A Weekly Margin Review for Bars, Pubs and Restaurants
Protecting margin takes more than a POS upload or a stocktake. Bring the records together, check what is complete and give each unexplained difference a next step.
Start by deciding which numbers are ready
Use one agreed trading period across the review. Check that opening and closing counts are approved, physical deliveries are recorded, invoice links are resolved and sales mappings are reviewed. Missing inputs are exceptions to fix, not zeros to fill in.
Gross profit is sales less cost of goods sold; GP percentage divides that result by sales. It is different from net profit. Keep sales and costs on a consistent tax basis and distinguish a recipe-based estimate from actual period performance.
Buying and receiving: did we get what we paid for?
Review price changes per comparable item, delivery shortages, damaged goods and invoices awaiting a receipt link. A case price can rise because the pack changed rather than because the item became more expensive. A billed quantity can exceed the good stock accepted. Identify the reason before negotiating or calculating a potential recovery.
Sales and recipes: is expected usage complete?
Check that itemised reports cover the whole period. Resolve unknown menu items, portion multipliers, refunds and excluded rows. Review recipe changes and ingredients without costs. An attractive GP percentage is not useful if it omits the garnish, side serve or a missing purchase price.
Counts and waste: what changed physically?
Actual quantity usage is opening stock plus receipts and net transfers, less closing stock. Compare that with the sales-driven expected usage, making the treatment of recorded waste explicit. Count and transaction cut-offs matter: stock that arrived after a count should not be used to explain the period before it.
Worked example: one product, one period
Assume the quantities below are all individual bottles of the same size, with no transfers. Actual usage is 40 + 24 − 34 = 30 bottles. Sales and recipes imply 27 bottles. If two bottles of recorded waste are additional to that expected sales usage, one bottle remains unexplained. At an illustrative consistent cost of £18, that residual has an £18 value. This is not an automatically recoverable saving.
| Measure | Bottles |
|---|---|
| Opening stock | 40 |
| Good receipts | 24 |
| Closing stock | 34 |
| Actual usage | 30 |
| Expected sales usage | 27 |
| Separately recorded waste | 2 |
| Remaining unexplained usage | 1 |
Make the meeting end with actions
Start with the differences that are material to this venue and supported by enough data to investigate. Assign each action to a person and a review date. Avoid mixing a suspected issue, a confirmed loss and an agreed supplier credit in one savings total.
- Receiving: check the delivery evidence and resolve a supplier quantity query.
- Recipes: correct a missing ingredient cost or wrong serving multiplier.
- Service: review a recurring waste reason with the team.
- Counting: recheck a suspect shelf or an inconsistent part-container method.
- Next review: confirm what changed and whether the periods are comparable.
Where StockLens fits
StockLens connects reviewed stock counts, invoice capture, delivery checks, uploaded sales reports, recipes and waste records. POS uploads are one input to that wider process. The software helps organise the evidence and calculations; the team confirms physical quantities and decides how to act.
Live POS and accounting sync are not required for this workflow and are not currently offered. Accounting CSV exports are a separate handover. Do not confuse a stock margin review with payroll, full accounts or a complete profit-and-loss statement.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a good recipe GP hide a stock problem?
- Yes. Recipe GP uses the recorded specification and costs. Actual receiving shortages, unrecorded waste or count errors require physical stock records and investigation.
- Should every discrepancy be counted as a saving?
- No. A discrepancy is a question to investigate. Treat confirmed operational improvements and accepted supplier credits separately from possible recoveries.
- Do I need a live POS or accounting integration for this review?
- No. Reviewed itemised sales reports, invoice and delivery records, recipes, counts and waste can support the process. The completeness and timing of those inputs still matter.
How this guide was put together
Prepared by the StockLens team from the delivery, sales-review, recipe and stock-reporting workflows in the current product. Numerical examples are illustrative, not customer results. Recognition suggestions require review; no extraction accuracy or financial saving is guaranteed.