A weekly review keeps small problems small. Six numbers, compared with last week and with your targets, tell you how the business is doing and where to act. The review takes fifteen minutes, ideally on the same day every week with the head chef and the floor manager.
The six numbers
| Number | How to work it out |
|---|---|
| Sales | Net sales for the week, without VAT and service charge |
| Covers | Number of guests served |
| Average spend | Sales ÷ covers |
| Food & drink cost % | Cost of food and drink used ÷ sales |
| Labour cost % | Wages plus employer costs ÷ sales |
| Prime cost % | (Food & drink cost + labour cost) ÷ sales |
For food and drink cost, use what was actually used: opening stock + purchases − closing stock. Purchases alone swing from week to week with your delivery days.
Why prime cost matters most
Food, drink and labour are the two biggest costs you control week to week. Together they are your prime cost. A common target is around 60% of sales or below, though the right figure depends on your concept, your rent and your prices. Prime cost also shows the trade-offs: a week with lower labour and higher waste can look fine on one line and poor on the other.
A worked example
Targets: food and drink 30%, labour 30%, prime cost 60%. A result up to 2 points above target is marked Watch, and more than that is marked Over.
| Number | This week | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | €5,960 (−4.5% on last week) | ||
| Covers | 431 | ||
| Average spend | €13.83 | ||
| Food & drink cost | 32.4% | 30% | Over |
| Labour cost | 30.5% | 30% | Watch |
| Prime cost | 62.9% | 60% | Over |
Sales dropped, and labour stayed close to last week's hours, so labour as a share of sales went up. Food and drink cost rose by more than the sales drop explains, which points to waste, portioning or a supplier price rise.
Run the review in three questions
- What drove the week? Weather, a local event, a quiet weekday, a large booking.
- Which line is over target, and why? Look at waste records, supplier prices and the rota for the answer.
- What is the one change for next week? Agree it, give it an owner, and check it at the next review.
Write the answers on the report. After a few months you have a record of what worked.
Your week on one page
The Manager's Weekly KPI Report takes the weekly figures, compares each number with the week before and with your targets, marks every cost line OK, Watch or Over, and shows trend charts for sales and prime cost. It prints on one page for the weekly meeting. To find the cause of a food cost rise, the Supplier Price Tracker shows which prices moved.
Related
- Read: What Labour Cost % Should a Café or Restaurant Run At?
- Read: How to Calculate Food Cost per Plate
- Also useful: Guest Feedback & Review Tracker, add what guests said this week to the Monday review
Every template in Restaurant Notes is in the Complete Restaurant Collection: 25 tools in one download.