cash drawer is up to you,
but many times I have had to let the
bartender go after an audit. It sends a
strong message.
As you well know, there are a plethora of reports that you will be flooded
with in the course of the day’s business. These three will serve you well as
you wade through the wave of reports
and information. Use them and you may
just keep your head above water. NCB
Tim Johnson is president of Tim Johnson & Associates, a beverage training, operations, marketing,
purchasing and sales consulting firm servicing
hospitality and supplier companies, and the senior
director of procurement for SpenDifference, LLC, a
strategic supply chain resource to mid-size national
and regional chain restaurants. He is based in Larkspur, Colo., and can be reached at tim@tjalls.com.
OCTOBER 2009 | Nightclub & Bar Magazine 23
