Updated October 13, 2026.
Before you start
- Pick a time and stick to it. Before opening on Monday, or after close on Sunday. Counting mid-service makes the numbers meaningless.
- Put deliveries away first, and make sure the invoice for anything on the shelf is in.
- Decide the unit for each item. Count what you buy in (cases, bags) or a clear unit (kg, L, each). Partial packs: count to the nearest quarter, or weigh.
- One person per area, ideally someone who didn’t receive the deliveries.
Step by step
- Set your areas in walking order: walk-in cooler, freezer, dry storage, bar, front counter. The count sheet follows the same order, shelf by shelf, so nobody jumps around.
- Count left to right, top to bottom, on every shelf. Write the number next to the item; leave nothing blank (0 is a number).
- Don’t look at what you expect to find. A blind count (no expected numbers on the sheet) is more honest.
- Check the high-value items twice: proteins, cheese, coffee, alcohol. Usually a small number of items make up most of the stock value.
- Value the count: quantity x latest unit price from your invoices.
- Record waste separately as it happens (spoiled, dropped, staff meal, comp), not at count time.
How often to count
- Monthly full count at minimum, to close the books and get an actual food cost %.
- Weekly quick count of the 15 to 30 items that make up most of your stock value, plus anything that went missing last time.
- Before each order for the items on that supplier’s order.
Turning the count into numbers
Usage = opening count + bought since (from invoices) − closing count
Example for oat milk over a week:
| Line | Litres |
|---|---|
| Opening count (Monday) | 18 |
| + Delivered (two invoices) | 48 |
| − Closing count (next Monday) | 12 |
| = Used | 54 |
| Recipes x sales: 230 oat drinks x 0.2 L | 46 |
| Logged waste | 2 |
| Unexplained | 6 L (about $21 at $3.52/L) |
Six unexplained litres a week is over $1,000 a year on one item. The usual causes: free pours bigger than the recipe, drinks made and not rung in, staff drinks, or a recipe that’s out of date.
From count to order
A simple order rule that doesn’t need par levels:
Order = use per day x (days until the delivery after next + 1 to 2 safety days) − what’s on hand − what’s already ordered, rounded up to whole packs.
If you use 8 L of oat milk a day, the next delivery is in 3 days and the one after in 7, with 2 safety days: 8 x 9 = 72 L, minus 12 on hand = 60 L, so five 12 L cases. The order covers you until the delivery after next, so one late truck doesn’t mean running out.
Common mistakes
- Counting in different units each time (cases one week, bottles the next).
- Counting while a delivery sits unpacked by the back door.
- Forgetting stock in a second fridge or behind the bar.
- Valuing at last year’s prices.
- Counting but never comparing with what sales say you used.
How Tasti Desk helps
Tasti Desk stock keeps your areas in walking order and builds the count sheet from them, on a phone or printed. You can assign the count to a staff member, who does it as a blind count on their private link, or photograph a handwritten sheet. Between counts Desk works out expected on hand from your bills, recipes, Square sales and logged waste, flags what runs out before the supplier’s next delivery, shows what went missing in dollars, and drafts the order with the rule above, using your suppliers’ delivery days and cutoffs. You send the order.
Related features: Stock and ordering, Recipes and food cost, Team, certificates and staff links.