FREE RESTAURANT FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Restaurant Financial Calculators, Tools & Guides

Practical resources for restaurant owners who want to understand food cost, labor, inventory, pricing, prime cost, cash flow and profitability without waiting until the end of the month to discover there is a problem.

RESTAURANT FINANCIAL GUIDES

Learn How the Numbers Behind Your Restaurant Actually Work.

Practical guides covering restaurant accounting, food cost, inventory, purchasing, labor, cash flow, POS controls and profitability.

ACCOUNTING & RECONCILIATION

Understand how sales, deposits, accounting and financial statements should connect.

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FINANCIAL AUDIT • PROFITABILITY

Restaurant Audit Report

See what a restaurant financial audit should review, including food cost, labor, inventory, deposits, accounting and profit opportunities.

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TOAST + DEPOSITS

Toast Sales Don't Match Your Bank Deposits? Here's How to Find the Difference

Learn why Toast sales and bank deposits differ and how to trace sales, tips, cash, settlements and deposits.

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TOAST + QUICKBOOKS

How to Reconcile Toast POS to QuickBooks Without Creating a Mess

Reconcile Toast to QuickBooks without duplicating revenue or losing track of taxes, tips, cash and settlements.

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BAR ACCOUNTING

Accounting for Bars: 12 Numbers Every Bar Owner Should Track

Connect POS sales, beverage inventory, cash, tips, deposits, labor and accounting so every part of the bar tells the same financial story.

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ACCOUNTING

Restaurant Chart of Accounts: How to Structure It Correctly

Structure a restaurant chart of accounts so food, beverage, labor, liabilities and operating expenses are easy to understand.

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MONTH-END CLOSE

Restaurant Month-End Close: The Right Way to Close Your Books

Build a repeatable restaurant month-end close for reconciliations, accruals, inventory, payroll and financial reporting.

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FINANCIAL REPORTING

Restaurant P&L: How to Read a Restaurant Profit and Loss Statement

Learn how to read a restaurant P&L and identify the numbers that explain sales, prime cost, overhead and profit.

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DAILY REPORTING

Restaurant Daily Sales Report: What Every Owner Should Review Each Day

See what restaurant owners should review each day across sales, discounts, comps, labor, deposits and operating exceptions.

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SALES TAX

Restaurant Sales Tax: How to Record, Reconcile & Avoid Reporting Errors

Learn how to record, reconcile and report restaurant sales tax without mixing tax collections with revenue.

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BANK RECONCILIATION

Restaurant Bank Reconciliation: How to Find Missing Deposits, Duplicate Transactions & Accounting Errors

Find missing deposits, duplicate transactions, old reconciling items and accounting errors in restaurant bank accounts.

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CASH FLOW

Why Is My Restaurant Profitable on Paper but Has No Cash?

Understand why a restaurant can show accounting profit while still struggling with cash in the bank.

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CASH FLOW

Restaurant Cash Flow Problems: 9 Reasons You Keep Running Out of Money

Review the common reasons restaurants run short on cash even when sales appear healthy.

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FOOD COST, INVENTORY & PURCHASING

Control product cost from ordering and receiving through inventory, recipes and menu pricing.

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FOOD COST

Restaurant Food Cost Too High? 10 Places Your Profit May Be Leaking

Find the operational leaks that push restaurant food cost above target, from portions and waste to purchasing and pricing.

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INVENTORY VARIANCE

Restaurant Inventory Variance: How to Find Where Your Food Cost Is Going

Compare theoretical and actual usage to find where food cost and inventory are disappearing.

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FOOD COST • VARIANCE

Actual vs. Theoretical Food Cost

Compare expected food cost with actual usage to uncover waste, overportioning, inventory errors and missing restaurant margin.

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INVENTORY TURNOVER

Restaurant Inventory Turnover: How Much Inventory Should You Carry?

Learn how to calculate restaurant inventory turnover, identify excess inventory, free up cash, reduce waste and determine how much product your restaurant should carry.

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BEVERAGE COST

Restaurant Beverage Cost: Find Where Profit Is Disappearing

Learn how to calculate beverage cost, compare theoretical vs. actual usage, identify overpouring and waste, and find where liquor, beer and wine profit is leaking.

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COGS

Restaurant COGS: What It Is, How to Calculate It, and What It Should Be

Understand restaurant COGS, how to calculate it correctly and how inventory and purchases affect the number.

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VENDOR CONTROL

Restaurant Vendor Invoice Audit: How to Catch Overcharges, Price Creep & Billing Errors

Catch vendor overcharges, price creep, billing errors and missed credits before they inflate restaurant food cost.

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RECEIVING

Restaurant Receiving Procedures: How to Stop Shortages, Substitutions & Back-Door Losses

Create receiving controls that reduce shortages, substitutions, invoice errors and back-door losses.

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PURCHASING

Restaurant Purchase Orders: How to Control What Gets Ordered, Delivered & Paid For

Use purchase orders to control what gets ordered, delivered, approved and ultimately paid for.

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MENU PRICING

Restaurant Menu Pricing: How to Price for Profit

Price restaurant menu items using recipe cost, contribution margin, market position and profitability goals.

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PROFITABILITY & FINANCIAL CONTROL

Measure whether the restaurant is actually making money and identify where operating systems break down.

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FINANCIAL AUDIT

Restaurant Financial Audit Checklist: 25 Things Every Owner Should Review

Use a 25-point restaurant financial audit checklist to review accounting, cash, labor, inventory and profitability.

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INTERNAL AUDIT

Restaurant Internal Audit Report: What Should Be Included?

Learn what a restaurant internal audit report should contain and how findings should be prioritized.

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PROFITABILITY

Restaurant Profit Margin: What Should a Profitable Restaurant Make?

Understand restaurant profit margins, what affects them and how to evaluate whether the business is truly profitable.

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PRIME COST

Restaurant Prime Cost: What It Is, How to Calculate It & What Your Target Should Be

Learn what restaurant prime cost includes, how to calculate it and how to use it as a management metric.

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PRIME COST

Restaurant Prime Cost: The Number That Tells You If Your Restaurant Can Actually Make Money

See why prime cost is one of the clearest indicators of whether a restaurant can produce sustainable profit.

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BREAK-EVEN

Restaurant Break-Even Point: How Much Do You Need to Sell to Make Money?

Calculate how much revenue a restaurant needs before fixed and variable costs are covered.

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POS CONTROLS

Restaurant POS Audit: 20 Things Every Owner Should Check

Review 20 POS settings, reports and controls that can affect restaurant sales, cash, labor and financial accuracy.

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CASH CONTROLS • FREE TEMPLATE

Restaurant Cash Handling Policy: Free Template & Best Practices

Build stronger cash controls for drawers, tips, paid-outs, refunds, shortages, shift closeouts and deposits. Includes a free printable restaurant cash handling policy template.

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LOCAL RESTAURANT CONSULTING

Restaurant Consulting in Ukiah & Mendocino County

Margin & Menu helps independent restaurants, bars, cafés and food-service businesses in Ukiah and throughout Mendocino County improve food cost, labor, inventory, cash flow and profitability.

Restaurant Consultant in Ukiah, CA →
THE CALCULATORS SHOW THE NUMBERS

The Audit Finds Out Why They're Happening.

A calculator can show that food cost, labor, inventory or prime cost is off. Margin & Menu's 360° Restaurant Financial Audit follows the money across POS, accounting, deposits, payroll, inventory, cash and operating controls to find the cause.

If your restaurant is busy but cash and profit never seem to match, there is usually a reason hidden somewhere inside the operating system.

Start My 360° Audit →