Checklist

Profitability Diagnostic Worksheet

An interactive diagnostic worksheet that guides a quick sanity check of your P&L, inspects high-variance cost categories (food, labor, waste, utilities) with focused diagnostic questions, captures suggested data sources, and records 30/60/90-day improvement hypotheses with owner assignments and priorities.

Interactive Tool

Profitability Diagnostic Worksheet

Use this worksheet to find where profit is leaking, prioritize the highest-impact opportunities, and assign owners with short improvement cycles. Enter values where available, answer the diagnostic questions for each high-variance category, and capture 1–3 improvement hypotheses you can test in the next 30/60/90 days.

Data tips: pull numbers from POS, payroll, supplier invoices, inventory counts, waste logs, and utility bills before or during the review. Save this worksheet so your team can iterate on the same record.

Restaurant / Business Name

Name of the location or business unit.

Location / Unit

If multi-location, specify store/branch.

Review Date

YYYY-MM-DD or natural date.

Reviewer / Manager

Total Sales (period)

Sales for the period you are reviewing (currency).

COGS / Food Cost (currency)

COGS as % of Sales

If known, enter percentage; otherwise leave blank.

Labor Cost (currency)

Labor as % of Sales

Other Operating Expenses (currency)

Net Profit (currency)

Net Profit Margin %

Target Net Profit %

Your target or goal margin for this business.

Do sales, bank deposits and POS reports match for the period?

Are any major variances already explained (promotions, one-offs, repairs)?

Notes - Quick P&L sanity checks

Record obvious mismatches, timing issues, or missing invoices.

Food Cost — Diagnostic Questions

Answer yes/no to each diagnostic prompt.

Are portion sizes consistent with recipe cards?

Are recipes and yields current in your costing system?

Is vendor pricing up-to-date and reflected in costs?

Are receiving and storage practices preventing spoilage?

Do portion or prep mistakes drive frequent remakes?

Is overproduction or batch size causing extra waste?

Are high-cost ingredients used in low-margin dishes?

Food Cost Notes and Observations

Labor — Diagnostic Questions

Are schedules based on demand forecasts rather than habit?

Do shift leaders have clear role checklists?

Are timekeeping and payroll accurate and reconciled?

Do training gaps cause extra labor hours or mistakes?

Is overtime frequent during busy periods?

Are cross-trained staff used to reduce peaks?

Is productivity measured (covers per labor hour, etc.)?

Labor Notes and Observations

Waste & Spoilage — Diagnostic Questions

Do you have a routine waste logging process?

Is overproduction logged and analyzed?

Are FIFO and first-use rules consistently followed?

Are trim and prep losses being minimized or repurposed?

Do portion mistakes cause frequent discards?

Is theft, unexplained variance, or loss investigated?

Are composting/repurposing opportunities being tracked?

Waste Notes and Observations

Utilities & Overheads — Diagnostic Questions

Are utility bills reviewed monthly for unexpected changes?

Is equipment energy usage monitored or estimated?

Are thermostats, refrigeration, and HVAC settings optimized?

Are lighting or other upgrades planned to reduce consumption?

Are preventive maintenance schedules reducing emergency repairs?

Are vendor contracts and service levels periodically reviewed?

Are small overhead savings tracked to see real impact?

Utilities & Overhead Notes

Suggested Data Sources (check all you used)

POS sales data

Bank deposits / statements

Supplier invoices

Payroll reports

Inventory counts / valuations

Waste / compost logs

Utility bills

Scheduling / labor reports

Hypothesis 1 - Timeline

Hypothesis 1 - Improvement Hypothesis (what change will you test?)

Describe the testable change (e.g., reduce portion X by Y%, change vendor, add prep checklist).

Hypothesis 1 - Owner

Hypothesis 1 - Target metric & expected impact

Example: reduce food cost by 1.5 percentage points; reduce waste by 20 lbs/week.

Hypothesis 1 - Priority (1 low — 5 high)

Rate the expected impact vs effort.

1.0 10.0

Hypothesis 2 - Timeline

Hypothesis 2 - Improvement Hypothesis

Hypothesis 2 - Owner

Hypothesis 2 - Target metric & expected impact

Hypothesis 2 - Priority (1 low — 5 high)

1.0 10.0

Hypothesis 3 - Timeline

Hypothesis 3 - Improvement Hypothesis

Hypothesis 3 - Owner

Hypothesis 3 - Target metric & expected impact

Hypothesis 3 - Priority (1 low — 5 high)

1.0 10.0

Top 3 Actions to Start This Week

List the three highest-priority actions, who owns them, and earliest next step (e.g., count inventory, update recipe, schedule training).

Final Notes / Follow-ups

You can explore this tool now. Sign in or create an account to save your responses and return to them later.

Make this tool part of your work

Save a personal copy, bring it to your team, or tailor the questions and workflow to fit what you are hungry to improve.

Member customization and team collaboration are coming soon.

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Profitability Diagnostic Worksheet

Profitability Diagnostic Worksheet

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