GlossaryRestaurant Operations
Comps and Voids
Also called: comps, voids, complimentary and cancelled bills
What is Comps and Voids?
A comp is an item given free to a guest, usually for service recovery or hospitality. A void is an item or bill cancelled before payment. Both remove revenue from a sale that consumed stock.
Why Comps and Voids matters
Comps and voids are the classic route for revenue leakage, because a cancelled bill leaves no customer to complain. Unmonitored, they also make food cost look inexplicably high.
How Comps and Voids works in practice
Require a reason code and an authorising user on every comp and void, and review a weekly report by staff member. The pattern, not the individual entry, is what tells you something is wrong.
Frequently asked questions
Because you still paid for the food. Tracking keeps it a deliberate cost rather than an invisible one.