Changing financial accounting, industry by industry. Chapter 5 of 13: Restaurants
Know your numbers before the next order.
Weekly cost control and clean books for restaurants, cafés, and food trucks.
The problem nobody puts on the agenda.
Most owners find out their food cost was off a month too late. By the time the P&L shows up, the margin is gone and nobody knows whether it was waste, portioning, or a supplier price increase.
Your prime cost is the only number that matters weekly.The Tiger Take, Chapter 5
Weekly prime cost
Food, beverage, and labor against sales, every week.
Find the gap
Theoretical vs. actual food cost, explained item by item.
Price the menu right
Dish-by-dish margins that move when your suppliers do.
What we put in place.
Controller discipline from 20+ years in the field, with AI automation handling the repetitive work so the close runs in days, not weeks.
- A weekly prime cost report
- Weekly counts on your top 20 cost items
- Theoretical vs. actual food cost variance tracked
- Menu-item margin analysis updated with supplier prices
- Daily cash and card reconciliation, tips included
- Event-level profitability for food trucks
Your free Restaurant Scan.
Thirty minutes on your food cost, labor, and menu margins. No pitch unless you ask for one.
- Book a time.
Pick any open 30-minute slot on the calendar. - We review together.
Bring what you have. We'll look at your food cost, labor, and menu margins. - Leave with three fixes.
The three changes I'd make first, in plain language.