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Author Topic: Payroll Cost per Admission Ky Boyd Hey I'm #23 Posts: 314 From: Santa Rosa, CA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-21-2006 05:29 PM                       Is there an industry standard, or guideline, as to what a theatre's payroll cost per admission should be? RTS provides a Cost Per Admission statistic in the Weekly Deposit Recap report, but I need some basis for comparison, like a standard. Thanks!  |  IP: Logged Matt Whitney Film Handler Posts: 27 From: Naperville, IL, U.S.A. Registered: Dec 2004 posted 07-21-2006 07:11 PM                     Ours is typically between $.85 to $.95. We always try to keep it under $1.00.  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 07-21-2006 08:09 PM                        Play with your staffing until you find a good mix of customer service, to "stand around" ratio. Basically, see what staffing level provides low wait times in lines for your customers and clean orderly lobbies and restrooms with no extra dead weight standing around and use the number generated as your target. Not every building in every area is the same so an industry standard of staffing levels would be impossible.  |  IP: Logged Stephen LaPadula Film Handler Posts: 50 From: New York, Ny Registered: Mar 2005 posted 07-22-2006 11:42 PM                     From my experience in NY, any 'busy theatre' (in comparison to screen count)should be less than $1.00 per person, however many 'smaller, less busy' theatre are over $1.00 per person. Not so much an issue as long as you can turn a profit.  |  IP: Logged Christopher Crouch Expert Film Handler Posts: 128 From: Holywood, ca, usa Registered: May 2006 posted 07-23-2006 05:24 AM                  How I miss my first run days... I currently work at a sub run theatre, where the goal is to keep payroll below .50. As if that isn't low enough, I'm also in California, where the minimum wage is $6.75. quote: Sean McKinnon Not every building in every area is the same so an industry standard of staffing levels would be impossible. I wish more people would realize that. In addition to varying financial differences between areas, some theatres require more/less staff based on building design/layout.  |  IP: Logged Matt Fields Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 545 From: Ohio, United States Registered: Jun 2005 posted 07-23-2006 08:17 AM                     I'm a little under $1.00 - Matt  |  IP: Logged Michael Gonzalez Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 790 From: Grand Island , NE USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 07-23-2006 10:11 AM                     quote: Christopher Crouch some theatres require more/less staff based on building design/layout. That is a very important point that not a lot of corporate offices seem to grasp.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 07-23-2006 09:48 PM                        Suits!! Louis  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 03-29-2009 06:45 PM                 It has been 979 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Greg Haas Film Handler Posts: 18 From: Buffalo, WY, USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 03-29-2009 06:45 PM                        Hi all, I'm bumping this thread up because my searches didn't reveal any more-recent discussion related my question. I think my question is only just a wee-bit off topic... I've seen a decrease, in the past 8 months, in per capita revenue at our concession stand. People seem to be sharing drinks/snacks and/or not buying anything. For several months I tried adding some staff, knowing I was increasing my "stand-around" costs. Hasn't seemed to help much. Also, planning/scheduling staffing has gotten trickier with doing as many Monday to Friday bookings as we are. Traditionally we schedule monthly. (Our subrun twin is open four days: fri-sun most of the year. Small market. Next closest theater is 35 miles north.) Most of our staff is in high school and they have other lives, so they like to plan ahead. This has gotten more and more difficult because we also have a tradition of all the staff staying through the shows (cleaning, etc.). Often they get paid to do homework when I just can't think of anything else for them to do. What I'm bumping up against, if you haven't already guessed, is that I'm scheduling staff 3 or 4 weeks out when I *don't really know* what titles I'll be getting. So I'm wondering if other schedulers are running into this. What are other folks doing? Scheduling weekly? Bi-weekly? Just calling around and adding somebody when a "big" title is finally booked? I'm considering scheduling more staff for seating only and just have one or two stay on after to clean up/restock, etc. So a Friday might see 4 for an hour and 1 for the whole evening. As opposed to, say, 3 for the entire evening. Big downside of that is it really cuts hours for most staff and then do they really want to keep the job...??? I keep a large roster (11 right now) and still the other day it was me and one other guy doing everything when I needed two more. *everyone* was doing something else and two on the schedule had family emergencies. I'm not sure how clear all that was. Sorry for boring you with my woes. I'm just curious how others are doing this. The way we've been doing it for six years (yes, I'm still *that* new to this business) doesn't seem to be working as well as it did for the first 5 years. Any thoughts?  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 03-29-2009 07:48 PM                        Greg I would recommend going back and looking at your per caps from week to week based on your top movies. I'm sure you'll find that weeks where your top movies target an older audience, your per caps are considerably lower than weeks where you have family movies or those that appeal to a more general audience. This would be something you can take into consideration from week to week when making your schedule. I had never tracked payroll per admission before, but looking at 2009 YTD, I'm at $0.76 - excluding my salary. For busier weeks it's been as low as $0.65 for the pay period and for slower weeks it's been as high as $0.96. For the slower weeks we run with only 3 employees on weekdays and I can't really justify running with any less.  |  IP: Logged Chad Souder Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 962 From: Waterloo, IA, USA Registered: Feb 2000 posted 03-30-2009 12:54 AM                     quote: Greg Haas Most of our staff is in high school and they have other lives, so they like to plan ahead. Change your schedule so that it is put out Monday (after you have the bookings) for the upcoming weekend. 4 days notice. We've been doing this for 13+ years and have no complaints. Present it to your staff as the bonus of them being able to ask off with less required notice. I have polled my staff several times over the years and they always have voted in favor of keeping the schedule as is rather than doing it farther ahead. High School kids don't plan ahead 4 hours much less 4 weeks, unless they have a family trip or something they would know far in advance anyway.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 03-30-2009 01:29 AM                        I'm with Chad. My work schedules run Friday-Thursday and I always post them Monday evening; all time off requests have to be in by Monday afternoon. By doing it weekly, it's easier to take into account business fluctuations based on the movies. One thing I do to deal with special events like proms, spring break, Christmas break, etc. is I post a special sheet a month ahead of time to get them thinking about what they will be doing. This not only causes them to figure out their plans, it also gives me a heads up about any potential staffing problems.  |  IP: Logged Greg Haas Film Handler Posts: 18 From: Buffalo, WY, USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 03-30-2009 10:14 AM                        Thanks for the suggestions. I would really like to move to a weekly schedule from our monthly one. Most of my employees do actually plan ahead. They see the monthly schedule and make plans for when they're not "on". This makes it difficult to find replacements when someone does need to change the schedule. I think posting a month (or two) calendar where they can request "no work" days will help with moving to a weekly scheduling regimen. I hate scheduling. I think this is one of the reasons we started with a monthly thing. Hoping to only have to do it once a month. End up doing it several times a month anyway because of calls from kids who *didn't* plan ahead. I'm glad to know that it is not unreasonable to do it weekly. I was also just thinking of scheduling an "alternate" that could be notified on Monday whether or not he'd be working the following weekend. But I don't see why I can't do that for all the employees for the next weekend. I can make up the base schedule once a month but post it weekly with necessary changes. I'm grateful for this forum which helped me think this through. all best, Greg  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-30-2009 01:39 PM                        quote: Greg Haas I think posting a month (or two) calendar where they can request "no work" days will help with moving to a weekly scheduling regimen. I hate scheduling. I think this is one of the reasons we started with a monthly thing. Hoping to only have to do it once a month. We keep one of those large "write-on" calendars in the crew room and I do our scheduling on the 25th of each month. Before that date rolls around, the kids are allowed to write in the days they need off in the next month for things they must attend, such as sports events (when they're playing), family trips and such. We don't allow them to take days off for "fun" events like school dances and so on, because then we'd wind up with days when no one would want to work. We do guarantee them all Prom Night off and we try to be fair -- everyone has to miss a fun event now and then. Once the schedule is made for the month, they are allowed to get a substitute to work for them if they wish, as long as they keep us informed about who will be working. We make it clear that it's THEIR job to get a sub and if they can't find one, they'd better show up themselves. They're not allowed to just call in and tell us they won't be showing up. They're also not allowed to get a "newbie" to work for them unless said newbie has been on the job at least a few months. Once the schedule is finalized, I transcribe it into an Excel spreadsheet and it's posted on our website so the kids can check it anytime. We just started doing the online schedule a couple of months ago and it's really gone over well.  |  IP: Logged

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