Executive Summary
Tennessee State Parks, which oversees a network of lodge locations across the state, was looking for a better way to manage liquor usage reporting and stay in compliance with regulatory requirements. The team had been relying on manual spreadsheets and non-hospitality-specific software, which often led to untimely and inaccurate reporting. After implementing Back Office, they gained real-time visibility into COGs and automated key processes, helping the team operate more proactively, cut costs, save time, and provide accounting with cleaner data.
The Problem
Managing compliance with Tennessee’s liquor usage laws was a time-consuming and often inaccurate process for Khris Langley, Director of Food and Beverage at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Inventory was handled manually in Excel or through software not built for food and beverage operations. As a result, there were major discrepancies between usage reports and accounting’s purchase and sales data. Without real-time visibility, the accounting team was constantly playing catch-up and struggling to align numbers during the reconciliation process, wasting time and valuable resources.
The Solution
Back Office replaced the legacy tools with a centralized restaurant management platform that automated invoice processing and delivered timely, accurate usage reporting. Two reports quickly became key to the team’s day-to-day operations:
- COGs Detail Summary Report, which breaks down costs by category to give clearer visibility into spend.
- Usage Trends Report was especially useful for tracking liquor usage and staying compliant with TN state laws.
With these tools in place, Khris and the team now provide clean, consistent reports to accounting, significantly reducing post-reconciliation research. They’ve also seen a large drop in category-level discrepancies, which means less time spent chasing down mismatched data across departments.
Results
The implementation of Back Office drove immediate and measurable improvements across the lodge locations:
- Time Savings: The TDEC team saved an estimated 40 hours per month per location by automating invoice processing and streamlining their inventory processes.
- Cost Savings: Locations reduced total costs by an average of 10% each, through better COGs visibility and faster operational adjustments.
- Improved Data Accuracy: The TDEC accounting team now receives more reliable reports, resulting in fewer reconciliation discrepancies and a reduction in time spent chasing down errors.
- Reduced Compliance Risk: Real-time liquor usage reporting helps ensure compliance with Tennessee laws, minimizing legal and operational risk.
“We are seeing much more accurate COGs reporting that has allowed us to lower total costs by an average of 10% at each location just due to the real-time data giving us the ability to address issues in operations immediately vs weeks later.”
– Khris Langley, Director of Food and Beverage
About Tennessee State Parks Lodges
Tennessee State Parks operates a system of Lodges and resort-style properties across the state, blending the beauty of nature with modern hospitality. These Lodges offer full-service dining, event spaces, golf courses, and outdoor recreation, serving as hubs for travelers seeking connection and comfort in Tennessee’s most scenic locations. As part of a mission to provide safe, high-quality experiences, the Lodges adhere to strict compliance standards, including Tennessee’s evolving liquor laws.
