Module Deep-Dive
The Five Reports Restaurant Owners Actually Use
18 May 2026 · TotalBiz POS Team
Out of every dashboard a POS can draw, five reports do the heavy lifting. Here's what they are and the decision each one drives.
1. Sales by daypart
Not 'how much did we take' but when. The 15-minute sales curve decides rostering, prep timing and whether that 3pm–5pm slump deserves a happy hour or a closed door. Most venues discover their gut model of busy times is an hour off.
2. Menu engineering (popularity × margin)
Every item plotted by how often it sells and what it actually earns after recipe costs. Stars get prime menu placement; popular-but-thin plough-horses get costs re-engineered; unpopular-but-profitable puzzles get a rename and a photo; dogs get cut. This single report pays for a POS.
3. Labour percentage, live
Wages against sales, today, now — not in next month's P&L when it's history. The venues that hold 28–33% see the number during the shift and trim or extend accordingly.
4. Variance (theoretical vs actual stock)
The honesty report. The gap between what sales say you used and what the count says is gone — portioning drift, waste, shrinkage. Reviewed weekly, it typically shrinks just by being watched.
5. Customer frequency
How many of this month's covers were repeat visitors, and is that share rising? Growth built on regulars is durable; growth built on one-time deal hunters isn't. This is the report loyalty programs answer to — and with GST-ready exports underneath all five, BAS time stops being archaeology.
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