CPFS Cost Control 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which menu engineering category describes items with high popularity but low contribution margin?
- Stars
- Plowhorses (Correct answer)
- Puzzles
- Dogs
Correct answer: Plowhorses
Plowhorses sell frequently but generate low profit margins, so managers often try to reduce their costs or reposition them.
Question 2: A restaurant's total sales are $80,000 and controllable expenses are $60,000. What is the controllable profit margin?
- 15%
- 20%
- 25% (Correct answer)
- 75%
Correct answer: 25%
Controllable profit margin = ($80,000 − $60,000) / $80,000 = $20,000 / $80,000 = 25%.
Question 3: What is a phantom inventory loss most likely caused by?
- Miscounts during physical inventory
- Employee theft or unauthorized consumption (Correct answer)
- Spoilage recorded on the receiving log
- Vendor short-shipping orders
Correct answer: Employee theft or unauthorized consumption
Phantom inventory losses—where product disappears without a recorded use—are most commonly caused by employee theft or unreported consumption.
Question 4: Which cost is considered a fixed cost in a foodservice operation?
- Cost of food sold
- Hourly wages for servers
- Monthly rent for the facility (Correct answer)
- Supply costs that vary with covers
Correct answer: Monthly rent for the facility
Rent does not change with sales volume and is therefore a fixed cost that must be paid regardless of business activity.
Question 5: An operation uses a purchase order system primarily to:
- Record how much inventory was consumed each week
- Authorize purchases and control what is ordered and at what price (Correct answer)
- Notify the health department of incoming deliveries
- Track employee meal credits
Correct answer: Authorize purchases and control what is ordered and at what price
Purchase orders authorize specific quantities at agreed prices, preventing unauthorized purchasing and helping control costs.
Question 6: When performing a physical inventory, which step is critical to ensure accuracy?
- Counting inventory during peak service hours
- Having two people count independently and reconcile discrepancies (Correct answer)
- Estimating partial containers to the nearest full unit
- Delegating the count entirely to receiving staff
Correct answer: Having two people count independently and reconcile discrepancies
A two-person count with reconciliation catches counting errors and deters falsification of inventory records.
Question 7: A foodservice operation wants to set its menu price using a food cost percentage of 30%. If the food cost per portion is $4.50, what selling price should be charged?
- $13.50
- $15.00 (Correct answer)
- $18.00
- $12.00
Correct answer: $15.00
Selling price = food cost / food cost % = $4.50 / 0.30 = $15.00.
CPFS Cost Control 4
Which menu engineering category describes items with high popularity but low contribution margin?