What can I control as a manager?

The answer to this question is: A LOT! A phrase you may hear referenced in the restaurants is ‘Prime Cost’. In our world- prime cost is the relationship of COGS (see below) and labor costs. So essentially, the relationship of how much it costs us to purchase the items we sell versus what we sell them for and how much it costs us for the people who work in the restaurants every day. It sounds complicated: but it’s decisions you will make every single day- whether it is writing a prep list and making sure it is in line for how much we need, keeping a good eye on pars so you order the right amount of things, checking employee punches daily to make sure they are accurate, making cuts and staffing decisions that make sense for business levels. Essentially the numbers are happening all around you- and if your eye is on the ball, everyone is successful!

Placing Orders & Maintaining Vendor Relationships

At some point, you will likely be involved with ordering items for the restaurant. It is crucial that you coordinate all these with the Back of the House, so you are ordering things at the same time and not overlapping orders. Make sure to stay on top of your order placement, so you can avoid constantly reprinting menus, 86ing items, and borrowing items from our sister restaurants. If you run out of an item that night, don’t hesitate to contact the supplier immediately. This industry is constantly moving, so don’t feel confined by a 9-5pm structure. At the very least, make sure to order an item by 4pm to ensure next day delivery. We need to count on our suppliers to come through for our products.

It is also important to remember that we have strong relationships with suppliers who have been supportive of us- and maintaining those relationships is very important and can help you to maintain cost goals as set forth in your restaurant. If you ever have a question about switching vendors or products, please see your General Manager or Director of Operations.

Treating vendors with respect, courtesy and hospitality is important. Always remain professional and remember that you are representing BRG in your correspondence with vendors, delivery drivers, and sales people. These people not only help us with getting the items we need to function on a day to day basis, but they are also potential guests, and speak to a lot of people in our industry. If orders are not accurate or you are having issues with your sales rep, please alert your GM or Director of Operations.

How does product get paid for?

*All payment to vendors is handler through our Accounts Payable department in the Accounting Office. We DO NOT cut checks at the restaurant level. If this becomes an issue when product is being delivered please contact the Accounting office right away.

Invoices & Coding

Proper management of invoices is key. Losing invoices can cause delays in receiving future orders and unpaid liquor/wine invoices can actually prevent our other locations from receiving their deliveries. Invoices should have a clearly defined home, be coded quickly and accurately and be given to the Office Manager before 9 am Monday morning.

Coding invoices should be done with extreme care. Keep an eye on fluctuating costs and credits. Use your credit tracking log to follow up on things that were not in your order, received in poor condition, or not properly priced. The beverage companies will not keep an eye on your credits for you! It is very important that you are diligent in staying on top of this.

It is extremely important that items are coded to the correct category and entered into Aloha to the same category they were coded to: (for example: if coffee is coded as N/A Bev, all coffee related buttons in Aloha need to be directed to the N/A Bev category.)

Coding Wine and Liquor invoices can be tricky to make sure tax is distributed to each item appropriately. Some beverage companies split this out for you, and some do not. If you are unsure, always ask!

A P&L (profit and loss statement) is a spreadsheet of all revenue collected and all the expenses incurred at your restaurant. It shows the financial performance of the restaurant for the month. In the P&L, we can see sales, comps, COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), labor, repair and maintenance expenses, utilities, rent and other expenses that occurred. There are a few sections of the P&L that you will specifically impact with the decisions you make on a daily basis- and remembering to keep these in line is very important.

On the 1st day of the month, the Office Manager or GM at each location sends the following documents to our accounting team for review:

1. Aloha Sales Report for the month

2. Check Log (For any checks that have been deposited)

3. Deposit Log from Special events Deposits

4. Tax Exempts

5. Comp/Donation/ Special Event Donation Log

6. Refund Log

On the 3rd Day of the month, all inventories of food and beverage are to be submitted. The accounting team will then compile the P&L from weekly receiving logs (entered from invoices by the Office Manager), sales, payroll, comps, and inventories to come up with your COGS percentages, and finally the profit percentage for the month. Our goal for profit percentage is 15%. As managers, it should be your goal to hit and exceed this number monthly through good decisions on a day to day basis.

Once compiled, the accounting team will send the GM & DO a preliminary P&L for review along with your *Trial Balance. Generally around the 12th of the month. 

*The Trial Balance is essentially a record of everything that goes into building your P&L, including all invoices that were entered into your RL throughout the month. If you have a question about a specific line in your Preliminary P&L the answer can almost always be found in your trial balance.

This is our opportunity to check to make sure everything is in line. Any discrepancies should be checked diligently. If your COGS are off, we may have to check inventories, invoices and PMIX to find errors or problems. This investigation should be done as quickly as possible so that any adjustments can be made before the final P&L review.