How do large casino-resorts that don't have electronic alcohol-pouring systems account for the large amount of alcohol consumption? How do they account for free pours, over-pours, and free drinks given to bartop players?
Brett Magnan, a former F&B executive for tribal casinos and managing director of CherryTree Hospitality Management, says, “Great question.
“There is a marrying of data of sorts to validate usage,” Magnan explains, “by comparing actual revenue against expected revenue from the volume of alcohol that was ‘consumed.' This is done by taking weekly or monthly (and sometimes random daily) inventories of beer, wine, and liquor.
“For each period of time that inventory is taken, the audit team 'reads' each bottle of liquor to the tenth of the bottle. Variances from previous periods are multiplied both by the cost of the bottle and the potential revenue due for what was 'consumed' for that period of time. If there are substantial variances between actual and potential revenues for beverage consumption, management can determine that there's a problem in over-pouring, theft, or lack of accounting for comped drinks.”
