Background
Passionate restaurateurs committed to delivering innovative food and exceptional dining experiences, Flagship Restaurant Group started up their operation in Omaha, Nebraska in 2002. Since then, they have opened several restaurant concepts including Blue Sushi Sake Grill, Roja’s Mexican Grill, Blatt Beer and Table, Plank, and Flagship Commons. Flagship utilizes Compeat Advantage (now R365) to manage their inventory and corporate accounting as well as control food costs.
Challenge
Before implementing Compeat (now R365), Flagship was managing their inventory using spreadsheets. The process was tedious and the results were not timely. Their cost of goods would vary from period to period and they had no way to know if that was okay. Flagship realized that without a better system, their actual inventory cost and usage might not be accurate and they would not be able to compare theoretical inventory cost or usage to actual in order to isolate variances.
Flagship was using QuickBooks prior to Compeat to manage their accounting. They had no integration with their POS system and were therefore making manual entries. They also had no integration between restaurant invoices and accounts payable so they had to update both inventory and accounts payable separately.
“Compeat has made our accounting department more efficient and allowed us more time for other projects.”
– Shannon Allen Accounting Manager
Solution
Flagship purchased Compeat Advantage in the summer of 2011 and rolled out all ten locations. They benefited immediately from Point of Sale polling and Daily Sales Reporting. Managers also saved time due to the inventory ordering, receiving and counting functions. “Compeat allows us to order products from Sysco online and then the inventory cost changes are automatically updated in real time so managers can see the effects of price changes immediately,” says Tony Gentile, Executive Chef for Flagship.
Flagship saved administrative hours by having an integrated inventory and accounting system — all operational and accounting information is in one common database. They have also converted their accounts payable into a paperless process by scanning invoices and checks at the restaurants. “Compeat has made our accounting department more efficient, allowed us more time for other projects, and provided us with much more information,” raves Shannon Allen, Accounting Manager for Flagship.
Results
In just two years Flagship has seen phenomenal results. “Since implementing Compeat, we have seen an average of 4-5% reduction in cost of goods sold per store. We have saved nearly $600,000 because of Compeat!” raves Tony Gentile, Executive Chef for Flagship.
Flagship is growing rapidly and they are on track to add three stores per year for the next ten years. “Compeat gives us the power and the platform to be able to grow. The money we save with Compeat goes right into the opening of each new location,” says Gentile.
