Cost Controller-Hospitality & Beverage Operations

Role Overview

This position sits between the finance office and the outlet floor, keeping the true cost of every plate, glass and bottle honest. Day to day, you compare what ingredients and beverages should cost with what they actually cost, reconcile what the tills sold against what the storerooms issued, and trace the gaps back to their source. You hold the independent monitoring, reconciliation and reporting line, while operational teams keep custody of the stock and stay accountable for recording transactions and delivering agreed fixes; adjustments and write-offs follow the approved authorisation route, and material or unresolved discrepancies are escalated to the Financial Controller.

Key Responsibilities

• Track food, beverage, wine and spirits costs against standard costs and budgets, analysing cost of sales, gross profit and contribution margin variances.
• Maintain recipe and drink costing, standard yields, portion sizes and pour measures, refreshing them whenever purchase prices, recipes or serve sizes change.
• Reconcile POS sales and expected recipe consumption with actual inventory usage and ERP records, investigating missing postings, unit-of-measure mistakes and unexplained shortfalls.
• Review receipts, stock issues, outlet transfers, returns and stock adjustments to confirm they are recorded accurately and carry the right approvals.
• Coordinate scheduled and surprise stock counts, reconcile counted stock to system balances, and see approved corrective actions through to completion.
• Monitor stock ageing, slow-moving lines and expiry risk, and investigate wastage, spoilage, breakage, shrinkage and over-pouring.
• Confirm that staff consumption, complimentary items, promotions and other non-sale stock issues are properly authorised and recorded as such.
• Test purchasing and receiving controls, including purchase-price variances and quantity and price checks against approved orders and supporting documents.
• Keep item costs, recipes, units of measure and stock master data accurate in the ERP and POS systems, with controlled changes and a clear audit trail.
• Produce timely cost, stock, yield, wastage and outlet profitability reports, pinpoint the root cause of each variance, recommend practical corrections and track them to resolution.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, menu pricing and cost-optimisation work, and assess whether the improvements put in place actually delivered.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Hospitality Management or a closely related discipline.
• CPA, ACCA, CMA or CIMA qualification, or active progress towards one, is an advantage.
• Three to five years of cost-control experience in hospitality, restaurants, food and beverage operations, or another inventory-intensive environment.
• Hands-on background in recipe costing, yield analysis, portion and pour control, stock reconciliation and loss investigations.
• Practical use of ERP, POS and inventory management systems; familiarity with Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory and Loyverse POS is a plus.
• Strong Excel ability, including reconciliations, pivot tables, lookup functions and the analysis of sales and inventory data.
• Experience covering multiple outlets is an advantage.
• Sharp numerical and analytical judgement with close attention to detail, and the confidence to identify a variance's root cause and propose a workable fix.
• Integrity, accountability and sound judgement when handling stock records and control matters.
• Clear communication with both finance colleagues and operational teams, plus the self-direction to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced hospitality setting.