Unclear figures in the inventory and a mysterious drop in sales can often be traced back to dispensing losses. If the corresponding evidence is missing, they raise numerous questions during an audit. Even if it is not always possible to completely avoid dispensing losses despite careful calculation and planning, there are still some suitable measures to minimize them. To do this, it is necessary to know the possible causes and to know italy phone data how dispensing losses can be calculated. We explain exactly how this works in this article.
Contents
What are dispensing losses?
Tax significance of dispensing losses
Calculate Dispensing Loss
Reduce dispensing losses – strategies and measures
What are dispensing losses?
When serving drinks, there can be a loss . In the catering industry, this loss is known as dispensing loss. Since dispensing losses have a direct impact on the contribution margin, they can affect the efficiency and profitability of your catering business . It is therefore advisable to minimize these losses as much as possible.
However, the effects of bar losses go far beyond the purely business aspects. In the context of tax audits, inexplicably high loss rates combined with missing evidence can also result in high tax back payments .
Reasons for loss of dispensing
The reasons for loss of service in the catering industry are varied and can be due to both organizational errors and external influences .
In order to be able to take targeted measures to minimize the economic impact of dispensing losses, it is essential to have a precise knowledge of the most common causes. Even small losses, such as beer over-frothing, can add up significantly over time, even if they seem insignificant at first glance.
The most common reasons that can lead to losses during dispensing include:
evaporation due to incorrect storage
Spirits that have expired due to improper storage
over-dispensing during beverage preparation
spilling when pouring
theft of goods
booking error in the cash register system
bottle breakage
Heavy foaming and frequent refilling of beer
Loss of stale beer when cleaning the tap
Free distribution of drinks
Tax significance of dispensing losses
In addition to the usual official requirements, a company audit also focuses on checking the dispensing losses. This involves a detailed examination of the difference between the quantities served and the actual revenue . Specifically, this concerns the discrepancy between the quantity that should theoretically have been served based on the order quantities and inventory levels and the number of drinks sold recorded in the cash register system.
The tax office usually recognizes a flat-rate dispensing loss of around 3 to 5 percent . If your actual dispensing losses exceed these flat-rate values and you cannot prove the losses, they will not be recognized for tax purposes. The result: You have to pay taxes on sales that you never made.
It becomes particularly problematic if several such discrepancies in the bar losses become apparent in your accounting. In such cases, the tax office reserves the right to make appropriate additional estimates . This in turn drives up the amount of tax you have to pay even further.
In order to be able to claim the bar losses above this flat-rate limit for tax purposes, precise bookkeeping is therefore of crucial importance. In order to avoid possible complaints from the tax office, it is important in this context that the cash book , the cash register system and the cost of