How Do I Use WiseFins to Reduce Labor Costs?

Labor is one of the biggest controllable costs in F&B, and the key to managing it well is staffing to actual demand, not to habit. WiseFins gives you both a predictive and historical view to help you do that.

Step 1: Plan Ahead with Predictive Data

Before building your staffing schedule, check your Overview dashboard:

• Today's Expected Covers and Today's Expected Revenue: a same-day forecast based on combined reservation and POS data, more reliable than OTB alone since it accounts for likely walk-ins and last-minute bookings.
• Covers OTB vs. Expected and Revenue OTB vs. Expected: shows you how the gap between "booked" and "likely actual" evolves as a date approaches, useful for adjusting staffing plans in the days leading up, not just the day of.
• Expected - Meal Period Detail table: breaks predictions down by day and meal period (Lunch/Dinner), letting you plan staffing meal-by-meal rather than for the whole day at once.

Step 2: Build Staffing Templates from Historical Patterns

Once you've got a sense of near-term demand, use your Financial dashboard's historical KPIs to build recurring staffing templates:

• Avg Cover/Hours: identifies your true peak and quiet hours, useful for scheduling more staff during peaks and trimming during consistently quiet windows.
• Avg Cover/Day of Week: shows which days consistently run busier or slower, so staffing levels can be set by day rather than applying a flat schedule across the week.
• Table Occupancy Heatmap: gives you a visual, hour-by-hour view of table utilization, useful for spotting patterns that aren't obvious from averages alone, like a mid-week lull that happens at a very specific hour.

Step 3: Reassess Operating Hours

If historical data consistently shows very low utilization during certain hours, especially at the start or end of service, it may be worth reassessing whether those hours are actually needed. Trimming a consistently quiet hour (or shortening a shift) can reduce labor cost and overtime exposure without materially affecting guest experience, since demand simply isn't there to serve.