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.
Nearly every ticket has a tip on it now. There's what the POS recorded, what payroll actually paid out, and what left the bank. Those three don't line up on their own. When daily sales and bank activity land in the same system, the gap shows up as a number instead of a hunt through three reports.
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.
