Contractual audit of a fast-food chain

A restaurant chain has several establishments in the Paris region, and keeps cost accounting only for certain items, such as sales, but not for the entire income statement. As a result, the management does not have an overall view of the margins and results of each of the establishments. The aim of the assignment was therefore to audit all the chain's revenues and expenses over 2 financial years, to draw up analytical income statements for each of the establishments, and to draft a financial analysis report for each establishment. The overall aim was to make accounting production more reliable, and to provide management with a tool for steering and decision-making.

Following a complete diagnostic, we first defined the income statement format for each site, moving away from the usual PCG format towards a more operational format. The income statements were then drawn up by establishment by allocation of direct expenses, where possible, and by allocation of other expenses with distribution keys (% of headcount, sales, etc.). As far as our audit was concerned, we covered all cycles, but in particular we checked sales (reconciliation with operating software, cash registers, bank deposits, calculation of gross margin on products, etc.). Finally, we drew up a financial analysis note, at global level and at the level of each establishment, and in comparison over the 2 years. We suggested areas for improvement in accounting and financial processes, presented several performance and profitability ratios, and explained abnormal variations.