F&BosCheck sales by channel, payments and voids daily; item sales, peak hours, average bill, food cost, variance and sales per labour hour weekly; and dish profitability, repeat guests and your GST summary monthly. About 15 minutes a day and 30 minutes a week is enough to catch most problems early.
Most POS systems produce dozens of reports, and most owners look at one: today's sales. The rest is where the money hides. This guide picks the 12 that matter and turns them into a routine. For how reports fit into the POS as a whole, see our restaurant POS system guide.
The 12 reports at a glance
| # | Report | Check | What it shows | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sales by channel | Daily | Total sales split by dine-in, takeaway, delivery and QR orders. | A channel dropping for several days in a row. |
| 2 | Payments and day-end reconciliation | Daily | Cash, UPI and card totals, matched against the drawer and bank settlements. | Cash short or over; UPI totals that don't match the bank. |
| 3 | Voids, cancellations and discounts | Daily | Every void, cancelled item and discount, with who did it and why. | A spike, or one staff member with far more than others. |
| 4 | Item sales | Daily or weekly | Quantity and revenue for every dish, top to bottom. | Bestsellers slipping; dishes that hardly sell. |
| 5 | Hourly sales and peak times | Weekly | Sales and orders by hour and day of week. | Peaks you're under-staffed for; dead hours you're over-staffed for. |
| 6 | Average bill and covers | Weekly | Average bill value, guests served and average spend per guest. | Average spend falling while covers stay flat. |
| 7 | Food cost percentage | Weekly | Cost of ingredients used as a share of food sales. | Moving outside your target band (28–35% for most restaurants). |
| 8 | Ideal vs actual variance | Weekly | What recipes say you should have used vs what you actually used, plus logged wastage. | Variance above 4% of food cost. |
| 9 | Sales per labour hour | Weekly | Sales divided by staff hours worked, by shift. | Shifts with high labour and low sales; prime cost above 60%. |
| 10 | Dish profitability (menu matrix) | Monthly | Each dish's margin and popularity: stars, workhorses, puzzles and dogs. | Popular dishes with thin or negative margins. |
| 11 | Customers and repeat visits | Monthly | New vs returning guests, visit frequency and top customers. | Repeat share falling; regulars who've stopped coming. |
| 12 | GST summary | Monthly | Taxable sales and GST by rate and order type, ready for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. | Mismatches with your accountant's figures or aggregator statements. |
Benchmarks come from our guides: food cost 28–35% for most Indian restaurants, prime cost (food + labour) 55–60% for the best-run, and variance above 4% as a sign of a systemic problem.
Daily: the 15-minute check
1. Sales by channel
Know what you sold through dine-in, takeaway, delivery and QR orders. A single slow day is noise; a channel falling for a week is a signal, perhaps a ratings drop on an aggregator or a staffing problem at lunch.
2. Payments and day-end reconciliation
Match cash in the drawer, UPI received and card settlements against what the POS recorded. Small differences add up; a pattern of cash shortages on particular shifts needs attention.
3. Voids, cancellations and discounts
This is the most important leakage report. Every void, cancelled item and discount should have a user and a reason. Watch for spikes and for one person with far more than everyone else.
Weekly: the 30-minute review
4. Item sales
See which dishes sell and which don't. A bestseller that's slipping may have a quality or consistency problem; dishes that barely sell add ingredients, waste and prep time.
5. Hourly sales and peak times
Match staff rosters and prep to your real peaks. Over-staffed dead hours and under-staffed rushes both cost money.
6. Average bill and covers
If covers are steady but the average bill falls, guests are ordering less: check upselling, menu layout and combos.
7. Food cost percentage
The share of food sales spent on ingredients. Most Indian restaurants should target 28–35%. Our food cost percentage guide explains the formulas, and the food cost calculator checks any dish in seconds.
8. Ideal vs actual variance
What your recipes say you should have used compared with what you actually used, alongside logged wastage. Above 4% usually means over-portioning, unrecorded waste or theft. See how a POS with inventory calculates it.
9. Sales per labour hour
Sales divided by staff hours worked, by shift. Together with food cost it gives you prime cost; the best-run restaurants keep food and labour at 55–60% of sales.
Monthly: the bigger picture
10. Dish profitability (menu matrix)
Plot every dish by popularity and margin: stars to promote, workhorses to reprice, puzzles to reposition and dogs to remove. Use current ingredient prices, not last year's costing. Our guide to menu engineering for Indian restaurants explains each move. See how AI in a restaurant POS can automate this analysis.
11. Customers and repeat visits
New vs returning guests, how often regulars come, and who's stopped coming. Repeat guests drive profit, especially the ones who order your best-margin dishes.
12. GST summary
Taxable sales and GST by rate and order type, ready for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. Reconcile with your accountant's figures and aggregator statements every month, not at year end.
These reports roll up into your monthly profit and loss. Our guide to reading a restaurant P&L statement shows how.
What to put on your phone dashboard
- Today's sales against the same day last week.
- Payments by method, and any cash difference at day end.
- Voids and discounts above your threshold.
- Low-stock alerts for key ingredients.
- For chains: each outlet side by side.
Reports are only as good as the data
- Enter every delivery order in the POS, or channel and stock reports will be wrong.
- Keep recipes and purchase prices up to date, or food cost and margins will mislead you.
- Give every staff member their own login, so void and discount reports mean something.
- Close every table and run day end every night.
A simple reporting routine
- Every night (15 minutes): sales by channel, payments and day end, voids and discounts.
- Every Monday (30 minutes): item sales, peak hours, average bill, food cost, variance, sales per labour hour.
- First week of the month (1 hour): menu matrix, repeat guests, GST summary and the monthly P&L.
- Act on one thing each week: reprice a dish, fix a shift, retrain a station.
Choosing a POS with the right reports? They're point 23 of our restaurant POS features checklist.
Frequently asked questions
What reports should a restaurant POS have?
At minimum: daily sales by channel, payments with day-end reconciliation, voids and discounts, item sales, hourly sales, average bill and covers, and a GST summary. With inventory, add food cost percentage, ideal vs actual variance and dish profitability. With staff and customer data, add sales per labour hour and repeat-visit reports.
Which POS report should a restaurant owner check every day?
Three, in about 15 minutes: sales by channel, payments with day-end reconciliation, and voids, cancellations and discounts. Together they tell you what you sold, whether the money matches, and whether anything was given away or cancelled without a good reason.
How often should I check food cost in the POS?
Weekly. Monthly checks find problems weeks after they start. A weekly food cost percentage and ideal vs actual variance report catches drift in portioning, waste or supplier prices while it's still easy to fix.
What is a menu matrix report?
It plots every dish by popularity and profitability. Stars are popular and profitable; workhorses are popular with thin margins; puzzles are profitable but rarely ordered; dogs are neither. It tells you which dishes to promote, reprice, reposition or remove.
Can I get POS reports on my phone?
With a cloud POS, yes. Owners can see sales, payments and alerts on their phone in real time, and compare outlets without calling managers. Ask your vendor which reports and alerts are available on mobile.
Related POS guides
Restaurant POS with inventory
How every bill updates your stock, and how variance is found.
Read the guide → MENUMenu engineering for Indian restaurants
Stars, workhorses, puzzles and dogs, and what to do with each.
Read the guide → CHECKLISTRestaurant POS features checklist
25 must-haves and the question to ask every vendor.
Read the guide →