TOOL 06 / 06
Operating gaps cost simulator: waste, stock-outs and extra hours
Three gaps cost a restaurant every week: what goes in the bin, what is missing when a customer asks for it, and the hours paid when footfall doesn’t follow. Enter one week: the simulator adds up all three and repeats the week over a year. The share you think you could recover is your assumption, at 0% until you change it. The calculation runs in your browser, with no sign-up.
Work out one week of operating gaps
The formula
Margin lost = missed sales × margin on these sales
Cost of extra hours = extra hours × fully loaded hourly cost
Cost of the week’s operating gaps = waste + margin lost + cost of extra hours
Recoverable amount = cost of operating gaps over 52 weeks × share you think you could recover
A missed sale does not cost its price: the product not sold was not bought. It costs the margin it would have left, hence the margin after food cost. Extra hours are counted at fully loaded cost, contributions included.
The prefilled example
| Line | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Waste for the week | Thrown away, unsold, preparation | €510 |
| Margin lost | €300 × 70% | €210 |
| Extra hours | 12 h × €18 | €216 |
| Cost of the week’s operating gaps | 510 + 210 + 216 | €936 |
| Over 52 weeks | 936 × 52 | €48,672 |
| Recoverable amount | €48,672 × 0% | €0 |
Assumptions to keep in mind
Each line is only as good as its measurement: a week of weighing for waste, the list of products that ran out with the time they ran out for missed sales, the schedule against the receipts for hours. There is no typical week: redo the calculation for a quiet week and for a busy one.
The recoverable share stays yours: no figure is suggested, because it depends on your site. For the detail of waste, go to the waste cost calculator; for the weight of staff in revenue, to the prime cost calculator.