What's the best software to manage restaurant costing and inventory?
July 1, 2016 2:10 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for software to do restaurant ingredient costing, recipe building, and inventory-taking.
I work for a small family business with a handful of restaurant locations. When I was promoted to my current position I was handed a tangled mess of Excel spreadsheets, and I'd like a more elegant solution that won't break if I try to run a simple sort.
My request comes with some absolute deal-breaker requirements in part because of the way I have to tie everything to another existing system:
- must be able to list ingredients with
A.) unique and user-definable UID (fresh basil gets labeled with our existing code 456789)
B.) can break ingredients out into multiple portions (basil: bunch, sprig, tablespoon, teaspoon) with cost broken down as well
- must be able to create, categorize, and print recipes (I assume this is standard but I'm including it just in case)
- must be able to create inventory count sheets. Preference would be based on location (sandwich counter, walk-in, pantry) not on item class (protein, dairy, dry goods) but either solution will ultimately work.
Optional but nice: easy way for location managers to input purchases / vendor invoices.
Software does not have to have a point-of-sale front end.
As it stands currently each location manages their own purchasing and the main office handles cost tracking and preparation for the inventory counts. That structure is unlikely to change in the near future.
I'm open to any solutions at any cost, but cheaper is always better.
[asking anonymously because work politics. I will be reading responses so if you have something private to add I will be happy to MeMail you, just let me know.]
I work for a small family business with a handful of restaurant locations. When I was promoted to my current position I was handed a tangled mess of Excel spreadsheets, and I'd like a more elegant solution that won't break if I try to run a simple sort.
My request comes with some absolute deal-breaker requirements in part because of the way I have to tie everything to another existing system:
- must be able to list ingredients with
A.) unique and user-definable UID (fresh basil gets labeled with our existing code 456789)
B.) can break ingredients out into multiple portions (basil: bunch, sprig, tablespoon, teaspoon) with cost broken down as well
- must be able to create, categorize, and print recipes (I assume this is standard but I'm including it just in case)
- must be able to create inventory count sheets. Preference would be based on location (sandwich counter, walk-in, pantry) not on item class (protein, dairy, dry goods) but either solution will ultimately work.
Optional but nice: easy way for location managers to input purchases / vendor invoices.
Software does not have to have a point-of-sale front end.
As it stands currently each location manages their own purchasing and the main office handles cost tracking and preparation for the inventory counts. That structure is unlikely to change in the near future.
I'm open to any solutions at any cost, but cheaper is always better.
[asking anonymously because work politics. I will be reading responses so if you have something private to add I will be happy to MeMail you, just let me know.]
This thread is closed to new comments.
There are previous conversations about software, both back-end and front-end. You could also ask a more specific question anonymously.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:24 AM on July 1, 2016