The six reports a restaurant actually uses
Most restaurant software offers dozens of reports, and most owners look at exactly one: today's takings. The difference between a restaurant that reacts and one that guesses is not the number of charts, it is six numbers read consistently, each with a decision attached. This article takes them one at a time, says what it means when each moves, and — more importantly — what you actually do about it.
1. Sales by hour and by day of week
Total daily takings tell you nothing actionable. The same figure can come from a busy lunch and a dead evening, or the reverse, and the two call for opposite decisions.
Look at sales in hourly slices, compared against the same day of the week, not consecutive days. Tuesday is compared with Tuesday.
The attached decision: staff scheduling. A consistent peak between 12 and 2 and a hole between 3 and 5 means shifts cut in the wrong places, not insufficient demand.
2. Actual food cost, not theoretical
Theoretical food cost is what it should have cost you, per the recipes. Actual is what it did cost, per the stock count. The gap between them is the useful information.
A small gap is normal. One that grows month on month means inconsistent portioning, losses, waste, or purchase prices that moved while the menu did not.
The attached decision: if the gap comes from portioning, it is a training and scales problem; if it comes from purchase prices, it is a menu or supplier problem. Completely different roads, and the report tells you which one you are on.
3. Menu mix: volume crossed with margin
The best-selling dish is not necessarily the most valuable. Put every item on two axes: how much it sells and what margin it carries.
Four groups come out. Sells well, good margin: protect it, do not touch it. Sells well, poor margin: rework the recipe or the price. Sells little, good margin: promote it, move it on the menu, train staff to recommend it. Sells little, poor margin: remove it.
The attached decision is the next menu itself. This analysis is the only serious reason to rewrite a menu — not because "it's a year old".
4. Orders by channel, with the channel's cost included
Dine-in, your own delivery, the online store, the kiosk and the aggregators are not the same business. A channel can grow nicely in volume and shrink your total profit.
Compare them on average order value and on what remains after the channel's cost. A 100 lei order through an aggregator charging 25-30% leaves far less than an 80 lei order from your own store.
The attached decision: where you push guests. If aggregators bring volume but thin margin, the question is not "do I stop them?" but "how do I move some of their customers onto my own channel?".
5. Productivity: labour cost against sales
Labour cost as a percentage of sales, per shift, not per month. The monthly average hides exactly the shifts that lose money.
Put it next to the report from point 1 and you will see the shifts where you have four people for twenty covers. Usually it is the same shifts, every week.
The attached decision: how you cut shifts. Not "we reduce headcount", but "we move two hours from Tuesday evening to Saturday lunch".
6. Voids, refunds and discounts
The report nobody wants to open and the only one that shows leakage. Not because staff are stealing, but because weak procedures look identical to theft in the numbers.
Track cancellations after the order went to the kitchen, refunds on closed bills and manual discounts, grouped by user and by time of day.
The attached decision: if a pattern repeats with the same person or at the same hour, you know where to look. If it is uniform, you have a process problem, not a people problem.
How to read them without losing an hour a day
Daily, five minutes: sales by hour against the same day last week, plus yesterday's voids and discounts.
Weekly, fifteen minutes: orders by channel and productivity by shift.
Monthly, an hour: actual versus theoretical food cost, and the menu mix. Both need a stock count, so they run at the stock count's rhythm.
The rule that holds it all together: if a report has no decision attached that you would actually take, do not open it. A dashboard you look at without acting is just a more expensive form of worrying.
Frequently asked questions
Which report should I track first?
Sales by hour, compared against the same day the previous week. It is the fastest to read and leads straight to the decision with the biggest immediate effect: how you cut shifts.
How often should actual food cost be calculated?
At the rhythm of your stock count, so usually monthly. What matters is not the absolute figure but the gap against theoretical food cost from the recipes, and which way that gap moves month to month.
What do I do with dishes that sell well but carry a thin margin?
You do not automatically remove them — they may be why people come in. Rework the recipe, renegotiate the main ingredient, or adjust the price. Remove only the items that sell little AND carry a thin margin.
Is it worth comparing channels if aggregators bring volume?
Yes, and the comparison has to be made after the channel's cost, not on gross takings. A channel can raise volume and lower total profit. The useful question is not whether to stop it, but how to move some of those customers onto a channel of your own.