Overview

There are many different ways to manage finances. Maybe you spend money on the very best without thinking about the long term consequences or maybe you live frugally and just purchase the basics. The best approach, however, is to live within your means, spending money wisely.

You can only do this if you have an accurate and current understanding of how you spend your money, what your income is, and how you plan to control your spending. The same is true in business – such as a restaurant kitchen – where managers must take care to monitor revenue and costs.

The kitchen plays a central role in the success of most hospitality operations. Commercial kitchens, whether in restaurants, hotels or other catering operations, can only operate successfully in the long term if they control their costs and their revenue.

Imagine how difficult it would be to operate a kitchen if the staff don’t have the stock needed to prepare menu items because there are no controls in place to determine what stock is needed. Imagine trying to determine your menu prices without proper menu costings, or controlling food costs if you shop all over town from different suppliers.

Stock is just one example of what needs to be controlled. In a kitchen setting, all revenue and costs must be controlled and documented, and there are plenty of processes and systems to help you do that. Throughout this unit we will look at some of the ways to help you achieve this successfully.

In this unit you will learn how to:

• Establish and maintain a purchasing and ordering system.
• Establish and maintain a financial control system.
• Maintain a production control system.
• Select and use technology.