How much?
How long is a piece of string?
The short answer is, we always like to see a site before we give a firm quote, but for the vast majority of our clients, our fees fall in the range £90 - £180 (+ V.A.T.) per stocktake, with most of them very much at the lower end of that range.
There are many variables to take into account - frequency of stocktakes, how many bars and cellars, different pricing structures, large wine lists, even how well prepared the information we require is given to us.
You will still find 'old school' stocktakers, with pencil and calculator, who will basically give you a profit percentage, with no indication of where anything is going wrong. They may charge only £70 or £80, but you will only get what you pay for.
The big national companies, with large overheads, must charge much more, and you will often find that you are dealing with different people. Many of the stocktakers are actually operating as agents or under a franchise, and much of the fee that is charged will not go to the person who is doing the actual work, providing an incentive for them to do the work as quickly as possible.
We fall between the extremes. Although our report is probably the most detailed on the market, and entails hours of extra processing, because we are a small business our overheads are relatively lower, and you will always be dealing with the same people.
I don't think we've ever had a client whom we didn't save (sometimes MUCH) more than we cost. An (admitedly extreme) example, was a client whom we managed to save an estimated £40,000 of losses in a single year - our fees were just over £1,000.
How often?
From many years of experience, we find that four weekly or monthly counts provide the best balance between cost and effectiveness.
We have on occasion, performed stocktakes on a weekly basis where a client has a major problem, but we generally manage to clear these up fairly quickly.
If you have little or no problems, it is possible to stretch to a maximum of six weeks, but we have found that going to two months or more between counts is ineffective, in that peoples memories over when things have happened tend to be vague, stock lent out or borrowed may or may not have been returned, and missing purchase dockets, or paperwork at the accountants, tend to be problem features. Besides, you could have a major problem, and it would be a long time before you knew or could do anything about it. It is also a false economy to stretch periods between stocktakes, as our fees have to reflect the increased paperwork involved.
We can of course carry out annual, or periodic counts over any required period, but these would be purely valuations without any of the details in our normal reports.
How long do you take?
Because of our investment in bar code scanners and other equipment, the on-site count is generally the easiest part of the procedure for us. In the vast majority of cases, there will be two stocktakers, in and out of your premises in less than an hour.
Where possible, we try to do the count (or at least the public areas) before you open for business, or during a quiet period of trading.
We try to disrupt your business as little as possible.
Do you process on site?
We can…. But apart from change of ownership, we try to avoid this. From your point of view, we have to charge considerably more.
In order to keep overheads, and by implication fees, to a minimum, we try as much as possible to carry out four or more counts in a particular area on the same day, and then a day or more in the office processing them. Transport costs, and more importantly, time spent travelling is very expensive. To fully process a stocktake to our level can take four or more hours at the computer, so processing on site is virtually a full days work.
When do I get my report?
Normally we hope to process a count within a couple of days. However…. The main reasons for delay are generally caused by missing or incomplete paperwork on behalf of the client – if you are using a Goods Received Book, (GRB) it can be that a delivery wasn’t entered or a line was missing, or if you give us your invoices / delivery notes, it may be that cash & carry docket lying under the passenger seat of your car. When the report highlights shortages or (worse) overages, we can spend a great deal of time checking for errors, when in fact the problem is missing paperwork. So it’s up to you – if you are careful and complete with your paperwork, the report will arrive much more quickly.
Do you do food?
An emphatic NO! - An itemised valuation is virtually of no use whatsoever. Anyone who tells you otherwise does not have your best interests at heart.
For a small additional fee we can do a trading account on your food to supply a gross profit, based on a nominal fixed stock level, and factor in things like staff meals, complimentary meals etc. to show what your pricing structure actually delivers as a profit % against your target %.
What we don’t like to do, is charge you a considerable fee to value your stock each month.
Generally, we try to carry out counts on the same day of the week each time, so your food stock level will vary very little with even a moderate turnover, and the difference in profit % will at most, have less effect than a different chef working two days a week.
If you currently have stocktakers who charge for regular valuations, ask them exactly what difference a stock level of £200 extra or £200 less makes to your profit margin. Better still, ask where your problems are, or why you are not achieving your desired margin. Don't hold your breath waiting for a reply!
With wet stock, and a properly set up cash register, we can tell you where your problems are, and, from experience, give you the most likely reasons – e.g. we can tell exactly what items are short, down to the last box of matches.
With food, unless you go down the McDonald’s road of counting each portion of chips (sorry, fries) (….a rose by any other name?) and valuing the waste each day, you cannot get anything other than a profit margin.
Can I just have a valuation?
Certainly – we are happy to do valuations on an annual, six monthly, quarterly or any other periodic basis.
Why aren’t you in the ‘Yellow Pages’?
We don’t have to be – by and large our clients come from recommendations from other clients, or other businesses we deal with, such as accountants and cash register companies.
Need more answers?
info@cowanassociates.co.uk
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