Stock Control
Effective stock control is fundamental to the financial health of any members’ club operating a bar. While professional stocktakers provide detailed reports, committees remain responsible for ensuring that appropriate systems are in place and that losses are kept within reasonable limits.
Stocktakers’ reports should be supported by basic internal checks. Deliveries recorded in the goods received book should be matched to supplier invoices and statements, and all items received free of charge must be recorded. Allowances for waste and brewery credits should be authorised, reasonable and periodically reviewed.
Stock levels should be examined critically. With the exception of spirits, which generally have a longer shelf life, stock on hand should not normally exceed a week’s average sales. Excessive stock increases the risk of waste, particularly for cask beer, which has a limited shelf life once tapped. Other beers, lagers, mixers and soft drinks are also subject to “best before” dates.
Cost prices and selling prices shown on the stock report should be checked for accuracy, as errors will distort gross profit percentages. No product should be sold at a negative gross profit.
Some level of stock loss is unavoidable and will vary depending on cellar layout, product range and the experience of the steward or bar manager. An experienced steward, exercising reasonable care in storage and dispensing, should be able to keep losses within acceptable limits.
Typical causes of loss include spillage, over-pouring, beer left warm in lines and residue remaining in kegs. Poor dispense equipment, worn taps or excessive gas pressure can also contribute to increased waste.
Professional stocktakers should be instructed to make reasonable allowances for unavoidable losses. Any stock deficit that cannot be satisfactorily explained should be investigated promptly. It remains the practice for unexplained deficits to be reimbursed to the club by the steward, subject to the terms of their contract.
Maintaining clean beer lines is essential to ensure good beer quality, consistent taste and member satisfaction. Traditionally, clubs were advised to clean beer lines every seven days where cleaning was carried out manually by staff. This remains sound practice where bar teams clean and rinse lines themselves using approved chemicals and methodical procedures.
However, many clubs now use external professional cellar and beer line cleaning services. These specialist providers operate on behalf of clubs and licensed premises using dedicated equipment, brewery-trained technicians and advanced cleaning chemicals. Such services often combine preventative maintenance checks with beer line hygiene work and can allow clubs to extend the cleaning interval to approximately once every three weeks, while still maintaining high standards of beer quality and presentation.
Outsourcing line cleaning can offer several practical advantages, including:
Where clubs continue to clean their own lines, weekly cleaning remains a valid and widely recommended standard, provided it is carried out correctly and properly documented.
Stock sheet allowances
Line cleaning inevitably results in a predictable and unavoidable level of beer loss. This is a routine operational cost and is normally reflected in the stocktaker’s report as a separate line-cleaning allowance.
Line-cleaning allowances should:
Waste and ullage arise from a different set of circumstances and should be treated as exceptional and controllable losses, rather than routine allowances. Common causes include:
Unlike line-cleaning losses, waste and ullage should always be monitored, recorded and authorised. Left unchecked, waste allowances can quickly become excessive and materially erode bar profitability.
Where waste allowances are permitted, clubs should maintain a formal ullage / wastage record, completed at the time the loss occurs and authorised by a responsible officer. The record should clearly distinguish between routine line-cleaning losses and exceptional waste. An example ullage and wastage record is provided on our website.
As a general benchmark, most clubs should be able to keep total allowances (line cleaning and waste combined) below 3% of bar takings. In more complex premises this may rise towards 5%, which equates broadly to one pint lost in every twenty sold and should be regarded as an exceptional upper limit, rather than a norm.
Line-cleaning allowances are a necessary part of operating a licensed bar and should be planned for and controlled. Waste and ullage, by contrast, should be exceptional, visible and actively managed.