Effective Stock Management: Mastering Stock Taking and Control
HAVE A CLOSER LOOK
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INVENTORY CONTROL
Regular stock takes provide up-to-date, accurate information on your cost of sales, which is crucial for reliable profit and business performance data. Without precise stock tracking, financial insights can be misleading.
Effective inventory management helps identify discrepancies, preventing stock outages and overstocking. Imagine telling a customer you’re out of Guinness, only to find out later that the computer said you had plenty. On the flip side, overstocking ties up cash flow and can lead to waste—nobody wants €5,000 worth of beer sitting idle in the keg room. Even items like beer or slow movers such as tomato juice can go stale over time.
Shrinkage doesn’t just happen behind the bar—it can occur in the keg room, out front, down the drain, or even before delivery reaches your premises. Regular and spot checks help you understand where and how losses occur, enabling you to take proactive measures.
Proving theft or dishonesty among staff can be challenging, and even when you can, handling it isn’t always straightforward. However, when staff know that inventory is regularly monitored, it significantly reduces temptations. While freebies and sloppy practices may not disappear completely, their occurrence can be minimized.
Regular stocktaking demonstrates that you are diligent in monitoring alcohol sales, which is critical in a highly regulated industry. Whether it’s measuring pour sizes or tracking inventory, these practices show that you’re managing your responsibilities properly.
Even the best suppliers can make mistakes—barrels can be lost, input errors can occur, and sometimes, a salesman might slip in a couple of extra cases. Regular stock checks ensure that you catch these issues before they impact your inventory and finances.
Information is power. Knowing your inventory inside and out allows you to capitalize on opportunities, like taking advantage of promotions or bulk discounts with confidence. Strong stock control becomes an invaluable asset for your business.
Sometimes, an external perspective is necessary. An impartial third party is often trusted more than internal reports, especially when sensitive issues arise. Bringing in an external partner for stock takes can provide that neutral perspective.
Here’s a simple yet vital tip—keep your storage areas clean and organized. A cluttered, dirty keg room makes it difficult to perform an accurate stock take and can lead to unnecessary costs. Keeping things tidy not only simplifies the stock-taking process but also avoids extra charges for cleaning up before the count can begin.
Relying solely on point-of-sale software isn’t enough. These systems can’t account for everything happening behind the scenes. Real Cost of Goods Sold (C.O.G.S.) is calculated simply:
Opening Stock + Purchases – Closing Stock = Real C.O.G.S.
Without knowing your true cost of sales, it’s impossible to gauge how much profit you’re actually making.
