Stock to par, prep, clean, spot count and close the drawer: the routine that protects the pour cost every day.
By Rob Bruni, founder of OpsEdge Hospitality, twenty years running restaurants, bars, clubs and resorts. Updated November 2026.
A bar that opens to par and closes clean runs faster, pours more consistently and loses less. A bar that opens short and closes in a hurry runs out of limes at 8 PM, finds sticky bottles and fruit flies in the morning, and has no idea where last night's tequila went. This guide covers the opening routine, the closing routine, spot counts, weekly and periodic tasks including beer line cleaning, cash and tabs, and how to make the checklist stick.
Most bar losses are visible at the open or the close: bottles that are lighter than they should be, a speed rail that was never restocked, a drawer that is short, juice made too early and thrown out too late. A routine that is the same every day, signed by whoever did it, turns those losses from a mystery at month end into something a manager sees the next morning.
The Opening and Closing Checklists cover the bar, kitchen and front of house with sign-off lines for every shift, and the Bar Inventory Count Sheets make the nightly and weekly counts quick. Excel and Google Sheets, one-time purchase.
See the Opening and Closing Checklists Bar Inventory Count SheetsA full bar count happens weekly (the bar inventory guide covers it), but the ten or fifteen most expensive and most stolen bottles should be spot counted every night: premium tequila, bourbon and vodka, champagne and anything that has gone missing before. Count open bottles by tenths, compare against what the POS says was sold, and note the difference on the log. A gap of more than a drink or two on a high-value bottle is a conversation for the next day.
| Task | How often |
|---|---|
| Full bar inventory count | Weekly, same day and time |
| Deep clean under the bar, behind coolers and floor drains | Weekly |
| Beer line cleaning | Every two weeks is the common industry recommendation |
| Ice machine cleaning and sanitizing | Per the manufacturer's schedule |
| Pour test for every bartender | Quarterly |
| Recost the cocktail list | Quarterly and on price changes |
Every drink rung, every tab closed, every comp and void entered with a manager key and a reason. At close, the end of night report should reconcile sales, payment types, tips and the drawer. Track over and short by bartender over time; one short night is a mistake, a pattern is a problem.
The checklists guide covers how to keep lists alive across the whole operation.
Walk the bar and read the log, fill ice and check cooler temperatures, stock the well, back bar and coolers to par, prep garnishes and juices, check the draft lines, set out tools and glassware, and count in the drawer.
Close tabs, store or discard perishables, wipe and cap bottles, clean ice wells, tools, mats and drip trays, run glassware, spot count high-value bottles, run the end of night report and drop the drawer, then lock up and sign the list.
Every two weeks is the common industry recommendation for draft lines. Dirty lines hurt the taste of the beer and the yield of every keg.
A nightly count of the ten or fifteen most expensive or most stolen bottles, compared against what the POS says was sold. It catches losses between the weekly full counts.
Keep the lists at the bar, require initials on every line and a signature on the list, have the opening person check the previous close, and have a manager review the lists daily until the habit sticks.
