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Expert support for your stock control software is necessary
The hospitality industry has been subjected to a lot of stress and strain over the past few of years, with limited support. So, now would be a sensible time to consider the various ways you might protect your sales revenue and ensure that any leaks from misappropriation or poor practises in the use of stock control software are reduced.
Relying on the independent stocktaker or compliance auditor over your internal staff to manage your stock control software offers several benefits that could help get your profit back on track and climbing.
1.Objectivity
Unlike stock control software, the independent stocktaker can identify staff misdemeanours, which is one of the most common causes for loss of revenue at any given venue.
If you’re not careful relying predominantly on stock control software could end up costing you lost revenue and falling GPs. Either as a result of your staff hiding transactions, altering stock levels and adjusting figures to cover up a wide range of their own wrongdoings, or as a result of appointing unqualified personnel who are unable to recognise important negative trends or imbalances in the data they manage. An independent stocktake is really just that – independent.
Impartial experienced auditors will scour all likely costs and revenue to ensure accurate and trusted results by working with your internal stock control software. It means that if you outsource this critical business function you get an in-depth and accurate analysis of your trading situation.
A good independent stocktaker will work together with your internal stock control software systems. There, you have the best of both worlds: modern technological excellence helping you to manage all facets of your hospitality business, and stock control excellence helping you to manage stock, reduce losses and ultimately increase your profits.
2. Efficiency and accuracy
An outsourced stocktake and audit will be a more efficient and accurate service than one that has been performed purely through the use of stock control software.
Independent stocktakers should have gone through accredited training, they look beyond counting stock for the sake of ticking ‘yet another task’ off their long to-do list. Instead, they fully understand the importance of what they are there for: carrying out an accurate stock take or audit within an appropriate timescale.
An outsourced stocktaker can use their expertise to provide your venue with a detailed action plan devised from the gathering and interpretation of audit data pulled from stock control software, that will help your venue get back on the straight and narrow.
3. Specialist analysis of stock control software data
Stock control software only gives you one piece of the puzzle, not the complete picture. Independent stocktakers have the expertise to complete in-depth analysis of the stock take results, pinpointing imbalances and improvements providing an action plan with expertise that drives progress.
External compliance audit teams too, offer a neutral and incredibly detailed snapshot of your business over any audited period. They can highlight missed revenue, as well as poor reporting or due diligence. An independent auditor can identify if the data in your stock control software is correct. Without this independent verification your stock control software could produce inaccurate results.
Without a focused business methodology and accompanying training for staff, it becomes near impossible to get as much out of your stock control software as you would from an independent supplier’s services.
Each stock visit is reported on in full and includes advice, which is drawn from hospitality sector experience, to increase profits and efficiency. Essentially you get fresh pair of eyes to see how your business is performing. This kind of human touch cannot be achieved with stock control software alone.
Independent stocktakers and auditors should be recruited based on years of work experience in the industry and be trained to the highest standards. If you outsource, you’ll benefit from expertise that focuses on both improved profits and controls.
4. Protects stock and revenue
Outsourcing is the only real way you can ensure you fully protect your stock and revenue from staff errors and violations. Independent reporting ensures stock control software results are free from local politics or discriminations that can creep in with an in-house team.
The harsh reality is that our own data reports that up to 90% of the losses a pub records on any given stock period happens as a direct result of the bar staff. Think ‘short ring’, ‘phantom register’, ‘short pour’, ‘kick-backs’, ‘free drinks’ plus countless more! These can all be hidden and undetected when you appoint internal stock control software management with no independent verification.
So, handing over the control of your stock, and ultimately your revenue streams to internal stakeholders using SaaS stock control systems may not prove to be so advantageous.
There really are a myriad of ways in which your venue can lose stock. Some of them are straightforward and others are not quite so obvious. Independent stocktakers know their numbers inside out. They have completed numerous stock takes at other venues, experience they can draw from again and again. They are also constantly unveiling new reasons why venues are experiencing a loss of income.
All this points to the simple truth that they just know what they are looking for more than your internal staff using the stock control software would. They have extensive knowledge about the factors that determine stock take results, so their analysis of the data will be far more valuable.
5. Cost effective for multi-sites
Without the fixed cost of a salaried in-house team, your costs will flex to meet your needs, seasonally or with growth. It is why outsourcing is the most cost-effective solution for multi-site and growing businesses. Modern business systems help to bring together information from all operational areas, providing one single platform for running your business: from back office to kitchen to front of house.
A qualified stocktaker can work simultaneously with your back-office system and stock control software. These systems being used by experienced professionals will help ensure operational excellence throughout your business.
Remember, that independent stocktakers are not only accountable to the client they serve, but also to their Head Office. Becoming ‘chums’ with your venue staff and subsequently letting them get away with the sort of misuse of stock control software previously mentioned is pretty much unachievable compared to using internal staff.
Ultimately, this double safeguarding ensures that stocktakers are critically reviewed for their performance by two entities, who both expect the stock take to be completed to a certain standard across multiple sites.
6. Relieves staff stress
When it is left to your own staff members to manage the stock control software you may find one of two things will happen.
Either the stock control process takes them very long to complete (because they’re not confident or skilled in what they are doing) or they show a sense of apathy to the task because they do not want it to take too much time away from other important tasks they need to complete. With the independent stocktaker you can be certain that neither of these issues will be a concern: whether we are talking about inaccuracies or wasted time.
Bestowing the task of stock control software management to an independent source will release your management team to concentrate their efforts on their customer facing roles. It enables you to relieve staff of both the time and stress that comes with completing these extra-curricular and complex tasks.
Venners are here to help enhance your stock control software
We are here to support your business in these uncertain times. We are stock control software experts and will be more than happy to have a practical conversation regarding outsourcing or indeed helping to supplement your audit teams. Traditional stocktaking services are out to help you save money and improve your processes.
We have also produced a useful and much more detailed guide explaining all the pros and cons of outsourcing to help you make an informed decision for your business. Download the guide here.