Bar Inventory Spreadsheet or Bar Inventory System: What’s Best?

Counting, managing and successfully maintaining your bar inventory seems simple at first glance, yet many bars are using time-consuming, ineffective and inaccurate processes that lead to hidden costs and lost profits.

Does this issue sound familiar? Then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog we’re going to take a look at how you can transform your beverage inventory management processes by simply making the switch from time-consuming and inaccurate spreadsheet counts to a seamless bar inventory management system. 

Here’s how your bar can significantly boost it’s profits by implementing a bar inventory management system. 

How do you keep track of bar inventory and why is it important?

Traditionally, most bars use pen and paper and manual spreadsheets to keep track of inventory. 

This process works by using either a liquor scanner app, a scale or eyesight to measure the amount of inventory in your bar, and then manually entering that information into a spreadsheet to find out how much inventory you had at the beginning of a specific period and how much stock you had at the end of that period.

The process of beverage inventory management is to gain insight into the following aspects:

• How your bar is financially performing.
• What your PAR level should be for each product, for smarter ordering.
• What your pour cost should be for each product.
• Where your bar is experiencing variance (also known as shrinkage), leading to hidden costs.
• To find out what your best-selling and most profitable products are.

By accurately managing your bar inventory to find out the above insights, you can improve your ordering processes, drive up the profitability of your business, reduce inventory waste, as well as a huge number of other benefits that improve the financial health of your business.

The issue is, manual spreadsheets are an ineffective way to gather this data. They require time-consuming and manual processes that lead to human error and inaccurate insights into your inventory. 

That’s where a bar inventory system comes in. 

What is a bar inventory management system?

A bar inventory management system is a software that integrates with your point-of-sale (POS) system and automates all of your bar inventory management processes in one centralized location. 

By uploading your inventory counts to a beverage inventory management system, your business will receive accurate data and insightful reports that improve how you strategically manage your inventory moving forward.

This leads to reduced food waste, the ability to design more profitable menus, improved ordering processes, optimized stock levels and, most importantly, higher profits.

What are the benefits of using a bar inventory system?

By using a bar inventory management system Vs. bar inventory management spreadsheet, your business will be able to realize a huge return on investment. Here are just some of the benefits of a beverage inventory management system:

• Improved internal efficiencies by removing the manual and time-consuming nature of managing bar inventory on a spreadsheet.
• Significant cost savings through the complete visibility and control you will gain over your bar’s inventory.
• Insightful period automatic replacement (PAR) level data that leads to smarter ordering processes.
• Less waste due to variance reports that ensure you can clearly see, and act upon, liquor shrinkage.
• Gain a full understanding of your ideal cost numbers not just your actual cost numbers.
• A seamless, and automated, inventory management process that gives you the time to focus on what truly matters - pleasing your guests.

Investing in bar inventory software is without a doubt the easiest, and most accurate, way to manage bar stock. By using technology to manage bar inventory, your business will have the data it needs to reduce costs and be significantly more profitable. 

Want to learn more about how a bar inventory management system will revolutionize how you manage your bar’s inventory? Contact Sculpture Hospitality today. Our team of expert, and local, consultants would love to answer your questions.