Two or three commodities drive most of a café's cost of goods, and they move independently of anything you control. Category-level COGS separates coffee, dairy, and food so a price change shows up as itself — early enough to plan around rather than absorb.
Café labor is a daypart problem more than a headcount problem. Reporting labor as part of prime cost, against the sales it actually supported, is what tells you whether the afternoon shift is paying for itself.
Retail goods and food carry different margins and different waste profiles than beverages. Keeping them in separate categories means a strong drink margin doesn't quietly subsidize a case of pastry that isn't selling through.
Café groups tend to grow faster than their back office. Each location reports on the same basis and rolls into a group view automatically, so a fifth shop is a connection rather than a new spreadsheet.
