Symmetry Restaurant Financial Services provides sound financial guidance and insight to meet the goals of your restaurant. Our mission is to identify the needs of your restaurant and create the proper processes and procedures to lead your restaurant to financial success.
FAQS
My restaurant is profitable. Why do I need Symmetry’s help with anything?
Despite the fact that your restaurant is profitable, there is always room for improvement. Whether it is inventory control, report writing, food and beverage costing or cash management, we are equipped to be able analyze all of your operations to find areas that can be improved to increase profitability
Why are my food and/or beverage cost percentages constantly over budget?
Many factors drive the costs and cost percentages of food and beverage. There could be inaccuracies in inventory counts that would cause a false increase in costs. Are the purchases being made in a timely and prudent manner? It is possible that the menu prices do not allow for the budgeted costs to be met. It could be that there was a budget put in place that was relying on an increase in revenue from the prior year that is not happening as planned. Any time there are numerous answers to a single question, a full breakdown and analysis is needed to be able to pinpoint the areas that need to be addressed and fixed.
What are some inventory issues that might be occurring and how can I fix those?
Some of the issues that can occur with inventory include inaccuracy in counts and the entry of the counts in to the accounting program; it can be items being categorized incorrectly and thus being represented by the incorrect inventory price; there can be a variance between what is the actual cost of an item is and what is in the system as the inventoried price. These are some examples of how inventory valuations can be inaccurate. There are controls that can be put in place to ensure the highest level of accuracy regarding inventory to make sure that there is proper representation of what is on hand for inventory and that the correct pricing is being adhered to.
What are some easy ways to lower my costs?
When it comes to lowering costs, there are some key areas to look at that would help lower costs immediately. The first would be efficiency in ordering. If it is possible to get price breaks from vendors based on volume ordering, this would lower costs directly as there would be a greater return on the purchasing dollar. Yet another way to lower cost is to lower inventory amounts for perishable items. There is a greater chance for waste to occur with perishable items if they are not used in the proper time. When this happens, there is no revenue return on the purchases made. By reducing the purchase amounts, there is less of a chance to have waste occur. A third way would be to raise menu prices as the increase in revenue will directly lower costs. This can be a risky move unless the menu prices are running well below market rate. Other areas that also would need to be looked at would be training for both food and beverage preparation, as well as the controls to make sure that the proper portions are being served in order to make sure that the cost percentages would maintain for the menu price being charged. There is also the chance that there is theft taking place, whether it is on purpose or done inadvertently.
How do I know if I am charging the correct amount for my menu items?
To know if the proper amount is being charged, a costing analysis would need to be done. This set by knowing what the budgeted cost percentage is and then making sure that what comprises a given entree is at, or below, that percentage. For example, if the food cost is budgeted at 30%, then the purchase cost of the ingredients needs to be consistent with the formula of menu cost multiplied by the food cost percentage (in this case, .3 * menu price). If this formula is adhered to, then making the budgeted food cost is something that should be expected. If the price of the ingredients is greater than the budgeted food cost in comparison to the entree menu price, then you will be consistently over your food cost budget.