The Most vulnerable part of the restaurant business is the amount of alcohol given away at the bar.If the bar tender gives free drinks away, he or she will receive more tips, gain more friends, and receive free drinks themselves in return when they go out.
The more a particular bartender gives away the more those recipients will frequent the establishment expecting free drinks and the restaurant will suffer as a result.
For the restaurant owner, this means less profit! Too much liquor theft can certainly be a large contributor to an establishment going out of business as well.
To remedy this situation, the owner must begin with inventory. By taking the beginning inventory, adding purchases, subtracting ending inventory, you will get your variance.
A weekly inventory should be done on all liquor, beer, and wine.
If you are having a large discrepancy at the end of the week, you should not tell your employees. Pick out your most popular liquor and count it at random throughout the week and do it while different bartenders are working. Find out what liquor they like to drink and be sure to check that liquor also! Count every bottle of beer too every night and have each bartender be responsible for any shortages. You will quickly see less over pouring and stealing when your employee knows it will come out of their own pocket!
Incidentally, if you are having overages and shortages in the register add money to the till and see if it shows up as an overage at the end of the night. Putting money in works better than taking money out. At the end of the evening, see if you are short the money. If your bartender is dishonest, the extra money is usually gone.
