• A list of your vendors, including address, phone number, and your account number.
• A list of ingredients you will be entering.
• For each ingredient, you will need to know:
• The preferred vendor & the vendor’s ordering #
• The purchase unit (i.e. case, bottle)
• The usage unit (i.e. ounce, slice, each)
• How many usage units are in one purchase unit
• The amount you normally purchase
• The most recent purchase price
• The warning level—how much should you have left to trigger another purchase
• Where the item is stored in your restaurant
• How much you currently have on hand

• Ingredient Name: Use any name you like. Many screens show ingredients alphabetized so if you prefer to see meats, vegetables, paper products etc. grouped together you may wish to start the name with a code letter.

• Item #: How you number your ingredients is up to you. If you have multiple stores, you should use the same number throughout for consistent reporting and management.  Especially if you plan to use multi-store broadcasting of item updates.

• Preferred Vendor: Enter the vendor that you typically purchase this ingredient from. Go ahead and add a new vendor if needed (see below).

• Vendor’s Number: Enter any catalog or item number for the vendor. This will appear on purchase orders for your vendor.

• Typical Purchase Quantity: This will be the default quantity which appears on purchase orders when you order this ingredient.

• Purchase Unit: Select the unit of measure in which you buy this ingredient (I.e. case, gallon, pound). Go ahead and add a new unit definition if needed. (See below)

• Yield: How do you divide up the item when it is used in recipes? If you purchase by the pound, does 1 pound yield 16 ounces? Enter the conversion ratio here.

• Usage Unit: Select the unit of measure which corresponds to how you use and sell the ingredient. It can be the same as the purchase unit if there is a 1 to 1 ratio. For example, if you purchase by the “each” and sell by the “each”.

Note:  You can enter up to 4 units for each ingredient.  So if you purchase by the Each and sell by the Each, just use the first set of “purchase” and “yield” fields.  Same if you purchase by the pound and sell by the ounce.   If, however, you have another countable unit . . such as purchasing by the case, which yields 4 bottles, which yield 64 ounces each, go ahead and activate the 3rd and perhaps the 4th lines of usage conversion.   Just keep in mind your 1st unit should always be what you purchase in, and your last unit should be what you use or sell in.   The units in between may be counted for physical inventory.

Tip:  If your ingredient typically has some prep waste, account for this in the usage yield.  For example, if you buy 8 ounces of green pepper, it may only yield 6 ounces of usable product.

• Last cost: Enter the last price paid per purchase unit

• Average Cost: This read-only field will automatically calculate

• Reorder Point: Enter the level at which you wish to be warned of reorder. If you do not want to be warned, enter 0.

• Par Level: This optional field is another way to calculate how much to order.  The system will order enough, based on your current on hand level, to bring your total up to par.

• On Hand: Enter the amount you currently have on hand. If you don’t know, you can enter 0 for now, as you will want to do a physical inventory count immediately before you start using the inventory program anyway.

• Standard UPT:  This optional field tracks “Usage per Thousand $ in Sales”.  Sometimes, you don’t want to tie ingredients to specific items ordered, you just want to estimate their ideal usage based on your total sales.  This is common for buffet restaurants, but can also be used for general ingredients like napkins or cleaner. This should be entered in the "purchase unit".

• Physical Inventory: For each ingredient, you can choose how often you plan to physically count it. Some high cost ingredients might be counted daily or weekly while others maybe just once per month. This will control what items print on the physical inventory counting worksheet.

• Location: This field lets you organize your ingredients by where they are stored in the restaurant to make it easier to count them in order. Go ahead and add a new location if needed (see below).  You must select the location, and check the box next to it.  This allows you to select multiple locations for each ingredient.

• Category: This field lets you categorize your ingredients for reporting purposes. For example, some people like to summarize reports by meats, cheeses, vegetables, paper products, etc.  Go ahead and add a new category if you like (see below)  

Don’t forget to save your entry! Then it is on to the next one. Keep entering all the ingredients that you purchase directly from your vendors.

Adding A Vendor

To add a vendor, select the Add New option from the Vendor drop down list. 

The fields are fairly self-explanatory here. 

The PO Export format has one option - eSysco - which can be used with Sysco accounts.

Adding a Purchase Unit

  To add a purchase unit, select the Add New option from the purchase unit drop down list.   This is used for all units (purchase and usage)

Adding a Location

To add a location where ingredients are stored, select the Add New option from the Location drop down list.   

Adding a Category

To add a category, select the Add New option from the category drop down list.   These categories are used to group and report ingredients.  Optionally, you can enter a target usage % so you can report on overall usage by category.