A single busy service produces a surprising amount of data — every order, void, discount, tender and table. Most of it is noise unless you can see the few numbers that matter at the moment they’re useful. Here are the restaurant reports worth reading, and why timing changes everything.
The reports that actually matter
You don’t need fifty dashboards. You need these:
- Daily sales — gross and net takings, ideally broken down by hour so you can see your peaks.
- Covers — how many guests you served, and average spend per cover.
- Top sellers (and slow movers) — what’s flying out, and what’s sitting on the menu earning nothing.
- Payment breakdown — card vs cash vs gift card, split by tender, so the money reconciles.
- Staff & shifts — sales per server and hours worked, for both performance and payroll.
What the Z-report is
The Z-report is the end-of-day summary — the cash-up. It totals the day’s sales, taxes, tenders, voids and discounts and “zeroes” the register for the next day. Historically it was the slip you printed at close to reconcile the till and lock the day’s figures. A modern POS produces the same report on demand and keeps the history, so you can compare any day against another.
Live beats the morning after
The biggest shift a modern POS brings isn’t a prettier report — it’s when you see it. Numbers that only appear the next morning can’t change anything; numbers you can read mid-service can. Quiet Tuesday building up? Push a special. Running hot and short-staffed? Call someone in. A dish suddenly selling out? Take it off before guests are disappointed. Live reporting turns the day from something you review into something you steer.
Turn reports into decisions
The point of a report is the decision it triggers:
- Cut waste — slow movers tell you what to drop or re-cost before it spoils.
- Plan staffing — sales by hour show exactly when you need more hands, and when to send people home.
- Protect your margin — voids, discounts and refunds in one place make unusual patterns easy to spot.
- Know your mix — payment and product breakdowns tell you what to promote and how guests actually pay.
Keep it honest and reconciled
Good reporting reconciles: the payment breakdown should match the cash in the drawer and the card settlements, and the Z-report should tie it all together at close. If your reports and your drawer disagree every night, that’s a process (or a software) problem worth fixing — not something to shrug off.
Garivio POS gives you live reporting — sales, covers, top sellers, the payment breakdown and staff shifts — plus the Z-report, all as the shift happens rather than the morning after. See Garivio POS, or if you’re just getting started, read how to set up a POS for a new restaurant. Want a look? Talk to us.