This guide walks through the process of reviewing theoretical cost reports to identify opportunities for reducing inventory variances and improving efficiency in your operations.
Key Steps for Viewing Ideal Cost Reports
Complete Inventory Steps Before Viewing Variances:
Ensure all inventory steps, including the troubleshooting process, are completed before accessing variance reports. Accurate counts are critical to getting reliable data.
Navigate to the Ideals Tab for Variance Reports:
Go to the Ideals tab to find your variance reporting tools. Use the pre-selected reports on the right side of the screen for ease of use, though you can also access these reports through the central buttons if you want to focus on specific categories.
Understanding the Food Summary Report:
The Food Summary Report is the most important tool for variance analysis. It has three sections:
Category Totals: Shows a comparison between your ideal cost percentage and actual cost percentage, broken down by category. It includes:
Ideal Cost Dollars: Expected spend based on your product mix.
Actual Cost Dollars: Actual spend based on inventory counts and purchases.
Net Sales, Percent Differences, Dollar Differences, and Efficiency Percentage.
Top 15 Variance Items: Focus on these items for cost control. This section displays:
Beginning count, purchases, ending count, and usage.
Comparison of quantity used against quantity sold, along with item variance, dollar variance, and efficiency.
It is your responsibility to ensure accurate counts and input invoices.
Eight-Week Variance Trend: Visualize how your variances are trending over time, aiming for 100% efficiency.
Verifying Quantity Sold:
Drill down into any item to view its setup details, including pack size and calculation of quantity sold.
This report shows sales data from your POS, the portion size credited for each sale, and total sales volume.
If you find any discrepancies, reach out for support, as corrections improve the accuracy of the reporting system for all users.
Other Important Reports:
Food Item Variance Report: Shows variances for every item, but the Summary Report is more effective by highlighting the top 15 items to prioritize.
Food Month-to-Date Cost of Sales Report: Provides variance percentages for the entire month, summarizing similar data from the Food Summary Report.
Food Key Targets Report: Identifies the top 10 losses from the last six inventory cycles, projecting annual losses if no action is taken. This helps in selecting daily variance count items.
PMIX Import Exceptions Report: Shows items sold during the cycle that lack active recipes, resulting in no credit for those sales. Contact support if you find any items here to ensure accurate sales credit.
Ingredient Trace Report: Allows a detailed search for any item to view how its quantity sold is calculated. It’s the same drill-down report mentioned earlier.
Final Tips
Conduct Daily Counts for Key Items: Use the Food Key Targets Report to identify high-loss items for daily variance counts.
Review Variances Regularly: Monitor variances daily and address any discrepancies promptly to maintain control over inventory costs.
Support is Available: If you encounter issues or need further clarification, don’t hesitate to open a support call.