A key component to profitability is making sure that the cash and cash equivalents received for the products that you sell are accounted for and make it to the bank. LinkUp’s SettleUp in-store system automatically captures data from your POS system and creates an in-store audit of your daily sales versus cash and credit card receipts and tracks overages and shortages. This saves time and reduces the possibility of losses from fraudulently manipulating sales totals. The central office process of gathering and auditing sales and receipts from each store every day, if done manually, can be very expensive, time consuming, and subject to mistakes and oversights. Linkup’s Datafactory automates almost all of this process which not only saves time and money but also increases the accuracy and thoroughness of the audit. Datafactory can also provide an interface to your accounting system so that the errors and costs associated with rekeying this critical financial data are eliminated. Once the amount of the daily bank deposits and credit card receipts for each store has been determined by Datafactory’s audit process, the auditor can then use Datafactory’s reports to reduce the time it takes to perform the final audit step which is to accurately reconcile receipts against bank statements.

Every week timecard data from each store must be gathered, checked, and input into the payroll system. If done manually this critical process is terrifically labor intensive, time consuming, and costly due to the volumes of data involved. Starting at the store level, Linkup’s PayUp in-store system reduces store-level payroll processing costs by automatically the gathering and auditing punches, and by providing the store manager with simple correction screens. The result is that both the accuracy and completeness of payroll data sent to the central office are dramatically improved. This in turn reduces central office costs because the auditors are spending is less time checking for errors and making corrections. LinkUp’s Datafactory further reduces central office costs by automatically gathering and performing a wide variety of final audits on the payroll data. Time consuming functions like handling borrowed employees and employees not on file are also automated. Once all of the payroll data for the week has been approved, Datafactory eliminates the cost of rekeying the data by exporting punches directly into the payroll system. It also supports direct deposit which eliminates the costs and delays associated with issuing printed paychecks.

Labor accounts for 25 to 30 percent of an average restaurant cost of sales. The ability to accurately forecast and schedule labor resources according to optimum levels helps to eliminate overtime hours, prevent overstaffing shifts or poor customer service due understaffing during peak traffic. LinkUp’s LineUp in-store software uses it’s advanced sales forecast system to determine a seasonally adjusted hourly sales forecast for each business day. Once the forecast is known, LineUp automatically determines not only the number of people required for each shift but also where they should be deployed. The result is improved service and profits from having the right person at the right place at the right time. In the restaurant business, things don’t always go as planned. LinkUp’s HeadsUp in-store monitor constantly displays real-time sales versus forecast so the store manager can react and either increase or decrease staffing levels accordingly thus controlling labor costs without impacting speed-of-service goals. The HeadsUp real-time monitor also displays who is currently clocked and their hours worked thus allowing the RGM to easily monitor clock-in/clock-outs for breaks and minor labor law compliance. The display also helps eliminate losses due to fines and unintentional overtime pay.

One of the proven ways to increase profits is to improve drive-thru speed of service. While Linkup’s tools for planning and scheduling provide a foundation for building consistent speed of service, the final piece is the real-time feedback to the store manager and crew on how well or poorly they are doing. LinkUp’s HeadsUp display, which is located in a visible location on the floor, displays service times and goals so everyone can constantly monitor how well the drive-thru is operating. Linkup also provides an extensive set of drive-thru performance versus goals reports at both corporate and store levels.

Ingredients are the greatest single restaurant expense, typically accounting for 25 to 35 percent of costs. Waste, over portioning, spoilage, and theft are just a few of the ways inventory costs can increase. Without adequate information looking for these, loses can be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Linkup’s Inventory Controls systems helps pin point inventory problems by accounting for every ingredient and the variety of ways each ingredient is used. Daily menu items sales up-to-date recipes for every menu item are combined to determine ideal usage for each ingredient. This number can then be compared to actual usage based on inventory levels and product orders. A variety of reports then indicate the variance between what should be in inventory and what is actually on hand. Discrepancies between the two indicate improper handling of that ingredient in the preparation of orders, spoilage or theft. Datafactory’s centralized Inventory reports allow local managers, regional coaches and corporate level executives to view information by store, by area, by region or across the enterprise.

For many items a weekly count to determine variance is sufficient. However, for high usage, high cost items more control is needed so problems can be spotted and corrected faster - before they can accumulate into a significant impact on your bottom line. Counting every item on a daily basis is too time-consuming so Linkup allows the user to select key items as needed to be counted and tracked as needed. This improves controls while keeping the associated labor costs to a minimum.

Pure and simple, inventory is money. The more inventory you have on your shelves, the more of your cash flow is tied up in food instead of being available for other uses. On the other hand, having too little leads to borrowing from another store or placing special orders – both of which drive up costs. LinkUp’s predictive ordering enables restaurants to exercise greater control over food inventory with the ability to create suggested orders based on on-hand inventory and the forecasted usage over the time period the order must cover. The orders are then directly transmitted to the vendor ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Advance ship notices received from the vendor are used to modify the original PO which increased the accuracy of the delivery verification and vendor credit processes.

Quick Service restaurants must prepare batches of ingredients thought out the day to ensure standards for freshness and speed-of-service are met. Preparing too much, results in wasted inventory ingredients and too little leads to poor customer service when customers are made to wait while the batch ingredient for their order is prepared LinkUp’s predictive batch prep guides ensure the right amount of batch ingredients are available at the right time thus reducing waste and improving customer service. The guides are based on an hourly mix forecast, batch ingredient recipes, and the maximum hold times for each batch ingredient. The forecast for each menu item or the day can easily be adjusted to handle new items, promotions, or non-typical days. These guides are printed out in a format the crew can directly use to schedule their prep work, this saving time and reducing errors.

Pouring over spreadsheets of outdated data is not a good use of district, regional and other mid-level management time. Datafactory’s extensive corporate level reports provide the details they need to effectively monitor what is happening at the enterprise, area or unit level. In addition, managers can log on to the store’s applications remotely and access Linkup’s Snapshot data which provides a near real-time view of a wide variety of current operational conditions such as: labor versus sales, sales versus forecast, labor versus schedule, sales per man hour, current speed of service, employees on the clock, overtime alerts, POS deletions percentages, and more…