Cost Control in Retail Food Stores by Use of Wholesalers' Accounting Services

Excerpts from the report Introduction: Retail food stores are an integral part of the agricultural marketing system and efficient retailing can help hold down marketing costs for farm products. The efficient management of retail food stores today requires a great deal of precise information about the store's operation. What are labor costs for the store? How many times a year does merchandise turn over? Are expenses higher this year than last? In which department of the store are expenses and shrinkage higher than normal? A good accounting system can be a principal source of precise information on the store's operation. This report describes accounting services used in some leading food wholesaler-retailer organizations and how food retailers have used the accounting information to improve their operation. Studies were made of seven leading wholesaler-retailer organizations and two or three of each firm's affiliated retailers who have been using the retail accounting service provided. Case studies were prepared of the wholesaler's accounting services and of each re- tailer's experience with the service; some of these case studies are briefly described.