In a beverage program audit, which metric best measures how closely beverage purchases track actual usage?

• A. Inventory variance
• B. Beverage cost
• C. Average bottle price
• D. Sales mix by category

Answer: (A)

The main idea is to gauge how well what you purchase matches what you actually use. Inventory variance does this directly by comparing the physical inventory on hand with what your records expect to be on hand based on purchases and usage. In practice you look at beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory to estimate actual usage, then compare that to the recorded usage. The difference—the variance—tells you how closely purchasing tracks consumption. A small variance means purchases and usage align well, while a large variance signals issues such as waste, spoilage, theft, or counting errors that cause purchases not to reflect actual usage. The other metrics don’t measure this alignment: beverage cost focuses on overall cost efficiency, average bottle price is about pricing, and sales mix by category shows how sales are distributed, not how purchases map to actual usage.