1954 Practical Bar Management by Eddie Clarke

FOURTEEN

Bar Accountancy and Control By Norman Chamberlin Managing Director, Michael Henderson Limited Theobject of this chapter is to draw attention to an adequate system of internal Liquor Control that will enable the Management to satisfy themselves with general operation and the month-to-month profit ratio. It is well, I think, for us to determine at the outset the basic difference between the work of the Company's Accountants and that of the Managerial, or Control Staff, to be unfolded in these succeeding pages. The Company Accountant will provide an assessment of the actual trading for a specific period generally speaking, the financial year, and in some cases half-yearly or quarterly. Such figures are quite naturally not available in the normal course of events until some considerable time after the end of the period in question. This has a very restricted value from the standpoint day-to-day management. At the best,the picture is but general of and too much in the nature of past history for any particular action to be taken on specific points. We are interested, then, in a supplementary domestic accoun tancy framework to provide the Management with essential details of operation more closely allied to the period of current events. This would broadly cover full reports on the current running of individual Bars, an accurate Cellar Control on day-to- day transactions, and the provision of approximate Gross Profits for immediate Business Done. Subsequently these latter figures can be summarized and compared for accuracy with the ultimate returns provided by the Company Accountants. There is, of course, no set yardstick to determine just how frequently these period figures should be prepared. This will depend on the nature and extent of the business, although as a general guide, four-weekly periods are generally sufficient. With these figures at his disposal close on the end of the period, the

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