Variance analysis reports
Variance analysis reports help you compare your actual register sales against the calculated theoretical sales (what should have been rang into the register based on usage) at the end of each inventory period. By comparing your register sales to the theoretical sales you can learn how much profit you are losing and how bad of a theft problem you really have. The industry standard (acceptable) variance range is within 5%. The higher a variance percent number, the greater your profit loss may be.
To see your establishment sales variances, enter your total sales for the inventory period for each product category that you are tracking in Bar Cop. For example: If your total liquor sells for the inventory period is $5540.50, enter 5540.5 for liquor by clicking on the notepad icon. You can also click on the register sales cells directly and enter sales data.
Variance dollar amount - The difference between your actual sales and your theoretical sales after adjustments. The calculated difference is your profit loss - or what you lost due to theft, over-pouring, giving away product, etc.
Variance percentage - The percentage of your retail profit loss. A good variance percent is under 5%. Anything over 10% and you potentially have a large theft problem.
If you are concerned about theft, variances are the most important data points to check.
Important: An accurate variance percent can only be calculated when weighing products. If you are point counting, your margin of error may be to high for accurate data to know if you have a theft problem or not.
Want to dig deeper?
Break sales or usage down by individual product using the variance reports. You can check specific products by clicking on the notepad and enter those products sales data, or export all of your product sales or usage data from your POS system and copy and paste (see how to copy and paste) to quickly enter data.
To compare usage data, click "Usage Variance". With usage variance, you can enter total product usage data taken from your POS system reports and compare rang usage to actual product usage.
Things to know:
1) Your calculated variance numbers will only be as accurate as your counted inventory. Weigh products for greater accuracy and make sales adjustments if needed. Pour size variations, drink mixes, and food plates should also be cost out correctly or you may have inflated variance numbers making theft detection impossible.
2) Entering your total register sales for each category will give you the best overall look at your establishment's theft problem. You do not need to check individual products on a regular basis, unless theft is suspected.
3) In each category, the variance reports can easily be exported to Excel or PDF format by clicking on the Excel and PDF icons located in the top right corner.
