This is a method of controlling cash receipts that can be effective, if
done correctly. With this system, the servers and kitchen staff are
kept in check to ensure that the inventory counts, and the total
revenue are in sync. Since there would not be meals prepared without
a valid check, inventory could not be off, and if there is a check out of
sequence at the end of the night, then the manager on duty could
easily see who had requested a meal without it being cashed out.
This system, while effective is also slightly inefficient. On paper, it
seems like a great idea, but I think anyone who has worked in a
kitchen can attest that if service gets busy, checks are likely to be
ripped off the pad and discarded due to sloppy handwriting, writing
the wrong thing, etc. And while yes, in a perfect world, those would
be given to a manager, that is unlikely to happen 100% of the time.
This system would work in a kitchen in which there are not many
orders per server and the ‘busy’ time is not actually all that busy,
otherwise, it will not work the way that management wants it to
happen.
Instead, the restaurant could institute a POS system or something
similar in which meals are input. This would then print a check to the
back of the house for the kitchen to prepare. From there, the server
could print the check for the customer for payment. There would
need to be internal controls in place to ensure that checks cannot be
voided or discounted without management approval to prevent
servers from inputting an order to the kitchen and voiding it instead
of getting payment form the customer (thus giving away free food).
This would expedite the process and allow the kitchen staff to read
the orders direct form a printed receipt that the servers input into a
system that can then calculate the totals at the end of the
night/week/month and ensure that the inventory counts were not
off. There would also need to be a functionality to ensure that if a
dish was made incorrectly/needed to be remade, the servers could
request it through the POS system as well.
Romney, M. B., Steinbart, P. J., Summers, S. L., & Wood, D. A. (2020).
Accounting Information Systems. Pearson.
