FoodSoftware.com specializes in software for restaurants and offers a variety of restaurant inventory software products for Windows PCs.

Products in our restaurant inventory software category are software items specifically designed for restaurant cost control. Though many of our software titles are restaurant industry standards, they are still very specialized and not found in any retail store.

The purpose of this page is to generally describe restaurant inventory software as well as to list the specific restaurant inventory software products available at FoodSoftware.com. (See the bottom of this page for links to detailed product descriptions.)

Note that restaurant inventory refers to all consumable supplies including food, liquor and to-go containers. Restaurant inventory software handles food, liquor, to-go containers and any other types of consumable inventory that you may choose. The summary cost control figures (key or prime costs) that result from restaurant inventory are food cost, beverage or liquor cost, to-go packaging cost, etc.

Restaurant inventory software is a basic and critical cost control tool for restaurant management. Cost control is crucial to most restaurants' financial survival because profit margins are usually slim and financial loss is great unless management is professional and vigilant.

Restaurants purchase and use food intensively so food purchases, stock counts and usage must be carefully tracked. Food is extremely subject to theft, waste, sloppy or unspecified portioning, spoilage, preparation loss and many other costly losses both known and unknown. Food costs are notoriously volatile and costs may change greatly from one purchase to the next.

Further, restaurants are "nickel-and-dime" businesses because of the big difference that small changes in costs make to overall profits. Again, attention to detail is critical to financial survival in the restaurant business.

Restaurant inventory software helps manage these problems with its ability to track a very large number of figures for hundreds of food inventory items and perform many use and value calculations quickly and regularly.

Note: Restaurant "food" inventory refers to all consumable supplies including food, liquor and to-go containers. Restaurant inventory software handles food, liquor, to-go containers and other types of consumable inventory that you may choose.

"Food Cost Percent" is a "key" or "prime" cost essential to restaurant management. Restaurant inventory software contributes this summary figures required for basic cost control. It is the value of food used (calculated by software) divided by sales and is expressed as a percentage. Normal food cost for a profitable restaurant is around 30% of gross food sales but it may range from 20% to 40% depending on the restaurant type.

Efficient restaurant managers know their restaurants' food cost percent at the end of every week. Weekly food cost percents are compared to prior figures to check that current figures remain "in line" and are not out of control.

"Restaurant inventory software" usually does more than just inventory and includes closely related functions such as recipe costing, menu sales analysis, ordering and purchase requirement forecasting.

Basic restaurant inventory software records and reports primary food inventory cost control data:

• Quantity and value of food purchases.
• Quantity and value of food on hand.

The next level uses inventory as ingredients in recipes for recipe costing and may use menu sales as well:

• Changes in inventory purchase costs also update portion costs of ingredients in recipes to give always-current menu-item costs.
• Recording sales of menu items enables menu item profit contribution to track sales "stars" and "dogs".
• Menu sales also determines "ideal" cost- what food cost should be if food use is perfectly according to plan.

The highest level computes both actual food cost and food used (by regular stock counts) and ideal food cost and food used (from food depleted by menu sales) and compares them. This software also computes food purchase requirements.

There are two main types of restaurant inventory software titles at FoodSoftware.com: "application" and "spreadsheet".

• Application software is stand-alone (does not need another program like Excel to run).
• Application software is usually more comprehensive with many advanced features.
• Spreadsheets require Excel to run (and familiarity with Excel).
• Spreadsheets are simplified and can be customized.

Restaurant inventory software titles at FoodSoftware.com are for various skill levels from beginner to advanced. Our food inventory and costing programs range from basic and easy to comprehensive and more involved. Our spreadsheet-based software titles are generally simpler than the non-spreadsheet software.

There is always a tradeoff between simplicity and features, especially where food cost control software is concerned. The easier programs have fewer features and are not as effective at saving money as the comprehensive programs, but they are better than doing nothing. The comprehensive programs may be too difficult for some people to understand or use even though the payback from using them is enormous.

It is extremely important to choose your priorities: Do you want easy and mildly effective or harder but very effective at saving money? Keep in mind that restaurants are a complicated and risky profession that requires professional skills and professional-level software to run profitably. For the maximum benefit from professional restaurant software, be prepared to spend the time and make the study effort it takes to be proficient at using the software. You will be rewarded for doing so.

• All restaurant inventory software titles at FoodSoftware.com are meant to run on all versions of Windows from Windows XP to Windows 7.
• No titles have special hardware requirements or unusually large files that require large amounts of hard drive space (except those items that are sold specifically as software and hardware combinations).

Mac Users: FoodSoftware.com has very few titles that run on the native Mac OS. However, all recent Macs can be equipped with Windows, and with such, all of our Windows software will run on your Mac too. Some, but not most, of our spreadsheet titles run on the Mac version of Excel.

Restaurant inventory software titles here are "restaurant back office" programs that run on your restaurant office computer or personal laptop and are not usually installed on the same computers than run your POS (cash register) software.

All FoodSoftware.com software products are installed on your own PCs and are not web-hosted applications. All of your data is stored only on your own PC and remains private.

Click on the links below for detailed information about our key restaurant software products.

IPro Series 40 Restaurant Inventory, Recipe & Menu Software

• IPro Series 40 is our most popular restaurant comprehensive, full-featured inventory, recipe costing, purchasing and sales analysis software.
• Dramatically reduces food and beverage costs by detecting creeping costs, overuse, theft and unknown costs.
• Full actual (periodic) and ideal (perpetual) inventory for food, liquor and supplies.
• Build-to-par and forecast ordering and purchase and cost history.
• Recipe costing, resizing and printing.
• Stock depletion by sales or production.
• Sales and profit history, trends and analysis.
• Complete and flexible reports with unlimited history range.
• Compares to others programs at ten times the price!
• Downloadable for immediate and free delivery.
• Free support.
• Application software (does not require Excel or other software to run.)

EZChefSOFTWARE® Inventory, Menu Costing and Analysis for Restaurants for Excel

• EZChefSOFTWARE® Inventory Management, Menu Costing and Analysis for Restaurants & Bars is our most popular simplified, Excel-based, basic inventory, recipe costing and sales analysis software.
• Powerful, yet intuitive and easy to use.
• Helps you save time, increase profits and learn to sell those menu items that make you the most money.
• Optional "one click" feature imports all Sysco food products, with current prices, directly from the Sysco order guide. (Importing from some other companies is also available.)
• Easily manages basic food and beverage inventory tasks and processes.
• Performs menu costing for every item on the menu (including subrecipes).
• Creates a full menu analysis from your sales mix (the sales proportions of menu items) to evaluate and visually display how each menu item impacts profitability.
• Downloadable for immediate and free delivery.
• Free support.
• Spreadsheet-based software (requires Excel to open and familiarity with Excel to operate).

Restaurant Recipe Costing, Inventory & Menu Profitability Spreadsheet Workbook for Excel

• This is a popular simplified, Excel-based, basic inventory, recipe costing and sales analysis software title.
• Powerful, yet intuitive and easy to use.
• Helps you save time, increase profits and learn to sell those menu items that make you the most money.
• Easily manages basic food and beverage inventory tasks and processes.
• Performs menu costing for every item on the menu (including subrecipes).
• Analyzes your sales mix (the sales proportions of menu items) to evaluate how each menu item impacts profitability.
• Downloadable for immediate and free delivery.
• Free support.
• Spreadsheet-based software (requires Excel to open and familiarity with Excel to operate).

Restaurant Food & Beverage Inventory Spreadsheet for Excel

• The Restaurant Food and Beverage Inventory Spreadsheet is the most simplified, Excel-based, basic inventory software title.
• Intuitive and easy to use.
• Easily manages basic food and beverage inventory tasks and processes.
• Downloadable for immediate and free delivery.
• Free support.
• Spreadsheet-based software (requires Excel to open and familiarity with Excel to operate).

Support for our restaurant inventory software products is free and unlimited for current versions.

Installation policies (number of computers allowed) and multiuser capabilities and costs vary by product. Restaurant inventory software titles here may be installed on multiple computers without additional cost. Some titles are also multiuser in network environments. Some titles require additional costs per simultaneous additional user.

Demonstration media availability, trial periods and refund policies vary by product. Please note that software items are not refundable unless specifically stated as otherwise, so please carefully determine the software's suitability for your purpose, skill level and computer type. Detailed information for making sound purchase decisions is available about all of our restaurant software products both at the FoodSoftware.com website and by phone if you call 805-375-7000 during Pacific business hours.