Tools to Find Restaurant Profit Leaks: Start With the Problem
Choose a tool by asking it to work through an unresolved problem from your restaurant. Bring the records you have, name what is missing and ask who will act on the result. A feature list alone will not tell you whether the system fits your review process.
This guide is published by Marty. Product descriptions below reflect official pages checked September 22, 2026. They describe advertised capabilities, not independent performance tests. Confirm availability, integrations and permissions for your own setup.
Match the problem to the records
For labor cost, bring the published schedule, timecards, edit history, sales and manager notes. Ask whether you can compare planned and actual work by shift without treating every extra hour as waste.
For food cost and inventory, bring count sheets, purchase invoices, credits, transfers, recipes and waste records. Ask whether you can trace a difference to its inputs and correct a count without losing the review history.
For cash gaps, bring transaction details, approvals, drawer counts, safe transfers and deposit records. Ask whether the reviewer can trace an exception through closeout and bank confirmation. Keep suspected theft separate from a verified finding.
Before adding software, open the reports in the systems you already use. List the missing records or steps. That list gives you a concrete brief for a vendor demo.
What current tools offer
Restaurant365 covers accounting, inventory, purchasing, scheduling and workforce tools. Its current site describes variance visibility before period close and mobile access to sales, labor and inventory. Some AI features, including AI Scheduling, are labeled early access. Ask which features are available in the package being proposed and demonstrate the exact review you need.
Nory's workforce tools include forecast-based scheduling and planned-versus-actual labor costs. Its waste reporting guide describes inventory and waste review. Ask how your records enter the system and how managers handle missing data or exceptions.
Toast IQ answers questions about Toast business data and supports actions such as menu changes and shift edits. Available actions depend on products, data and permissions, and require confirmation. For a Toast operation, test whether it can answer your specific labor, void or discount question with enough detail for a manager to verify it.
Marty offers a paid Cash Recovery Plan, with access, scope and fee agreed before work begins. Optional ongoing managed follow-through can be discussed separately. Confirm which records and problems the proposed review covers.
Test the full path from question to resolution
Use the same unresolved example in each demo or review discussion:
- Can the reviewer open the records behind the finding?
- Are missing data and uncertain explanations visible?
- Can a manager add context and challenge a wrong finding?
- Who receives the next action, and who owns it?
- What evidence is required to mark it resolved?
- Can you export the finding, response and supporting records?
Ask the vendor to distinguish an alert from a verified discrepancy, and a proposed action from a completed result. Review the work your team must do after the software produces an answer. Choose a tool that addresses the missing step you identified, then check that step during implementation.