Description – Enter the name of this inventory item. This description is used internally in your system.
Vendor Description – Enter the name of this item in your vendor’s catalog. This description is used for purchase orders.
Inventory Category – A standard list of categories is included or you can define your own categories. The inventory count sheet is grouped by this category to make inventory counting easier. Click the drop-down arrow to select an existing category or click the magnifying glass to the right of the field to add or edit categories.
Location, Bin – These are user-defined fields where you can enter a further description of the location of this inventory item.
Vendor – Select an existing vendor from the drop-down list or click the magnifying glass to the right of the field to add or edit a vendor. This vendor will be used automatically for orders created with the Shopping list feature in the Purchase Order center.
Vendor Product Code – Enter the code for this item in your vendor’s catalog. This identifier will be used on purchase orders for this item.
Minimum Order – Enter the minimum quantity of the order unit for this product. When purchase orders are created to replenish stock for this item, the minimum order amount will be used for the quantity if the stock required to reach your par value is below this amount.
Purchase Price – Enter the cost to purchase of one of the order units for this item. The purchase price is optionally updated when you receive an order through the purchase order function.
Inactive – Checking this box will prevent this inventory item from appearing with active items everywhere in the system.
Standard/Production – Selecting Standard means that this inventory item is either a normal ingredient (like salt, milk, or prepackaged steaks) or it is purchased for direct resale (like bottled salsa, mints, or canned soft drinks). Check Production if this inventory item is produced by your restaurant for use in another recipe. Examples include pizza sauce that is an ingredient in a pizza or bread that is served with a steak dinner.
Unit descriptions, contents and conversions
Entering this information correctly is vital to ensure the accuracy of your inventory system. The descriptions and conversions entered here are used in recipes for converting your sales into the inventory items used in preparing the item you sold.
The example uses a 25 pound bag of all-purpose flour:
Item is ordered by the: Bag – This is the name of the unit of measure by which the item is stocked by your vendor and ordered by you and can be any descriptive word you choose up to 10 characters in length. The generic term for this unit is case.
A sub-package for a Bag is a: Pound – Can be any descriptive word you choose up to 10 characters in length. The generic name for this measurement is package.
Item is used by the: Ounce – This is the name of the unit by which this item is used in your recipes. It can be any descriptive word you choose up to 10 characters in length. The generic name for this measurement is unit.
Conversions are used by the inventory system to allow you to use, order and count by any measurement you choose. In this example one bag equals 25 pounds, and one pound equals 16 ounces.
When a 25 pound bag of flour is received, the inventory system receives 400 ounces of flour. As your flour inventory is depleted, the inventory is depleted one ounce at a time. When flour is counted, your count unit is converted to ounces to reconcile the counted inventory with your inventory system records.
Because these conversions are used every time a menu item is sold, every time an inventory item is received, and every time an inventory item is counted, it is important that the conversion equivalents are entered accurately.
For inventory items that are ordered, received and counted by weight but are used by volume, there is one more step required: the weight-to-volume conversion. In this example flour inventory is maintained by weight (pounds and ounces) but is used by volume (cups). Even though there is a standard weight-to-volume conversion for all-purpose flour (4.41 ounces = one cup), you should weigh each of the ingredients in your inventory that need a weight-to-volume conversion. The more accurate your measurements for weight and volume, the more accurate your inventory tracking will be.
If the inventory item requires a weight to volume conversion, check the Weight to volume conversion box, then enter the conversion amounts. You will notice that the options in the volume drop-down list are standard and cannot be customized. Volume measurements are standardized so that conversions can be done among these measurements. This makes the system able to convert any volume measurement to an equivalent weight. When an inventory item is used in several volume measurements you should do the weight to volume conversion measurement with the largest volume unit used with the inventory item.
When the usable quantity is different than the ordered quantity
Many of the inventory items used in a restaurant have a portion that will be wasted when the item is trimmed or otherwise prepared for use in a recipe. Examples include bagged onions that are trimmed and diced, whole ham that is trimmed prior to slicing, and canned vegetables that are drained of the packing liquid.
This difference in the ordered-versus-usable quantity can be handled in either of two ways.
An estimate can be made of the amount of the item that will be discarded when trimming. This method is a less accurate way of determining actual inventory cost, but it can be useful with a low-value inventory item like onion. To use this method, enter the conversion amounts of an item as the amount remaining after trimming.
The amount of an inventory item discarded while trimming can be weighed and adjusted in the inventory system as trim waste. If this method is used, enter the exact conversion amounts between case, package and unit measurements. All trim waste will be accounted for with a manual adjustment.
Unit defaults
Select the unit description by which the item is normally received and counted. Some inventory items like cheese and meat are ordered by the chub, loaf, or case, but are purchased (received) by the pound. Selections for these fields set the default measurement that will be used when receiving inventory and when entering an inventory count.
Stocking levels
Par value – this is the amount of inventory that you want to normally stock. Recommended order quantity is based on the difference between the amount in stock and your par value.
Reorder point – This is the stock level at which a reorder recommendation will be triggered. This reorder recommendation affects the shopping list function in the Purchase orders center and the reorder report.
Alert quantity – This the stock level at which your inventory is getting critically low. This is the on-hand quantity that will not normally be able to be replenished through your normal supply source in time to prevent running out of the item. Depletion of your inventory to this level may require a special trip to a warehouse club or other supplier. The alert quantity is used to notify you of the stock level in the Inventory alerts Quick-view panel in the Home center.
Create Recipe – This control is used for items that are sold directly, just as they are received. Examples include t-shirts, bottled soda and prepackaged candy. Clicking this button creates a recipe for the current inventory item.