Variance reports help cost accountants identify unprofitable production and service activities. If your dinner house served a 1 pound steak for $30 and the meat costs $6 and sides run another $1.50, your margin is $22.50. That’s a profit margin of 75%.

Meat prices vary over time and the 1 pound steak can go as low as $4.50 and as high as $7.50. This rate variance has a huge impact on your profits. At $4.50 per pound, marginal profit soars to $24 or 80%. It gets tough to pay the rent for your high profile location when higher priced meat hits the loading dock. Your margin drops to $21 or 70% at the $7.50 per pound level.

In this example, our standard price per pound is $6. If our example steak accounted for 40% of dinner business, how do we measure the impact of a price increase? Using this standard rate, we will run a cost of sales of 25% on this menu item. A $1.50 rise in the cost per pound will run the cost of sales up to 30%. Since this 5% increase has a 40% impact value, this one ingredient – a 1 pound steak – is responsible for a 2% increase in the overall food cost.

Rate variances on key items have a major impact on your results. These variances may be difficult to control. Major steak chains use futures and options to reduce the risk. Minimum future requirements eliminate this option for most operators.

The industry has become focused on the usage variance since the degree of control is higher. If you sell 1,000 of these steaks a week and you closely track usage, you may experience a usage variance of 10%. Instead of using 1,000 pounds of steak, you needed 1,100 pounds. At the $6 standard cost per pound, the usage variance costs $600. Repeat this performance for 50 straight weeks and you’ll be missing $30,000 of profit. Your food cost percentage for the steak will soar by 2%. Looking at the entire food cost percentage, this unfavorable variance has a 0.8% impact.

Imagine a week with the same usage variance combined with the big rate variance. The impact of serving the $7.50 per pound meat and an extra 100 steaks is $2,250. The extra steaks cost $750 and the extra $1.50 per pound on the 1,000 standard is $1,500.

Companies using variance reports wisely tend to eliminate usage problems faster. These same companies isolate key items and develop an effective purchasing strategy. Their competitors tend to run rambling meetings when food cost numbers are high. Inventory counts and extensions become their focus. In the long run, you won’t solve a usage variance or a price variance through inventory value manipulation.

Joe Dunbar
(800) 949-3295
www.joedunbar.com

Image Credit: r-h

Popularity: 1% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?

Exercise is still the best way to do when anybody wants to lose weight and keep good health. Moving around your body instead of lazing on the couch all day makes you feel more pumped up and improves your blood circulation. Participating in physical activities will also give you the opportunity to impress your loved ones as well as encourage them to do the same. So what are you waiting for? Try those sporty and fun forms of exercises to help you achieve that impressive body, good health and even stunning abs.

However, always keep in mind that nothing in this world is easy. You cannot remove those unwanted stomach fat by sheer urge alone. You have to do something, at least. Do not worry because a variety of losing weight exercise can help you get in shape and develop a great body without any costs at all.

You simply have to make your multiple muscles work all at the same time. This is to practically and technically build strength, work on steadiness and burn more calories. During workout, compound and aerobic exercises like simple crunches, brisk walking, bicycling or swimming can be done. These are simple yet fun exercises that you can do with your loved ones and best buddies – within your premises and means. More so, there are a number of good tools and programs that you can use to make dynamic moves and to strengthen as well as stabilize your core.

Contrary to popular belief, exercising your abdominals alone will not produce those six-packs. Having a full-body workout is the way to go. Fitness experts said the human body is like a car engine in a sense that the car goes faster when it burns more fuel. Moving around all of your muscles requires a lot of energy so the more muscles you use, the more calories you burn.  Here are a few tips on how you can achieve a flab-less stomach.

• If you can afford to sign up for a gym membership or join a fitness club, you may do so. Receiving help from the professionals could help you lose that stomach flab faster.
• Working with weights and irons regularly could speed up your metabolism. You should also develop your core muscles, which are located in the abdomen, hips, and lower back, to build that mouth-watering abs. Keep in mind, however, that you also need to tone the muscles in the other parts of your body and give your abdominal ones a rest to prevent injuries.
• If you love sports, then you should learn one because it improves blood circulation and helps your body burn fat faster.
• Aerobics and compound workouts are also considered types of “lose stomach fat” exercise. Experts said sculpting muscles in the abdomen alone would not speed up the removal of belly fats that is why it is highly recommended to take part in activities that requires full body movement. Such exercises also strengthen the heart and improve endurance.
• Lifting weights will also help your body build muscles so it is advisable for you to join a fitness club. Seeking help from professional body builders could also help lose that pot belly.
• Work your core muscles. Experts said all people have washboard ups but they could not see it because they are covered in layers of fat. Exercising the muscles in your back, abdomen, and hips can help reveal those hidden abs by melting the fat away.
• One good way of flexing those core muscles is by doing the so-called Russian twist. This type of exercise requires you to sit on the floor with your knees bent at 90 degrees. Your feet, however, should be lifted just lightly off the floor. Lean forward while extending your clasped hands. Then, rotate your upper body from side to side without moving your legs.
• You should go jogging during mornings or afternoons to boost your metabolism and to maintain your fitness.

Aside from the lose stomach fat exercise, you should also watch the amount of food that goes into your mouth. Eating nuts, fruits, vegetables, and other food that are high in vitamins could also help you acquire those washboard abs. In addition, drinking lots of water and avoiding junk foods that are high in calories can boost the effect of the lose stomach fat exercise. These tips can motivate you to shed those extra pounds, aren’t they?

Image Credit: leyoga

Popularity: 1% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?

Authorities are in dispute about where the swine flu started. Mexican health secretary Jose Angel Cordova said it was risky to blame Mexico for the outbreak.

“I think it is very risky to say, or want to say, what the point of origin or dissemination of it is, given that there had already been cases reported in southern California and Texas,” Cordova said in a press conference.

However, Mexican deaths believed to be linked to the swine flu started at 50 percent on Monday and is up by 152 as of this report. Regardless of this fact, the origin of the strain is still unknown.

Scientists and virologist theorized that Asian and European strains traveled through migratory birds or in people. The strain then combined itself with North American strains in Mexican pig farms before jumping over to farm workers.

Technology is in use to track the H1N1 strain, in fact, Google has a heat map in Google maps to try and put a path to the spread of this possible pandemic. ABC news also has a heat map to keep track of the viral spread. ABC also invited virologist, Chris Smith to explain what swine flu is and how it came into pass to humans.

The last outbreak of swine flu was spotted in the Philippines last 2007 in Nueva Ecija and Central Luzon. It was later learned that it is hog cholera that was killing the pigs from the farms and has never affected humans.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?

Items required – Cake, Freezer, Cling Film

Procedure – All you need to do is protect the cake from freezer condensation.

Depending on the cake part you can wrap pieces of the cake right away and place it in the freezer. Pieces of the cake will make it easier to store it in the freezer. You can freeze the cake for up to 2 to 3 months. Do not freeze cakes with fruit toppings.

Image Credit Flickr.com

Popularity: 2% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?