Purchases tell you what came into the kitchen. Sales tell you what went out on plates. Only a physical count tells you what is actually left, and the difference between the three is where food cost problems hide. Most owners skip counts because they seem slow. Done with a clear method, a weekly count of key items takes under an hour.
What to count, and how often
You do not need to count every grain of salt every week. Split your stock into two groups:
| Group | Examples | How often |
|---|---|---|
| High-value items | Chicken, mutton, beef, fish, cooking oil, desi ghee, rice, cheese, cold drinks | Weekly |
| Everything else | Spices, flour, sugar, tea, lentils, packaging, cleaning supplies | Monthly |
The high-value group is usually a small number of items that make up most of your food spend. Counting those weekly catches problems quickly. The full monthly count gives you the closing stock for your monthly food cost calculation.
Prepare before the count
- Pick a fixed time when the kitchen is closed or quiet, such as after closing on Sunday night or before opening on Monday.
- Make sure all deliveries for the period are recorded and no new stock arrives during the count.
- Print a count sheet listing items in the same order as they sit on the shelves, fridge and freezer.
- Agree on units: kg for meat and rice, litres for oil, pieces for cold drinks, packets for spices.
- Assign two people: one counts, one writes. Rotate who counts each week.
Counting rules
- Count shelf by shelf, left to right, top to bottom. Never jump around the store.
- Weigh open bags and partial containers. Do not guess 'half a bag'.
- Count prepared items too: marinated chicken, boiled rice, ready gravy. Convert them back to raw weight using your recipe.
- Do not count anything that has gone bad. Throw it away and record it in the waste log.
- Write the count, not the expected figure. If possible, the counter should not see what the system says should be there.
A count sheet that works
Keep the sheet simple. Each row is one item in shelf order, with the unit already printed so nobody writes '3' without saying 3 what. Leave space for partial containers and a notes column for anything unusual.
| Location | Item | Unit | Full units | Partial | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freezer 1 | Chicken (with bone) | kg | 35 | 3 | 38 | Two bags open |
| Dry store, shelf 2 | Cooking oil | litre | 20 (2 tins of 10 L) | 2 | 22 | |
| Dry store, shelf 3 | Sella rice | kg | 70 (bags weighed) | 2 | 72 | New bag on floor, moved to shelf |
| Walk-in fridge | Yogurt | kg | 8 | 1.5 | 9.5 | Check date on two tubs |
After the count, the person who wrote the sheet reads each line back while the counter checks a few random items again. If the recheck finds a different number on more than one item, recount that whole section. Keep the signed sheets in a file; when a variance question comes up two months later, they are your evidence.
Counting the central store and the kitchen separately
If you keep a main store or godown and issue stock to the kitchen daily, count both places and record every issue from store to kitchen. That way you know whether a loss happened in storage or during cooking, which points to very different fixes.
Valuing the stock
Multiply each counted quantity by its cost price to get the value of stock on hand. This is your stock valuation. Most restaurants use the latest purchase price or an average purchase price; whichever you choose, stick with it every month so the numbers compare fairly.
Calculating usage and variance
For each item, actual usage = opening stock + received − closing stock. Then compare it with theoretical usage, which is what your sales should have used according to your recipes. The difference is the variance.
Worked example: one week of chicken
- Opening stock: 42 kg
- Received during the week: 310 kg
- Closing count: 38 kg
- Actual usage: 42 + 310 − 38 = 314 kg
Sales for the week were 160 full karahi at 1 kg each (160 kg), 120 half karahi at 0.5 kg each (60 kg) and 1,100 plates of biryani at 80 g each (88 kg). Theoretical usage = 160 + 60 + 88 = 308 kg. The variance is 314 − 308 = 6 kg, or about 1.9% of theoretical usage. At Rs 750 per kg, that is 6 × 750 = Rs 4,500 of chicken in one week that sales do not explain.
The full weekly variance sheet
| Item | Opening | Received | Closing | Actual used | Theoretical | Variance | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 42 kg | 310 kg | 38 kg | 314 kg | 308 kg | 6 kg | Rs 4,500 |
| Cooking oil | 30 L | 80 L | 22 L | 88 L | 81 L | 7 L | Rs 3,920 |
| Sella rice | 60 kg | 150 kg | 72 kg | 138 kg | 132 kg | 6 kg | Rs 2,280 |
| Total | Rs 10,700 |
Oil is valued at Rs 560 per litre (7 × 560 = Rs 3,920) and rice at Rs 380 per kg (6 × 380 = Rs 2,280). Rs 10,700 a week across just three items is over Rs 40,000 a month. Some variance is normal, because of trimming loss, spills and small portion differences. The point is to know your usual level and react when it jumps.
What to do when variance is high
- Recount the item. Counting errors are the most common cause.
- Check that every delivery was recorded at the right weight. Weigh chicken on arrival and compare it with the supplier's slip.
- Check the waste log and staff meals for that week.
- Watch portioning during a busy service. Is the cook weighing or guessing?
- Check that every dish served was billed. Compare kitchen tickets with bills for a sample of days.
Use counts to set par levels
Your weekly usage figures also tell you how much to keep on hand. If you use about 314 kg of chicken a week, or roughly 45 kg a day, and your supplier delivers daily, your par level might be one day's usage plus a small buffer. This stops both stock-outs on busy nights and overstocking that leads to spoilage. Store new deliveries behind old stock so the FIFO rule holds.
Making counts faster
The slowest part of a manual count is the maths afterwards. When recipes are linked to stock, the system already knows theoretical usage, so you only enter the closing count and the variance appears. ArfaPOS works this way, with kitchen, store and warehouse inventory and recipes that deduct ingredients as items sell. See restaurant inventory software for details, and our food cost percentage guide for how the monthly count feeds your food cost.
Consistency matters more than perfection. A count done at the same time, in the same order, with the same units every week will show you real trends even if each count has small errors.