Monthly management report, September 2026, Fennick and Rowe Cafes

Monthly management report template with KPIs by site and actions

A monthly management report has to tell owners in one page whether the month was on budget, which site caused the gap and what will change next month. This four page report for a four site cafe group does that with a KPI table by site, a weekly sales chart, one paragraph of variance commentary per site and six actions, each with an owner and a date.

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Fennick and Rowe Cafes · Monthly management report · September 2026Page 1 of 4
Fennick and Rowe Cafes · Monthly management report · September 2026Page 2 of 4
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Fennick and Rowe Cafes · Monthly management report · September 2026Page 4 of 4
Monthly management report, September 2026

Fennick and Rowe Cafes, four sites. Trading period: four weeks from Monday 31 August to Sunday 27 September 2026. Prepared by Imogen Achterberg, Group Operations Manager, for the owners meeting on Thursday 8 October 2026.

$410,500
Group sales
-$3,500
Against budget
31.1%
Labour cost
30.7%
Food and drink cost
1. Summary

The group finished September $3,500 under its sales budget of $414,000, a shortfall of 0.8 percent. That figure hides a split month. Harbour Street and Station Square beat budget by a combined $10,000, while Mill Lane and Riverside Park fell short by $13,500 between them. Two causes explain almost all of the gap: Riverside Park lost most of its weekend trade to a council footpath closure, and Mill Lane ran without a second barista for nine days.

Costs moved the wrong way at the two weaker sites. Labour ran at 36.2 percent of sales at Riverside Park against a group target of 30 percent, because rostered hours were not cut when the footpath works began. Food and drink cost held at 30.7 percent across the group, inside the 31 percent target, helped by the new milk contract that started on 1 September. Section 5 lists six actions with an owner and a date for each.

2. KPIs by site

Sales and budget are for the four week period. Labour includes wages, superannuation and casual loading. Food and drink cost is opening stock plus purchases less closing stock, as a share of sales.

Site
Sales
Budget
Variance
Labour
Food cost
Sales count
Avg spend
Harbour Street
$118,400
$112,000
+$6,400
29.8%
30.2%
7,400
$16.00
Mill Lane
$86,200
$92,000
-$5,800
33.1%
31.8%
5,640
$15.28
Station Square
$141,600
$138,000
+$3,600
28.6%
29.5%
9,080
$15.59
Riverside Park
$64,300
$72,000
-$7,700
36.2%
32.6%
3,910
$16.45
Group
$410,500
$414,000
-$3,500
31.1%
30.7%
26,030
$15.77
Site
Sales
Budget
Variance
Labour
Food cost
Sales count
Avg spend
Harbour Street
$118,400
$112,000
+$6,400
29.8%
30.2%
7,400
$16.00
Mill Lane
$86,200
$92,000
-$5,800
33.1%
31.8%
5,640
$15.28
Station Square
$141,600
$138,000
+$3,600
28.6%
29.5%
9,080
$15.59
Riverside Park
$64,300
$72,000
-$7,700
36.2%
32.6%
3,910
$16.45
Group
$410,500
$414,000
-$3,500
31.1%
30.7%
26,030
$15.77
Site
Sales
Budget
Variance
Labour
Food cost
Sales count
Avg spend
Harbour Street
$118,400
$112,000
+$6,400
29.8%
30.2%
7,400
$16.00
Mill Lane
$86,200
$92,000
-$5,800
33.1%
31.8%
5,640
$15.28
Station Square
$141,600
$138,000
+$3,600
28.6%
29.5%
9,080
$15.59
Riverside Park
$64,300
$72,000
-$7,700
36.2%
32.6%
3,910
$16.45
Group
$410,500
$414,000
-$3,500
31.1%
30.7%
26,030
$15.77

Targets for every site are 30 percent labour and 31 percent food and drink cost. Two sites missed the labour target by more than three points; no site missed the food cost target by more than 1.6 points. Average spend rose at all four sites against August, from $15.21 to $15.77 across the group, after the 30 cent coffee price change on 1 September.

3. Sales by week

Group sales climbed each week of the month, from $98,700 in the first week to $105,600 in the last, against a flat weekly budget of $103,500. The first week carried the full cost of the Riverside Park closure and the Mill Lane staffing gap, and it finished $4,800 under budget on its own, more than the whole monthly shortfall. Weeks three and four together beat budget by $2,900.

Group sales by week against budget, $
  • Actual
  • Budget
Week 1, to 6 SepWeek 2, to 13 SepWeek 3, to 20 SepWeek 4, to 27 Sep030K60K90K120K
4. Variance commentary

One paragraph per site, in table order: what drove the variance, whether it repeats, and what it did to labour and food cost.

Harbour Street, $6,400 over budget

The new breakfast menu, launched on 7 September, lifted morning sales count by 11 percent on the same weeks last year. Two office catering orders worth $2,150 together were one off and are not in the October forecast. Labour came in at 29.8 percent, the only site under target besides Station Square.

Mill Lane, $5,800 under budget

The site ran with one barista from Monday 31 August to Tuesday 8 September after a resignation, and the morning queue time rose from about four minutes to nine. Sales count fell 14 percent in those nine days and recovered once the replacement started. Labour still rose to 33.1 percent because the duty manager covered the gap on overtime.

Station Square, $3,600 over budget

Commuter trade held steady, and the second register added in August cut peak queue time, which shows in the highest sales count in the group at 9,080. The variance is modest because the budget already assumed the second register. Food cost of 29.5 percent is the lowest in the group, helped by the smallest menu.

Riverside Park, $7,700 under budget

Council footpath works closed the outdoor seating from Saturday 5 September to Sunday 20 September, removing 28 of the 44 seats across three weekends. Weekend sales fell by 41 percent in that time. The roster was not reduced to match, which is why labour reached 36.2 percent. The works are finished and the seating reopened on Monday 21 September.

Riverside Park labour
At 36.2 percent, Riverside Park labour is six points over target for a second month. If October sales return to budget and hours stay where they are, labour falls to about 32 percent, still above target. A roster review is action 1 below.
5. Actions

Each action has one owner and a due date; progress on all six is reported at the November owners meeting.

No.
Action
Owner
Due
1
Rebuild the Riverside Park roster to a 30 percent labour target at forecast sales
Site manager, Riverside Park
Fri 9 Oct 2026
2
Recruit and train a relief barista shared by Mill Lane and Harbour Street
Group Operations Manager
Fri 23 Oct 2026
3
Ask the council for notice of future works near any site at least four weeks ahead
Owner, Daniel Rowe
Wed 14 Oct 2026
4
Trial the Harbour Street breakfast menu at Mill Lane for four weeks
Head chef
Mon 19 Oct 2026
5
Add a weekly labour percentage alert to the Monday sales email
Bookkeeper
Mon 12 Oct 2026
6
Reforecast October to November with the catering orders removed
Group Operations Manager
Fri 16 Oct 2026
6. October outlook

The October trading period, Monday 28 September to Sunday 25 October, has a sales budget of $428,000. With Riverside Park seating back and Mill Lane fully staffed, the forecast is $431,000, $3,000 over budget, assuming no further closures. The main risk is labour: if Riverside Park hours are not cut by 9 October, the group will miss the 30 percent target again even with sales on budget.

$428,000
October budget
$431,000
October forecast
30.0%
Labour target

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Title block and headline figures
Group, period, author and meeting date, then four headline figures.
1. Summary
The month in two paragraphs: the split between sites and the two causes of the shortfall.
2. KPIs by site
Sales, budget, variance, labour, food cost, sales count and average spend for four sites with a group row.
3. Sales by week
Weekly group sales against a flat weekly budget, as a two series bar chart with commentary.
4. Variance commentary
One subheading per site with the cause, whether it repeats and the cost effect, plus a labour warning.
5. Actions
Six actions with an owner and a weekday due date in October.
6. October outlook
Next period's budget, forecast, the assumption behind it and the labour target.

How to adapt this document

First, swap the KPI columns for the measures your trade actually runs on: a retailer would keep sales and average spend but replace food cost with gross margin and stock turn, while a service business would use billable hours and utilisation. Second, if you run one site, turn the KPI table on its side so the rows become this month, last month, budget and the same month last year, and keep the variance commentary to the two or three lines that moved most. Third, keep the actions table even when the month went well; a good month is when there is time to fix the slow problems.

What makes the numbers trustworthy

The report states how each measure is calculated, labour including superannuation and casual loading, food cost from opening stock plus purchases less closing stock, so a reader can tell a real change from a change in method. Totals reconcile: the four site variances add to the group figure of minus $3,500, and the four weekly figures add to $410,500.

What makes this document work

The group number is split before anyone asks

The summary says the group was $3,500 under budget, then says at once that two sites beat budget by $10,000 and two missed by $13,500. A total close to zero can hide two problems.

Every variance has a cause and a date

Riverside Park lost 28 of its 44 seats from Saturday 5 September to Sunday 20 September; Mill Lane ran on one barista for nine days. Named causes with dates let owners judge whether the miss repeats next month or was a one off.

Actions have one owner each

Six actions sit in a table with an owner and a weekday due date, starting with the Riverside Park roster due Friday 9 October. The callout above it puts a number on the risk: labour at 36.2 percent against a 30 percent target.

Questions people ask

Who should a monthly management report be written for?

For the people who make decisions about the business but do not run it day to day: owners, directors or an investor. They need the result against budget, the reasons and the decisions, not a full set of accounts. Write so a reader who stops after the summary still knows whether the month was good and what is being done.

How soon after month end should the report go out?

Most small businesses aim for five to ten working days, once wages, supplier invoices and the stock count are in. This report covers a four week period ending Sunday 27 September and goes to a meeting on Thursday 8 October. A prompt report with a small stated estimate beats a late exact one.

Should I use calendar months or four week periods?

Hospitality and retail often use four week periods, or a four, four, five week pattern each quarter, because every period then has the same number of each weekday. That makes weeks and months comparable. Calendar months suit businesses with steady weekday trade. Pick one, state the dates on page one and keep it all year.

What is the difference between a KPI and a variance?

A KPI is a measure you track every period, such as sales, labour as a share of sales or average spend. A variance is the gap between a KPI and the number you planned for it. The KPI table shows both side by side, and the commentary explains only the variances big enough to act on.

How many actions should a monthly report carry?

Few enough that each gets done before the next report, usually three to eight. Each needs one named owner and a date. If an action appears in three reports running without progress, the report should say so plainly, because a list that only grows tells the reader nothing about what is actually changing.

Should the report include a forecast for next month?

A short one helps. This report closes with the October budget, the forecast and the assumption behind it, no further closures, so next month's report can be read against something stated in advance. Keep the forecast to a few numbers and the main risk; a detailed forecast belongs in a separate budget document.

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