Why doesn't my restaurant P&L match my POS?
Usually a definitions gap, not a math error.
Nexora builds the store-level P&L from the same POS, payroll and vendor transactions directly, on one consistent set of definitions — so there is no second report to reconcile against.
The actual problem
Two reports, two sets of definitions
A POS report and a P&L answer different questions by default — gross versus net sales, which labour lines count, whether comps and discounts are backed out. When each is pulled separately and compared, a mismatch is the normal outcome, not evidence that either number is wrong.
Where the two most often disagree
Three places to check first
Gross versus net sales
Discounts, comps and refunds handled differently between the POS report and the P&L produce a mismatch before any cost line is even considered.
Unmapped labour
POS staff never mapped to payroll make labour cost read lower on one side than the other.
Timing of vendor invoices
An invoice dated after the period closes but for goods received inside it will throw off food cost between the two reports.
Questions
What operators ask about this
Why doesn't my restaurant P&L match what the POS shows?
Usually a definitions problem, not an arithmetic one. The POS reports gross sales before discounts, comps and refunds; a P&L should use net sales. If the two numbers are pulled by different people from different exports, on different definitions of what counts as a sale, they will disagree even when both are individually correct.
What's the most common cause of a labour cost mismatch specifically?
POS staff never mapped to a payroll or roster record. Their hours and pay exist in payroll but are invisible to whatever system is building the P&L, which makes labour cost read lower than it actually is — and the gap between the two systems is exactly that unmapped labour.
How do you actually reconcile the two?
By building the P&L from the same underlying transactions the POS and payroll produce, on one consistent set of definitions, rather than comparing two already-summarized reports built by different systems on different rules.
Ready when you are
See your own numbers reconciled
Twenty minutes, screen shared. We connect one of your locations live and build its P&L from the same source data your POS and payroll already produce.