Topic · 13 guides
Operations & inventory
Counts, par levels, waste, yield tests — the weekly rituals that make the numbers true.
Guides in this topic
- Operations & inventory
MarginEdge pricing: monthly fees and your first-year cost
Build a MarginEdge budget from current subscription and onboarding prices. Compare monthly and annual billing, separate Toast fees, and check a sample first year.
· 5 min read - Operations & inventory
Free recipe costing apps: limits, exports and a test recipe
Compare ongoing free recipe costing tools with free trials. Check recipe limits, yields and exports, then evaluate any app with a reproducible $2.97 bowl.
· 8 min read - Operations & inventory
How many restaurants are in NYC? A 2026 borough count
NYC's October 2026 inspection dataset contains 31,469 establishment records. See borough counts, the 3,858 not yet inspected, and what the totals mean.
· 6 min read - Operations & inventory
NYC restaurant inspection grades: what the rules and data show
Understand NYC's A, B, C and Grade Pending results, with an original analysis of 25,425 establishments and a practical way to read your inspection record.
· 6 min read - Operations & inventory
How to Track Food Waste in a Restaurant: The Waste Log, the Cost and What to Change
Run a two-week kitchen waste log, cost each discard at what you paid, read it by reason, and see which NYC organics rules apply, including the 2026 law that can reach every restaurant.
· 9 min read - Operations & inventory
Restaurant Voids and Comps: What to Record, How to Read the Report and What They Cost
The difference between a void, a comp, a discount and a refund; the reasons and approvals to require; how to read a weekly report; and what comps add to your food cost percentage.
· 6 min read - Operations & inventory
How to Set Restaurant Par Levels and Turn Them Into a Prep List
Set par levels from counted usage, the days each order must cover and your own busiest cycle, then turn them into a daily prep list capped by date-marking limits.
· 8 min read - Operations & inventory
Scoop, Ladle and Measuring-Serving Spoon Sizes: A Portion Chart and the Cost of Each Portion
USDA's scoop (disher), ladle and measuring-serving spoon sizes in cups and ounces, what a scoop number means, and how to cost a portion from the batch — level, weighed and recorded.
· 5 min read - Operations & inventory
How to Do a Restaurant Inventory Count That Produces a Usable Food Cost
Set up a count sheet, count every storage area at the same point each period, value it at current invoice prices, and turn it into period food cost without the common errors.
· 5 min read - Operations & inventory
Restaurant Inventory Turnover and Days on Hand: How to Calculate and Use Them
Calculate restaurant inventory turnover and days on hand from counts and invoices, split them by category, and read what the numbers say about pars, cash and spoilage.
· 7 min read - Operations & inventory
Food Costing Software vs. a Spreadsheet: When Does Recosting Help?
Compare recipe costing software, spreadsheets and an AI-assisted workflow with one invoice change. Check the arithmetic, maintenance work and missing inputs.
· 6 min read - Operations & inventory
Food Costing With Square: What Actually Works
Compare Square recipe costing options with using Marji alongside your POS. Check ingredient evidence, current connection limits and manual price updates.
· 4 min read - Operations & inventory
The Data-Entry Tax in Restaurant Software
Restaurant costing tools can fail on setup burden and maintenance rather than on features. What the data-entry tax is, why it stalls a project, and what to ask a vendor before you buy.
· 5 min read
Terms these guides define
- Edible portion vs. as-purchased
- As purchased (AP) describes food in the form you buy it; edible portion (EP) describes the usable amount after a specified preparation step.
- Yield percentage
- Usable ingredient weight divided by starting weight, expressed as a percentage for a specified preparation step.
- Sub-recipe
- A recipe used as an ingredient in other recipes — stock, sauce, dough, compound butter.
- Waste percentage
- The share of purchased food that is thrown away rather than sold — spoilage, overproduction, errors and returns.
- Spoilage
- Product lost to age, temperature or damage before it could be sold.
- Voids
- Items removed from a check — some before the food was made, some after, and only the difference matters for cost.
- Comps
- Food or drink given away — recovery, staff meals, promotions — real cost with no matching revenue.
- Par level
- The quantity of an item you want on hand at the start of each order cycle — enough to cover demand plus a safety buffer.
- Usage rate
- How much of an item you consume per day or per cover — the input behind every par level and order.
- Prep list
- The day's production plan — what to make, how much, and in what order — derived from par levels and a covers forecast.
- Portion control
- Keeping served portions equal to specced portions — the difference between the food cost you calculated and the one you get.
- Cost per serving
- The cost of one served unit of a batch item — a bowl of soup, a slice of pie, an ounce of sauce.
- COGS (cost of goods sold)
- The cost of the food and beverage actually consumed in a period, computed from inventory rather than from purchases.
- Shrinkage
- Inventory that disappears without a corresponding sale — waste, spoilage, error and theft combined.
- Inventory turnover
- How many times you sell through your average inventory in a period — a direct measure of how much cash is sitting on shelves.
- Days on hand
- How many days of normal usage your current stock represents.
- FIFO (first in, first out)
- Using oldest stock first — the rotation discipline that prevents most spoilage.
- Plate cost
- The total ingredient cost of one served portion, garnish and sides included.
- Menu mix (PMIX)
- The share of total sales each menu item represents — the weights behind every menu-level average.