Tips to ensure and effective restaurant inventory control

In a restaurant business, food and labor are always the most expensive items. As such great care should be taken to ensure firm control over these items. Unfortunately, most restaurant owners assume they know what they have in stock until they realize their storehouse is empty. Inventory Management Software is necessary, if unwanted surprises are to be avoided. The following tips will help ensure that controls are effective.

Tip 1: Personally, take the inventory

It is very easy to say this may be a daunting task but for a start, it is better to personally have an idea of what you have in stock. Understandably, this may not apply to very big businesses. Nevertheless, it is better to have an idea of what is in stock. This task can later be delegated to a subordinate.

Tip Two: Use a Mix Point of Sale system

No matter the size of the business, there are bound to be one too many inventories that may easily lead to confusion. A Retail Inventory Management Software will help facilitate counting and tracking. With Inventory Management System and Software system, any reduction in stock is quickly followed and the system can be programmed to give an alert when stock levels reach a certain predetermined level.

Tip three: Set an Inventory policy

There should be an inventory policy that sets how and when inventory should be done. This could be combined into an inventory manual. This manual should specify how often restaurant inventory control should be done and by whom.

Tip four:  Assign responsibility for inventory management

Anybody can take inventory in a restaurant but only one person should take responsibility for it. When there is an employee in charge of inventory, they’ll ensure that things are done correctly especially if they know that any mistakes will be blamed on them.

While inventory management is the responsibility of one person, at least two people should be involved in the Online Inventory Software. This is to avoid mistakes and also reduce theft.

Tip five: Check variances

It is always important to check for any variances that may occur and what accounts for them. In a well-planned restaurant with appropriate control, it is possible to track all orders. From the orders it is possible to make a reasonable estimate what should be left in stock and how much. Shortages may be due to cancelled order or employee mistakes. All of these should be well understood to justify any variances.

Restaurant owners should not that all of these efforts at Rugged Phone inventory control will be brought if necessary, security measures are not put in place. Sometimes variances occur that can’t be accounted and most often this points to a case of theft. The security of the area where food is stored should be paramount. Where possible, it is better to invest in a surveillance system and make sure anyone who comes around the area is aware of their existence. For added security, very expensive items should be stored away from common ones. Also, very few persons should have access to the storage area.