First-month operating scorecard

What you will enter

• Actual net sales for the period ($): Excluding sales tax and pass-through tips.
• Planned net sales for the same period ($): From your forecast for the same week or month.
• Orders in the period (orders): Count of paid orders or checks.
• Total labor cost ($): Wages including overtime plus employer costs for the period, defined the same way as in your plan.
• Opening food and beverage inventory ($): Value of stock at the start of the period, from a count.
• Food and beverage purchases ($): Invoices dated in the period, including credits as negatives already applied.
• Closing food and beverage inventory ($): Value of stock at the end of the period, from a count.
• Refunds, comps and voids ($): Value given back or written off in the period. Enter 0 if none.
• Recorded waste at cost ($): Value of logged waste. Enter 0 if you did not log it, and start logging.
• Available bank cash now ($): Cleared balance you can actually spend, not including pending deposits.
• Committed payments before the next sales come in ($): Payroll, rent, loan payment, supplier invoices and taxes due before the next deposits clear.

The formula

Food used = opening inventory + purchases − closing inventory. Labor % = labor ÷ sales × 100. Food cost % = food used ÷ sales × 100. Prime cost % = (food used + labor) ÷ sales × 100. Average order = sales ÷ orders. Cash after commitments = bank cash − committed payments.

A worked example

Fictional example: $12,000 of sales against a $15,000 plan is 20% below. Food used is $2,500 + $4,000 − $2,900 = $3,600, or 30% of sales. Labor of $4,200 is 35%, so prime cost is 65%. Refunds are 1.25% of sales and waste 3.3% of food used. $20,000 in the bank less $12,000 of committed payments leaves $8,000. The sales shortfall is the item to investigate first.

How to use the result

Compare with your plan, not with a magazine benchmark

The useful question is why this week differs from what you expected. A 35% labor week is a problem if you planned 28% and a success if you planned 40% for training.

Inventory counts make the food number real

Purchases alone understate or overstate usage depending on delivery timing. Two counts and the invoices in between give the amount actually used; reconcile transfers and staff meals first.

Write one corrective decision

Sales below plan: check hours, traffic, accuracy and capacity before cutting staff. Waste above plan: check prep quantities and par levels. Cash below commitments: decide today what moves.

Questions owners ask

Should I include tips in sales or labor?

No. Pass-through tips are not the restaurant's sales, and they are not the employer's labor cost. Keep the definitions the same as your plan so the percentages are comparable.

Which period should I use?

A week is short enough to act on and long enough to include a full cycle of deliveries and payroll. Use the same start and end for every number.

Keep working on the decision

• Read: what to watch in the first 30 days
• Weekly scorecard and first-month review templates
• Rebuild the forecast with what you learned
• New to percentages? Start with restaurant math from zero.
• Add this decision to your guided opening plan

Sources and scope

• SEC: beginners' guide to financial statements
• U.S. Small Business Administration: Plan your business (market research, business plan, startup costs)

Planning estimates based on your inputs. Check the assumptions against your actual quotes, recipes and operating records. Not legal, tax or accounting advice.