Testimonials

I began using AccuBar in 2002 in my previous position as Corporate Beverage Director for BR Guest Restaurants in New York, NY. As soon as my colleague Greg Harrington and I saw a demonstration of AccuBar, we decided we had to have this device. We were thrilled with its performance from day one -- the overall time it took our beverage managers to count inventory and enter data was reduced by 80%.

In June 2006, I started my new position as Beverage Director for Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group. One of the first systems we have implemented since I started is the AccuBar system with the new Pocket PC MC-50 [handheld], which is an even better system than I had been using previously. The omni-directional barcode reader makes scanning bottles even easier, the color screen is brighter and easier to read, and the extended search look-up function makes finding items in the database much faster.

The team at AccuBar has made a great system even better. And, in addition to developing an excellent product, AccuBar has always provided superlative tech support.

Tim Wilson, Beverage Director
Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Las Vegas

I've been searching for a system to assist our beverage department to reduce the amount of time it requires to take weekly inventory. The search stopped when I found AccuBar. When you have multiple units with multiple locations, you can imagine the amount of time spent manually counting inventory. The AccuBar system has dramatically reduced the time it takes to count inventory at every location. Not only is the system easy to use and extremely affordable, the AccuBar technical team created an interface to our inventory system which eliminates the manual entry of inventory and the mistakes that go with it. So there is time savings on the front and the back which translates to a very quick ROI. I cannot find one fault in the AccuBar system and highly recommend it to anyone looking to save time and money.

Rocky Lucia, Corporate Director of IT
B.R. Guest Restaurants, New York

I've been a fan of AccuBar for years, and I love what it does for Margaritaville. For our restaurants, the advantage of having a product like AccuBar is that it truly takes the guesswork out of our inventory process. If we have a bar manager take inventory one week and an AGM the next week, we get the same results.

Another thing I like about AccuBar is that every one of our restaurants uses it in a different fashion. Some use the full system, others just take beverage inventory, and one restaurants counts every single inventory item with AccuBar, including food and other items.

As for the time we've saved on taking inventory, if it's not cut in half, it's more than half. One location shaves six hours off of inventory every week. Now that AccuBar interfaces with our back-of-house systems, it takes two minutes to input and get a nice clean report. The interface team was excellent and really enabled us to hit our goals.

The handheld is incredibly easy to use, and updates are always available and easy to install. We've had one handheld running consistently since we bought it almost a year ago and it has held up great under heavy use. Your support team has been incredible. They have been able to quickly answer any question or concern that we might have.

Overall, I'm very impressed with how your company has been able to offer such a solid combination of functionality, ease of use and support.

Thank you,

Todd Connell, Beverage Manager
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville

It seems rare that a product is all that it is advertised to be these days. AccuBar was introduced to me as a flexible inventory control system that would increase the accuracy of inventory while reducing staff time computing inventory, decrease staff time in computing banquet bar reconciliation, and potentially decrease cost of goods through added levels of control and oversight.

In a 685-room test hotel, we not only found the above to be true, we expanded the functionality to include Starbucks inventory and control. The net results? Beverage cost dropped 2 points, cost of goods for Starbucks dropped 6 points and stabilized after a year of rollercoaster cost reporting.

After substantially testing the AccuBar system, we have expanded the distribution of AccuBar to many of our larger, high volume, full service hotels throughout the country.

Steve Henderson, Vice President of Operations
Sunstone Hospitality Management

I would like you to know that I am very grateful for the acquisition of the AccuBar Handhelds and their uses at the Caribe Hilton.  The acquisition of these handhelds for inventory purposes has been one of the best purchases we have made in many years. The AccuBar inventory system has been a considerable asset to the hotel and has helped us significantly reduce the costs of beverage. In addition, it has made the month end closing a much simpler and faster process.

In fact, as recently as last month, an internal audit was made in the Hotel and the Inventory section of the audit obtained an A+ score, making the Caribe Hilton inventory section one of the bests in the region. In today’s fast paced, deadline oriented work environments, this handhelds are a convenient and very easy to use tool that makes the whole inventory process a simple and quick experience.

I am very confident that we will keep using the AccuBar handhelds which, as a matter of fact, will me expanded to the Food, Supply, and Receiving areas of the hotel beginning in July, 2007. 

Thank you very much,

 Jaime Correas, Food & Beverage Cost Controller
Caribe Hilton Hotel, Puerto Rico

Originally we did inventory on pen and paper. It took forever to extend out inventory, because we inventory in 13 locations. Now we get the inventory done and our reports back in the same day, when before it took all week.

Our next step to get our food inventory in there as well.

I will say also that doing inventory is more accurate. We no longer have to question the numbers and wonder if the numbers from one person are the same as another person. So our results are much more reliable.

AccuBar's support is wonderful, because I have so many questions. The support staff emails me back so quickly and is always helpful. They always give me great suggestions and tips.

In general, we love the system.

Megan Ellingwood, purchasing manager
The Club at Admiral's Cove, Florida

• Our beverage costs have dropped approximately 10% since using the AccuBar system. Over the course of the year this should be a $15,000 savings in costs.

• It takes half the time to count inventory, with increased accuracy. Prices are easily updated through the PDA when receiving merchandise. Once inventory is counted it is seamless and quick to get accurate inventories from the website.

• It does not use a lot of man hours to maintain monthly.

Martha Drescher, Controller/Human Resources Director
Bay Colony Golf Club, Florida

AccuBar is an inventory software program that no beverage director or wine sommelier should be without. Our restaurants count inventory every 2 weeks and it used to take each of our 14 beverage managers upwards of 8 hours to count and enter inventory. It was also very inaccurate because after counting they would be so tired that there were many clerical errors in entering these counts. AccuBar not only makes counting easier but it eliminates any totaling or transferring of numbers to spreadsheets.

As far as the wine cellar is concerned, AccuBar enables a sommelier to create barcodes and print them, which also keeps the room organized. I would highly recommend it to everyone but especially to multi-unit operators.

We have saved money throughout our restaurant organization in time, labor and more accurate inventories.

Laura Maniec, Corporate Sommelier
B.R. Guest Restaurants and James Hotels, New York

My experience with AccuBar has been 100% positive. There have been very few problems with the system. The support staff has been great in helping me tailor the program to my needs. Any time I've had a problem it has been resolved immediately.

The time I have saved doing inventory has made the system worth it. Period end accounting used to take hours and now I can complete it about a half an hour. Inventory control is probably the best feature. You can use the system to check on a particular bartender for over pouring, or get a cost accounting for an event. It's very flexible.

Karen Garland

We are still evaluating the full impact of the AccuBar System, but have already noticed some benefits and anticipate additional savings as we become more adjusted to the new process.

• We have already been able to halve the labor cost of taking the end of month beverage inventory.

• Unit total and cost errors have for the most part been eliminated.

• Inventory summaries are available to management two days earlier than in pre AccuBar days

• Print outs are available in a far more professional format.

Prior concerns which later proved to be unfounded centered on whether promised labor savings, timeliness and accuracy would be immediately achievable. We however were able to see significant improvements at once in these areas.

Tony Halfpenny, Controller
Balboa Bay Club & Resort, California

AccuBar has allowed us to do easier spot checks and more accurately. We have even been able to do the inventory when our normal person was out of the building. Knowing we can get reports and inventory in a timely manner when someone is out is reassuring. The website was easy to use and the support line is friendly and helpful.

My favorite feature of AccuBar is that it makes all the calculations necessary for perpetual inventory automatically. Using this system has made it much easier for me to enforce accountability with my liquor inventory, so much so that I will soon begin using it for my concessions inventory as well.

Spencer Garon, Director of Operations
and Sarah Wolf, Office Manager
Aramark at the Dayton Convention Center, Ohio

I am very pleased with my decision to use the AccuBar System for inventory management. We have tried lots of different ways to keep our widespread and extensive inventory manageable in the past, including Spreadsheets and tracking forms and many other ways to try to stay on top of our cost of goods and liquor inventories. AccuBar has provided a flexible tool that we were able to adapt to our unique environment. We were able to custom tailor how we were doing our inventories for each of the five different departments within food service.

Each of these departments had their own thoughts and challenges as it related to how to take the inventory and how to make it the most accurate for them and myself. We have found that within the AccuBar framework we were able to let all five departments develop their own methods that worked best for their unique circumstances and still have unified formats for reporting and troubleshooting.

The web site is easy to use and the scanning system is adaptable to whatever you are trying to track in addition to liquor. We are very pleased with the results and the reporting is quick, neat and accurate. We no longer have to chase inventory spreadsheets weeks into the next fiscal period.

I would highly recommend looking at this system regardless of what type of inventory products or challenges. I believe within the framework that AccuBar has built you can manage any type of inventory accurately, not just food and beverage.

I am very pleased with the results!!!!

Dan Anderson, Food Services Manager
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Ohio

Chris & I wanted to send you our thoughts on the AccuBar inventory system that we have been using for several months now. It has, without a doubt, exceeded our expectations in many ways.

Before, we were taking inventory the "old fashioned" way. We would walk through our storeroom and bars and manually write down all of our stock. Then we would have to manually enter all of the data into a spreadsheet, to get just the most basic information. Even with years of experience and a very organized way of doing things this way, it still was very time consuming.

Now with the AccuBar system we are zipping through those inventories faster than ever. It used to take us about 8 hours to do a full inventory, now it only takes about 2 hours, or even less if inventory is low. The handheld unit is quick and simple to use, and the web based report system is completely self-explanatory. Even with 150+ brands on hand, we were up and running in less than 48 hrs.

As we are a brew-pub, I was glad to see that AccuBar was able to accommodate our own beers, by generating a scanable barcode for each brand. The highly flexible nature of the website makes customizing it to our operation a breeze.

The profit watch report is remarkable. We have only just scratched the surface of its capabilities. Bar theft, as you know, is an unfortunate reality of the business, and AccuBar lets us silently track and deter theft, without breaking the "trust bond" with our staff, which allows them to better focus on our customers.

With over $1.5 million in bar sales alone, things here can be hectic, and keeping an eye on everything is tough. AccuBar has helped us both simplify a large task, and gives us more peace of mind about our business.

Please do not hesitate to use us as a referral.

Thanks for everything,

John Stuart, Brewmaster
and Chris Gwin, General Manager
Park Tavern, Atlanta

I am writing to thank you for all the help AccuBar has given us at Lotus. It is faster, more accurate and helps eliminate accounting errors. What more could you want from an inventory system?

When I say it's faster, here's what I mean: It used to take two people seven hours to do our inventory. Now one person does it in about two hours. That's a major, ongoing labor savings for such a minimal investment.

Another major benefit of the system is that it helps pinpoint problems by allowing us to do inventory by location. This is instrumental in helping us keep our pouring cost at a reasonable level, and it's yet another way that AccuBar gives you a great ROI.

Plus, it's interfaceable. Dean has been wonderful in helping us interface with our current system, which only increases the power of AccuBar.

I would strongly recommend AccuBar to others as a tool for increasing the chances of survival in a tough industry.

Andy Waldman
Lotus, New York

I felt compelled to write you and thank you for getting us AccuBar. I know that we've only had it for a couple of months, but I have to tell you we love it already!

We had been working with "The Beast" for almost a year and it was awful. The website and the handheld unit took forever to load, adding barcode-less products was a 4-step process, and many of our high end scotches, cognacs and wines were not recognized by their system as well as being in the wrong categories. I could not even correct any of this myself. I had to attempt to get in touch with a real person in California because even my local sales rep could not help me with those changes. Even if I got in touch with somebody to make changes no one could change the reports. They were static. So even if I changed my inventory numbers (which was a time consuming chore) the reports didn't change. Inventory always took us between 7 and 9 hours to do, and we always had to have barcodes printed for the barcode-less items and either post them or carry them around with us.

Now with AccuBar I can change anything I want to; categories of items, inventory points and even the names of my items. Barcode-less items I can just type in on the website once and we don't have to carry around barcode sheets anymore, we can just look up our items on the handheld unit. It is so much easier it's almost silly (but much safer since some of our products are on high shelves). Inventory now takes us about half the time it used to. The feature that I particularly love is being able to link items on the website. So now it does not matter if one manager calls an item "Cintron" and another calls it "Absolut Cintron." Our website considers it the same item so our inventory numbers are more accurate because we do not have duplicate items.

Again, I know we have only had your product for a couple of months, but the ease and simplicity of it is amazing. I'm so annoyed that we wasted over 100 hours of our time trying to make "The Beast" work for us when AccuBar was available.

Keely, Manager
The Redhead Piano Bar, Chicago

In the nearly 20 years I have been doing monthly beverage inventories, I have never been so impressed with anything to help with inventories as I have been with your AccuBar product. I used to delegate the process out, because it can be so tedious and frustrating. With your product, I do the inventory myself, quickly and accurately. No dread at all. It's easy and I think a very good value. Has already paid for itself in just piece of mind (accuracy of inventory). Thank you very much.

Boyd Holk, Clubhouse/F&B Manager
The Quechee Club, Vermont

I recently took a leap and bought a bar, despite the fact that I'm new to the industry. I've just started using AccuBar, and it immediately is giving structure to what I'm doing, and helping me take control of my business. I'm delighted with the system, which works as easily and accurately as promised. Its design, and that of the AccuBar website tells me that I'm dealing with a top quality group.

Larry Taub, Owner
Crossroads, New York City

Here are some observations regarding the AccuBar system:

• I use it for both food and beverage

• It has greatly reduced time spent on inventory from approximately 6-8 hours a week down to approximately 2-3 hours per week.

• The reports, which are sent via e-mail in Excel spreadsheets, are very easy to read.

• For product not having a bar code, you just start typing in the product name and it will automatically develop a bar code for that product. Example: I inventory all of our glassware; it developed bar codes for me automatically and I printed them off on address label stickers and put them where it was convenient for me to do inventory. I printed off all products that I currently inventory on card stock paper and put them in a binder with protective sheets. I need to pull them out of the protective sleeves in order for the system to scan properly when doing inventory.

• I inventory everything as it arrives. If you have all your barcodes entered for the inventories and the costs per unit, it shouldn't take you long to scan. The thing I like, is when a product goes up in price per unit, you will know immediately once you scan it. Obviously with any new computer system, it will take you time to get your stuff entered in and prices per unit, but once it is in the system it doesn't take long.

• I honestly believe, in my opinion, my AccuBar has paid for itself in the 3 months I had it. I still have some bugs to work out, but [my dealer] has been very accommodating to help me get those figured out.

Michael Fischer, Owner
The Frozen Tundra Bar & Grill Appleton, WI

I have been in the high volume bar business for over 9 years. In that time I have spent countless hours conducting endless inventories. AccuBar is by far the greatest tool I have come across in my career. Currently, I manage a sport's bar, restaurant bar, and countless banquet bars for a golf resort and conference center. As the Beverage Director, I'm responsible for over a thousand bottles of liquor and wine, a couple hundred cases of beer, and many tobacco products every day.

Before AccuBar, it very time consuming and almost impossible to maintain accurate inventory. Now, it takes a fraction of the amount of time it used to take to conduct inventory. All I do is scan the bar codes and AccuBar does everything else. It keeps track of pars, breakage, transfers, ordering, and even calculates our pour cost. It even generates our balance on a spreadsheet. I can't say enough about the power of AccuBar. It has revolutionized the process of taking and maintaining inventory. AccuBar is a must for all bars.

Preston Rideout
Del Lago Golf Resort and Conference Center, Houston, TX

I have been a manager in the hospitality business for 15 years. I recently purchased the AccuBar inventory system and have been using it for several months. I have researched many inventory control systems on the market, and have found that the AccuBar system works the best. It has cut hours off of my monthly inventory procedures. The speed, accuracy, and user friendliness are its high points. The report system used on the AccuBar website makes inventory controls much easier to review, they are clear and concise. I would recommend this product to any food and beverage operation. It will save you time and money.

A. Shane Rogers, Vice President of Operations
Club Vertigo

I have been using AccuBar for about 9 months now. The use of AccuBar has cut my inventory time considerably as well as being that silent bar monitor. I love the ability to run reports, double checking my staff as well as myself. AccuBar is easy, reliable, and helpful!

Jacqueline Hauser
Rumba Room, Universal City Walk, CA

I have been extremely pleased with the AccuBar system and the tech support since we have successfully implemented it at David Paul's Lahaina Grill. It is very user friendly and has certainly allowed us to improve cost controls, reduce labor costs and implement targeted profit watches, therefore well worth the initial investment. Rick Woodford and his team have always been extremely accessible and efficient in responding to questions or tech support. I can only highly recommend this system to my other colleagues in the industry.

With kind regards,

Jurg Munch, Proprietor
David Paul's Lahaina Grill, Maui, Hawaii

Gilligan's Pub is a small neighborhood pub. Full occupancy is about 50 people. However, the importance of inventory control doesn't diminish due to the size of the operation.

Inventory control is my job and I've lost a tremendous amount of revenue due to theft. This system gives anyone using it time, which is one of the most important assets anyone can gain using this system. Balancing the cost of the system versus the size of my operation was the single biggest concern when arguing the point of size (revenue) versus budget. Yes, the cost was a major concern. With annual revenues below $250k, my justification is that weekly inventories are possible and the ability to do daily inventories (which I have done) are productive to my business. Since purchasing AccuBar, my inventory costs have reduced by as much as 50% and theft has dropped to almost 0%. This system has kept my staff honest; it's that simple. It's a major deterrent to theft. 

This system is accurate and time saving. My old way of inventory control was to mark down the amount of liquor in a bottle in quarter increments and count all the beer bottles, mark those figures down on a excel sheet, go home and transfer everything onto my computer. I would then know approximately how much I was losing. However, the old system had many flaws. For instance, when the inventory results were poor you always assumed you made a mistake in the process. Inevitably I sometimes redid the inventory 2-3 times just to make sure I was accurate. Since the old system took almost 3 hours to do with help, when you have doubts about the accuracy of your results that meant spending the whole day on inventory. And, if you did make a mistake that meant next week's results were going to be off too. Since this way of doing inventory takes around 3-4 weeks to balance itself out before results can be relied upon, errors are devastating. Excluding keg beer, my inventory takes an hour and a half, alone. Most of that time is pulling bottled beer from the coolers to count. I consider that incredible. 

Before you start making accusations to staff concerning theft, being sure of your figures is paramount. That's especially true in an operation that is small because you tend to make relationships with your staff beyond employer/employee. That forces you to consider your data when a friendship relationship exists, and you can be assured that with AccuBar your data is accurate. Your count is directly input into a PDA which you transfer to your PC and then upload to the website. Inside the website you enter your sales for the period. Within minutes your results are waiting for you. Instantaneous results, no errors and no arguments. Proof, or evidence if you will, should an unfortunate occasion arise.

I employ 5 bartenders. One week prior to purchasing AccuBar, my inventory was horrible. I made a very distinct agenda to point out the abilities of AccuBar to that staff. When it arrived I showed it to them and showed them its functions along with a copy of exactly what I had on hand in inventory at that time so that they could count the bottles or eyeball the liquor bottles if they deemed it necessary to verify accuracy and my intentions. That week 4 bartenders resigned. All of them we considered friends. Just showing them the results of the old way of doing inventory and the new way of doing inventory was enough to scare them off. Because there are no errors with this system, it takes away all doubt in your results, leaving those responsible to explain their actions. 

Overall, I won't operate another bar without this system. This system is capable of handling inventories in multiple locations as well. If the cost alone is the prohibitive factor, reevaluate your position before giving up on the purchase. They will work out payments with you too, that's how I purchased. This system is by far the best that I have seen and I've been looking a long time. If you are in Tucson, AZ or close enough to take a look for yourself don't hesitate to contact me and I will show you how it works; it's ease of data entry, it's ease of entering bottle volume, it's ease of entering counts for everything else beyond liquor and beer, it's ease of counting empties and receivables, it's ease of eliminating errors and it's ease of obtaining profit reports. Not only that but, another benefit is reordering which is time saving and has reduced my costs as well. If you are serious about your inventory, this is a great answer to your concerns. I'll be available to anyone who wants to see how this system works before making the purchase.

Kevin Gilligan, owner
Gilligan's Pub, Tucson, Arizona

I recently acquired a little pub in Ft. Collins, Colorado . Part of the reason I bought this pub was that cost of goods ran 40% to 45%, which left the previous owner financially strapped, and left me a very good opportunity. Prior to the closing date on the pub, I knew doing a regular inventory would be key to our success. I have been in the liquor business before, and used to do inventory by hand. This time around I figured with the boom in technology somewhere I would find a tool that could help me out. So I start searching on the internet, and ran into the AccuBar site.  I purchased my AccuBar tool in the first week I took over, and the cost of goods went from 40% to 45% down to a 26% average. One big factor in my purchase decision was a testimonial from Gillian's Pub down in Tucson, AZ.  He is a little 50 seat place like we are, and he raved about it. I have to say he was right on the money. No more paper and pencil. No more worrying that the missing inventory could be a calculation error on my part. It also tells me what I need to order, and how much I need. I love this tool. If you are reading this, and not using the AccuBar system, you really are missing out.

The bartenders that came with the bar are very popular with the patrons, and to start over with new ones would have killed the business altogether. So my approach was to buy AccuBar, let them in on what the tool can do, and how accurate the monitoring is. Then I started to run my inventories. I can now do one in about 45 minutes. This includes receiving, empties, and full inventories on all of my locations, such as the bar, cooler, and stock room. The final report comes to my email in about a minute. Now the current employees are stuck with one of two choices: either get with the program and do the job correctly, or quit. In either case I am happy, and I don't end up looking like the bad guy in the eyes of my customers. In Ft. Collins, bartending jobs are hard to come by, and needless to say they are all still with me, but magically the cost of goods is 14% to 19% better. Is it magic, or is it AccuBar?

I also implemented a very good POS cash register. So now I can see every ounce of liquor, and bottle of beer sold. Then I can match that to my AccuBar profit watch report. My register lets me pull reports from home on my laptop, and AccuBar lets my pull reports as well from their server. So I can sit at home and compare data.   If I had to decide between a POS register and my AccuBar tool, without a doubt I would choose AccuBar. I believe a POS machine can only be as good as the inventories that back it up. Meaning that I have not seen a POS that can't be beaten. However, a good inventory does not lie. You either have the product or you don't. It is that simple.  Having both has really helped though, and I definitely recommend using both.

Another good point for AccuBar it that bartenders are notorious for building a bank of liquor. They do this by short-pouring drinks, then using the bank to sell drinks, and pocketing the money. This can irritate customers who are getting watered-down drinks and owners who are losing customers because of it, let alone being ripped off. With AccuBar I can now come in and spot check the bottles, especially the well bottles where most of the sales come from, and where bartenders have the biggest opportunity to steal.  In the first week I would see liquor overages of anywhere from 6 to 12 ounces of liquor in about 6 well bottles. Now it is always within an ounce or so. That is very good considering we are a free pour bar.  I have implemented pouring contests as well for my bartenders, to see who can accurately pour 1, 1 1/4, and 2 ounces into one of three kinds of glasses, then pour the contents of the glass into a jigger to see how accurate they are. This makes it fun for them, and helps me with pour accuracy.

The AccuBar customer service is fantastic. In the beginning I called several times with setup questions, and the staff was very friendly, and helpful. They even had me send them some of the reports I had run to look them over, and get me back on track. Now only a few weeks later I hardly have to call them at all. This is very important to bar managers, and owners, who just don't have to time to spend on the phone. Joanne and Roger, who help me with the purchase, were just great.

The biggest benefit to AccuBar is that it allows me to spend a lot more time with my customers and a lot less time trying to figure out costs and looking for theft. I will make the same offer that Gillian's pub did. If you are ever in the Ft. Collins Area and would like to see my AccuBar tool and how it works, please feel free to stop by. We still have some work to do in order to get cost down to the 22% or 23% range, but with AccuBar helping me I will get there.

David Wentz, owner
Chugs Pub, Ft. Collins, CO