How to Create Reports That Facilitate Better Decision-Making in Restaurants

In the fast-paced and competitive restaurant industry, making informed decisions is crucial for success. Whether it’s managing costs, improving customer service, or enhancing overall operational efficiency, having access to accurate and up-to-date data is key. The most effective way to gain these insights is through well-crafted reports that analyse various aspects of restaurant operations.

Reports help restaurant owners and managers identify trends, track performance, and make decisions that drive growth. In this blog, we’ll explore how to generate the right reports to support better decision-making in your restaurant.

Define Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Before diving into report generation, it’s essential to define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will guide your decision-making. KPIs are measurable values that reflect the performance of your restaurant in specific areas. By focusing on the right KPIs, you can ensure that your reports are relevant and valuable.

Common restaurant KPIs include:

• Sales Performance: This includes total sales, average sales per customer, or sales by category (food, drinks, etc.). Tracking sales helps you understand how well your menu is performing and identify trends.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): This measures the cost of ingredients and supplies. Understanding your COGS is crucial for managing food costs and pricing effectively.
• Labour Costs: This includes wages, benefits, and taxes. Tracking labour costs ensures you're staffing efficiently without overspending.
• Table Turnover: The rate at which tables are occupied and vacated. It helps assess how efficiently your restaurant is managing seating and maximising capacity.
• Customer Satisfaction: This can be measured through surveys, reviews, or Net Promoter Scores (NPS). Customer feedback is invaluable for improving service and food quality.

By defining the KPIs most relevant to your restaurant’s goals, you can tailor your reports to provide actionable insights.

Use the Right Tools for Data Collection

To generate accurate and reliable reports, it’s essential to use the right tools for data collection. Several software solutions are available to help restaurant owners and managers track and analyse operations in real-time.

Point of Sale (POS) Systems

A modern POS system is essential for tracking sales, inventory, and customer data. POS systems such as Square, Toast, and Lightspeed can provide detailed reports on daily sales, item performance, and customer preferences. These reports help identify which dishes are most popular and which ones might need adjustment.

Accounting Software

Accounting tools like QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage allow you to track your restaurant’s revenue, expenses, and profit margins. These systems can automatically generate profit and loss (P&L) statements, helping you monitor financial health and make informed decisions about cost control and profitability.

Employee Scheduling Software

Tools like 7shifts and Deputy help track staff schedules, hours worked, and payroll. By integrating these tools with your POS and accounting systems, you can generate reports that show the correlation between staffing levels and sales, helping you optimise staff schedules to match peak hours and reduce labour costs.

Inventory Management Software

Efficient inventory management is key to controlling costs. Platforms like MarketMan or BlueCart allow you to track inventory, reorder supplies, and monitor wastage. These tools generate reports that give you a clear picture of your food costs and help you avoid overstocking or running out of popular items.

By using integrated software solutions, you can collect data from various aspects of your restaurant's operations and generate comprehensive reports that offer valuable insights.

Automate Report Generation

Generating reports manually can be time-consuming and prone to errors. To save time and improve accuracy, use software that automates the process. Many modern restaurant management tools allow you to set up automated reports that run on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

For example, your POS system might automatically generate daily sales reports, while accounting software can produce monthly P&L statements. Automation reduces the likelihood of human error and ensures that you have the data you need at your fingertips without spending hours on manual calculations.

Analyse the Data

Once you have your reports in hand, it’s important to dive into the data to gain meaningful insights. Here’s how to analyse your restaurant’s performance:

• Look for Trends: Analyse sales data over time to spot patterns, such as peak dining times, popular menu items, or seasonal fluctuations. Identifying trends helps you plan staffing, adjust your menu, and forecast future sales.
• Assess Cost Efficiency: Review your COGS, labour costs, and overheads. If any of these are too high, investigate the root cause. For example, are you overspending on ingredients or overstaffing during slow periods? Use the data to pinpoint inefficiencies and take corrective action.
• Evaluate Customer Satisfaction: Use customer feedback reports to gauge service and food quality. If you see recurring complaints or issues in certain areas, you can take steps to address them—whether through training, menu changes, or operational adjustments.
• Identify Underperforming Areas: Reports can highlight areas that need improvement. For instance, if a particular dish isn’t selling well, it could indicate that it’s not appealing to customers, or perhaps its cost is too high. Similarly, if a certain time of day consistently sees low sales, you may need to adjust your opening hours or run special promotions.

Create Actionable Insights

Reports are only useful if you use them to take action. Here are some examples of how you can use the data to improve your restaurant’s operations:

• Optimise Menu: If you notice that certain menu items are not selling well, you can replace them with new dishes or revise pricing. Similarly, if a dish is consistently popular, consider promoting it more or even increasing its price.
• Adjust Staff Scheduling: If your reports show that labour costs are too high during certain periods, you can adjust staff schedules to ensure you have the right number of people on the floor at the right times.
• Improve Customer Experience: If customer feedback reports highlight issues with service or food quality, you can implement training programmes for staff or make adjustments to your menu. Regularly assessing customer satisfaction helps maintain a high level of service.
• Control Costs: Regularly review inventory and COGS reports to identify areas where you can reduce waste or negotiate better prices with suppliers. Cutting down on waste and improving inventory management can have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Communicate Findings with Your Team

Once you’ve analysed the data and identified areas for improvement, it’s important to communicate your findings with your team. Whether you’re sharing insights with your kitchen staff, front-of-house team, or management, ensuring everyone is on the same page is crucial for implementing changes effectively.

Hold regular meetings to discuss the insights you’ve gathered from your reports and make sure everyone understands their role in achieving your restaurant's goals. For example, if you’re looking to reduce food waste, educate your kitchen team on portion control and stock management.

Review and Adjust Regularly

Restaurant operations are dynamic, and what works one month may not work the next. To stay competitive and ensure continuous improvement, it’s important to regularly review your reports and adjust strategies accordingly. Make reporting a part of your routine—daily, weekly, and monthly—so you can remain proactive and responsive to changes in the market, customer preferences, and operational challenges.

Conclusion

Generating comprehensive reports is an essential practice for restaurants looking to make informed, data-driven decisions. By tracking the right KPIs, using the right tools, automating processes, and analysing the data effectively, you can gain valuable insights into your restaurant’s performance. These insights will allow you to optimise menu offerings, improve operational efficiency, control costs, and enhance the customer experience.

In the end, the ability to generate reports that support better decision-making is what separates successful restaurants from those that struggle to stay afloat. Use your reports as a strategic tool to improve every aspect of your operations, ensuring that your restaurant remains profitable, efficient, and well-loved by customers.