Chapter 8 - Controlling other expenses. This chapter presents the following content: Other expenses; controllable and non-controllable other expenses; fixed, variable, and mixed other expenses; monitoring other expenses; managing other expenses; technology tools. | Chapter 8 Controlling Other Expenses Main Ideas Managing Other Expenses Fixed, Variable, and Mixed Other Expenses Controllable and Noncontrollable Other Expenses Monitoring Other Expenses Reducing Other Expenses Technology Tools Managing Other Expenses Other expenses are those items that are neither food, beverage, nor labor. Other expenses can account for a significant amount of the total cost of operating your foodservice unit. You must look for ways to control all of your expenses, but sometimes the environment in which you operate will act upon your facility to influence some of your costs in positive or negative ways. Managing Other Expenses In the past, serving water to each guest upon arrival in a restaurant was simply SOP (standard operating procedure) for many foodservice operations. The rising cost of energy has caused many foodservice operations to implement a policy of serving water on request rather than with each order. Energy conservation and waste reduction are two examples of attempts to control and reduce other expenses. Managing Other Expenses Each operation will have its own unique list of required other expenses. Other expenses can constitute almost anything in the foodservice business. If cost groupings are used, they should make sense to the operator and should be specific enough to let the operator know what is in each category. Operators can use their own categories, or follow those used in the Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants (USAR) Managing Other Expenses While there are many ways in which to consider other expenses, two views of these costs are particularly useful for the foodservice manager. They are: Fixed, variable, or mixed Controllable or noncontrollable Fixed, Variable, and Mixed Other Expenses A fixed expense is one that remains constant despite increases or decreases in sales volume. A variable expense is one that generally increases as sales volume increases, and decreases as sales volume . | Chapter 8 Controlling Other Expenses Main Ideas Managing Other Expenses Fixed, Variable, and Mixed Other Expenses Controllable and Noncontrollable Other Expenses Monitoring Other Expenses Reducing Other Expenses Technology Tools Managing Other Expenses Other expenses are those items that are neither food, beverage, nor labor. Other expenses can account for a significant amount of the total cost of operating your foodservice unit. You must look for ways to control all of your expenses, but sometimes the environment in which you operate will act upon your facility to influence some of your costs in positive or negative ways. Managing Other Expenses In the past, serving water to each guest upon arrival in a restaurant was simply SOP (standard operating procedure) for many foodservice operations. The rising cost of energy has caused many foodservice operations to implement a policy of serving water on request rather than with each order. Energy conservation and waste reduction
