This article shows managers and above-store managers how to access the Cost and Variance report, what it displays, how to customize the results, export the report, and examples of how users can use the report to make operational decisions on Decision Logic’s platform.

Overview

The Cost and Variance report is a customizable report that supports operational efforts by showing product usage, cost, and sales data using your inventory calendar.  Users can export the Cost and Variance report, and it can be used to identify trends over time. For example, users can see how operational changes directed at variance management lead to improved food cost and profitability.

It provides a host of data.  Below are just a few data points that are collected.

  • Inventory.

  • Purchase-based usage.

  • Ideal usage versus Actual usage and the variance between them.

  • Theoretical usage versus Actual usage and the variance between them.

  • The product category is broken down to the ingredient level.

  • Totals.

The Cost and Variance report can help users with:

  • Understanding food cost in dollars ($) and quantity (qty).

  • Visualizing positive and negative product variance.

  • Analyzing and improving the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).

  • Discovering inefficiencies in product usage.

  • Identifying product quantity entered in Waste Sheets.

  • View ranking against multiple stores per category for above-store managers.

Run Report

Managers can view the report by Category, Product, or by Store.  When viewing By Store, above-store level managers can see ranking per Category amongst the stores by default.

Users can add ranking to By Category and By Product.  Check out how to customize your report by scrolling further down this article. Begin by navigating to:

Reports > Cost and Variance > Cost and Variance

  1. Select the Company, Region, Area, or Store.

  2. Select a Date Range.

    1. The dots under a date represent an inventory cycle and will default to the current week.

    2. Period Start is the beginning of that store’s period. Clients with multiple calendars may not see the Period Start icon on the date selector.

  3. Select By Category, By Product, or By Store.

  4. Select Gross or Net.

  5. Click Apply.

Example Results

By Category_Non IvA Non Rec.png

Non IvA or Non Rec icons will appear if these boxes are unchecked in Ingredient Management.

Users can click on an individual product to see the Product Details page.

By Category

Displays the category’s totals, where applicable, and allows users to expand each category to drill down to the ingredient level. This report style looks at usage and variance to identify improvement per category.

By Product

Displays variance as a percentage of sales for all products. This report style is used to identify which products need improvement regardless of category.

By Store

Displays each store’s breakdown and provides a ranking column by default per category.  When users filter through different data, the ranking will update per category.

The ranking is determined by Usage Percentage Variance by default.  If a user clicks any other filter in the header of the columns, the rank will be adjusted.  When a store does not have data for the column that is being filtered, it will list stores alphabetically, and the top store will be ranked as #1.

Users will select the Category Section they want to View to drill down into those categories.

Here are some examples of how ranking can benefit operations:

  1. Ranking by Variance Usage %  “By Store” can lend insight into how stores manage their products with fluctuating costs.

  2. Ranking by Days on Hand  “By Product” can help identify over-ordered products to mitigate waste.

Non-IvA

Some results may show a Non-IvA icon next to an item.  Here are reasons why an item may be classified as Non-IvA are:

  • Ingredients that are not used in Menu Item Recipes.

  • Ingredients that are not marked for IvA within Ingredient Management.

Non Rec

Some results may show a Non Rec icon next to an item.  Here are reasons why an item may be classified as Non Rec are:

  • Ingredients that are not used in Recipe Cost.

  • Ingredients that are not marked for Recipe Cost within Ingredient Management.

Non Rec icon.png

View and Print Product Details

Users can display and print an individual item’s product details.  Select the product category to display the individual items and click on an item.  Click Print to print the item.

View Product Details

Print Product Details

Customize Report

Decision Logic chooses the columns displayed by default until a user customizes the columns presented on the report.

Customizing the columns presented on the Cost and Variance report and the order of the columns is saved locally to the user’s browser.  The report will need to be reconfigured if users use a different web browser to view the report.  For example, switching from Chrome to Safari would require reconfiguration.

Although the By Store view will show ranking by default, users can configure ranking on the report for By Category and By Product views. Users can customize the report by navigating to:

Reports > Cost and Variance > Cost and Variance

  1. Click Configure Report.

  2. Select a Report Type from the dropdown.

    1. Each report can be customized.

    2. Customization saves locally to your web browser.

  3. Check the box next to the column from Available Columns.

  4. Click the Right Arrow to move to the Include In Report column.  This will make the column available on the report.

    1. To remove a column from the report, check the box next to the column from Include in Report.  Then click the Left Arrow to remove it from the list.

  5. Highlight a Column Header to sort the report layout by dragging and dropping.

  6. Click Save Changes.

Users can restore default settings by clicking Restore Default.

Absolute Variance option is the total increase or decrease in variance from 0 and is represented as a positive number. It does not take into account balancing.

For example: -5% variance and +5% variance from 0 will produce an Absolute Value of 10%. There is a total of 10% variance from 0, regardless of the direction.

Export or Print Report

Users can easily export the report as a CSV file or print portions of the report.  Users will select their parameters and click export or print.

Export

When selecting Export, the report will download as a CSV file with all headers (columns) and data from the report based on the parameters selected.

By Category will include additional columns:  Category 2 and Category 3Category 2 is the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Section.  Category 3 is the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Accounting Category.  By Product will not include COGS categories.

By Category Example

Print

When selecting Print, what is seen on the screen is what will print.  It will not print the entire report.  Users must scroll across the platform to the desired data they want to be printed, then click print.

Users can also customize the report to show only the columns they want to be printed.  After printing, they can re-customize to show everything they want to view when on the web-based platform.

Print Example

Calculations

Metric

Definition

Calculation

Product & Product ID

Ingredients established in Ingredient Management.

Inv Units

Inventory Measure established in Ingredient Management.

Beg Inv & End Inv

Inventoried Quantity of the inventory measure taken on the selected dates.

Beg Ext & End Ext

*End Ext

The dollar value of the inventory was taken on the selected dates.

*The Shelf Extension value.

*End Inv x Cost Per Unit

Pur Unit

Received units.

Received units minus IUT units.

Pur ($)

The dollar value of purchases received on orders selected in the Inventory Cycle.

All received $ minus IUT dollars.

IUT

Inter Unit Transfer units.

IUT ($)

Inter Unit Transfer dollar amount.

Cost Per Unit

Dollar value per Inventory Measure using the Accounting Method.

Days on Hand

Estimated number of days of usage before inventory will be depleted.

Ending Inventory / (Actual Units within the most recent Inventory Cycle / Days in the last Inventory Cycle)

Waste

Quantity of waste entered.

Sales

Customizable; Breakdown of each category.

Actual Units

Actual unit usage.

Theory Units

Theoretical unit usage.

Variance Units

Difference between Actual Units and Theory Units.

Actual Units - Theory Units

Actual $

Actual usage in dollars.

Theory $

Theoretical usage in dollars which is the total cost of cases broken down by FIFO.

Recipe Portion x Menu Mix Quantity Sold = Theoretical Quantity

Theoretical Cost= Theoretical Quantity using FIFO.

Variance $

Difference between Actual $ and Theory $.

Actual $ - Theory $

Actual %

Actual usage in percentage.

Theory %

Theoretical usage in percentage.

(Theroretical Usage Dollars / Accounting Category Sales) x 100

Variance %

Difference between Actual % and Theory %.

Actual % - Theory %

Rank

Order of stores based on the filter selected.

Absolute Variance

Shows which ingredients/items have the greatest distance from perfect performance so you can investigate and mitigate operations.

The difference between any growth or loss of an individual item, displayed as a percentage.

Table of Contents

For additional questions or assistance, please submit a support ticket by visiting the Decision Logic Service Center.

Unable to access this feature in the Decision Logic platform?

  • Contact your Decision Logic Administrator to make Scope and Security adjustments to your user profile or add new features.

  • Some features are client-specific.