bates are being used. In general, your rebates may be used to offset costs, paid back to you on a periodic basis, or used to incent you on the front-end of a deal with a broadline distributor. Not knowing how to claim rebates for your business will impact your bottom line. Historically, there have been companies and websites that help you claim your rebates directly from manufacturers. The larger your restaurant, the larger the dollar amount of rebates. It is fundamentally crucial to ask, “Where are my rebates?” Calculating the real cost of a purchase. Buying food that isn’t sent directly to a restaurant is something that needs to be done all the time. Now, there are entrepreneurial individuals, who can dash over to the Costco or Restaurant Depot for you, for a fee, and then there’s your shift supervisor, who you dispatch for such tedious matters. What’s the cost of going to Restaurant Depot when it is 35 minutes away? How much are you paying that person to do so and how much are you spending on gas or mileage? Take that into account when you calculate how much you are saving on that uber-sized bottle of cooking oil, and then compare that cost to the invoice cost of getting it from US Foods, FoodPro, or any other broadline or regional distributor. Rotation (of people) Here’s another issue. You play favorites in the restaurant. We’ll call him Tim. Tim always does the inventory with seemingly steady outcomes. The business has seemingly been going well and healthy under Tim's 'consistent' groundwork.Unfortunately, your inventory may not be what you think it

is. In reality, Tim has actually been taking home a rack of ribs on a weekly basis. Just because Tim managed to submit good, flawless financial reports for you does not necessarily reflect how your restaurant loses revenue behind the scene. If you’re focused on the inventory number and not aware of your actual food cost, than Tim is in for a long and prosperous gig at your restaurant. Rotating individuals that do inventory or process invoices is a wise decision for your business. Making different people accountable on a schedule can safeguard the risks of losing your hardearned food inventory. This goes for reporting, as well. For those who take a profit share in a restaurant, one of the oldest tricks is to underreport expenses. It’s important to recognize the ones who bypass reporting invoices for payment. Make sure to let those who process invoices, or do some of the internal reporting, share responsibilities with other managers. That way, there would be several different eyes on your process of vendor payments. If a restaurant uses an outside accountant or service, it is advisable not to take the econo-quarterly plan. Rather, they should take the monthly plan so any benefits of having a second set of eyes has quick benefits to you and can save you from losses resulting from unsavory managers. Don’t accept hand-written invoices or expenses reports without proper documentation from vendors. Make sure to have a price list or contract from each vendor you deal with, even if your manager or partner has negotiated the terms or may