Define it where Inventory or Recipes?
Then what happens when you do a stock count - it shows 2 lines then?
It depends on what you want. You define it how you want it to work.
You could make it track bottles for example. So you sell 1 glass your inventory might show .75 of bottle left.
Or some people track full bottle sales seperate from bar bottles that sell by glass.
Well Stock Take (Physical Stock Counts) are done weekly or monthly so how do you typically sum up Wine that is sold as Bottles and then also sold by the Glass. Umm see your answer maybe I think Bottles.
So THEN based on your answers:
If I track Bottles only, then I need the BASE Unit to be bottles, create 1 Inventory Item and 2 Recipes.
If I track Bottles and Glass separately then I could use the Recipe Builder and which creates 2 Inventory Items and 2 Recipes (1 for each tracking type or Portion).
Close?
I would forget the recipe builder unless your retail. Its not meant for food setups. But if you track both then yes you need two.
Ok I think I am seeing some light! Well it a crappy way to spend my holiday but too close and too little time left.
"End of Day Records"
What are the requirements for this as my Save Button not highlighting. Would it be because my WP is still open?
Yes I see from another Post WP must be closed. It does not matter if 30 WP are opened and closed before a End of DAY is done, right?
I had the same issue with bottles and glasses… in our previuos rest…
so I decided back then that I would have sepparate stocks for the same wine sold by bottle and sold by glass.
so, you check how many bottles do you have for BOTTLES… and you would knwo how many ml you should have for glasses… ml for glasses was a little tricky since samba told me that I had 2350 ml, that would be 2,35 litters, so I should have on my shelf 2 bottles with 1 litter each and a bottle with 350 ml (1/3 of a bottle)…
hope this helps you out a little bit more… or not… LOL!!!
G.
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Yes it does! This would be simple stuff to Restaurant Owners & Managers but to me - IT Guy no so clear so the more information the better … 
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End of day records can only be edited for most recently closed wp so yes it does matter if you have 30 work periods it means wp 30 is only one you can adjust inventory for.
There is no simple answer to this question. The flexibility of the system allows you to do nearly anything you want. You need to make some decisions.
You should carefully evaluate every scenario per each Product (and Portion) that you sell and each Inventory Item that you purchase.
There is no basic, quick, correct or incorrect way to do this, because different Products require different handling.
##These are the top considerations:
- how do you sell the Product (Portions)
- how do you buy the Inventory Item
- how do you want Inventory reported (Consumption and Stock counts)
- for similar Products, do you want consistent or simplistic Inventory Entry and Reporting
- system limitations:
- you can only Purchase Inventory by the Transaction Unit or Additional Unit, unless the Transaction unit is absent, in which case you can purchase by the Base Unit or Additional Unit.
- you can only use Base Units of Inventory Items* in Recipes
(* you can use any Unit of an Inventory Product in Recipe, but that is outside the scope of this “Basic Quick Inventory Primer” ;P)
##How do you sell the Product (Portions)
- Wine H is a house wine sold by the Glass or Bottle. The Product for H therefore has 2 Portions: Glass and Bottle.
- Wine S is a special wine sold only by the Bottle. The Product for S therefore only requires 1 Portion: Bottle.
The Base Unit for the Inventory Item must be the smallest unit of measure that you sell for the related Product Portion. Or it can be even smaller than your smallest Portion if you prefer. It comes down to granularity and accuracy. As a general Rule for the Base Unit, smaller measures are better.
- For Wine H this could be Glass, but it could also be Ounce or mL, even if you don’t sell those Portions.
- For Wine S, this could be Bottle, but it could also be Glass, Ounce or mL, even if you don’t sell those Portions.
##How do you buy the Inventory Item
Both Wine H and Wine S might be bought by the Case or the Bottle, but most often, they are bought by the Case.
- a case of H is 6x 1-Gallon Jugs.
- a case of S is 12x 750mL Bottles.
This brings us to …
##How do you want Inventory Reported
This is where your most important decision is made, IMO.
Inventory Reporting is computed using the Transaction Unit, or in its absence, using the Base Unit. Depending on the Item, you might want counts based on Ounce, mL, Shot, Nip, Glass, Bottle, Case, Pallette, etc.
But you can only choose 1 of those for Reporting for each Inventory Item. So choose wisely, because there is no going back.
If you choose Case, then you will see fractions of Cases, such as 0.75 Case.
- for Wine H, this equates to 4 Jugs
- for Wine S, this equates to 8 Bottles.
If you choose Bottle/Jug, then you will see counts of Bottles, or fractions of Jugs.
- for Wine S, you should only ever see whole Bottle counts
- for Wine H, you will see fractions of Jugs, given that you sell Glasses which are a Portion of a Jug. For example, if you sold 3 Glasses from 1 Jug, you would see 0.859 Jug remaining in Stock (3x 6oz Glass divided by 128oz per Gallon Jug = 0.141 Jugs Consumed). Is that useful? I don’t think so.
Now we get to smaller Units. If Wine S is only ever sold by the Bottle, you can stop here with that, since there are no smaller Portions, but you may choose not to, for the sake of consistency across similar Products, and more granular accuracy.
If you choose Glass, then you will see counts of Glasses. Given that a Glass is 6 Ounces or 187.5 mL …
- for Wine S, you should only ever see Glass count multiples of 4, since there are 4 Glasses in a Bottle
- for Wine H, you will see any number of Glasses Consumed and remaining in Stock. You can then manually compute how many Jugs that might be, if you want. A Jug holds 21.33 Glasses (128oz/6oz)
##Don’t go simple - go granular, go accurate, go consistent
Shot, Nip, Glass … these are arbitrary Units. They could mean anything, and they mean nothing at all. Even Bottle, Jug, Jar, Carton, Sack, Bag are arbitrary Units. Even an Ounce and Pound are arbitrary, depending on wet/dry Volume, and/or wet/dry Weight, and depending on Region (British v. US)! You should never use any of these as the BASE Unit. Also, PREFER METRIC, since it is STANDARD.
If you stopped at the Base Unit of Bottle for Wine S, you chose the simple way, as opposed to the consistent way. There is nothing wrong with that, and in many scenarios, simple can be better. But now let’s look at the consistent way…
If you choose mL (or :wince: Ounce) as your Base Unit, you are now at the most granular unit of measure possible (or necessary) for any similar Product. This might be Wine, Spirit, Soda - whatever… the point being, this small Base Unit is used across all similar Inventory Items and Products no matter what Portions you sell. As the definition of a Base Unit, this is where you should be, in my opinion. You can still Report and Count on the Transaction Unit anyway.
So…
###Wine S (by Bottle)
- Base Unit: mL
- Transaction Unit: Bottle, Multiplier: 750 (Bottle is the Reporting Unit)
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle
Since Wine S is only ever sold by the Bottle, I would set it up as above. The Base Unit is mL, but the Reporting Unit is Bottle. Good enough, and it makes sense.
But, if you wanted to , you could Report/Track by mL by omitting the Transaction Unit…
###Wine S (by mL)
- Base Unit: mL
- Transaction Unit:
<blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is the Reporting Unit) - Additional Unit: Bottle, Multiplier: 750, Parent: mL
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle
Or this works also:
- Base Unit: mL
- Transaction Unit:
<blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is the Reporting Unit) - Additional Unit: Bottle, Multiplier: 750, Parent: mL
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 9000, Parent: mL
###Wine H (by Jug)
- Base Unit: mL
- Transaction Unit: Jug, Multiplier: 3785* (Jug is the Reporting Unit)
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 6, Parent: Jug
(* Inventory Item Multipliers can only be whole numbers. In the above scenario, 3785 is actually 3785.41 but we can not use decimals/fractions for Inventory Item Multipliers. We can use decimals/fractions of Units within Recipes however)
###Wine H (by Glass)
- Base Unit: mL
- Transaction Unit: Glass, Multiplier: 187* (Glass is the Reporting Unit)
- Additional Unit: Jug, Multiplier: 3785*, Parent: mL
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 6, Parent: Jug
Additional Units could alternatively be defined as:
- Additional Unit: Jug, Multiplier: 21*, Parent: Glass
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 126*, Parent: Glass
Or you could use higher Multipliers with Parent as mL:
- Additional Unit: Jug, Multiplier: 3927*, Parent: mL
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 23562*, Parent: mL
###Wine H (by mL)
- Base Unit: mL
- Transaction Unit:
<blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is the Reporting Unit) - Additional Unit: Jug, Multiplier: 3785*, Parent: mL
- Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 6, Parent: Jug
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We have Rum, or Vodka.
We sell Rum as Retail (or offsale) as:
- Bottle 1L (1000 mL)
- Bottle 750 mL
We might also sell Rum as a drink at the bar:
- Shot (1oz or 29.5735 mL)
- Rocks (3oz or 88.7205 mL)
- Cocktail Short (2oz or 59.147 mL)
- Cocktail Tall (2oz or 59.147 mL) (even though Short and Tall consume the same amount of alcohol, we define this Portion for the sake of the Soda/Juice Mixer consumptions)
How do we set this up? There are different ways of course, but keep in mind, Recipes are based on the Product.Portion level, so think carefully…
##Product Definition (3 methods)
###Product Definition Method 1
Product: Rum
Portion: 1000mL
Portion: 750 mL
Portion: Shot
Portion: Rocks
Portion: Cocktail Short
Portion: Cocktail Tall
###Product Definition Method 2
Product: Rum Bottle
Portion: 1000 mL
Portion: 750 ml
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Shot
Portion: Rocks
Portion: Cocktail Short
Portion: Cocktail Tall
###Product Definition Method 3
Product: Rum Bottle 1000
Portion: Bottle
Product: Rum Bottle 750
Portion: Bottle
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Shot
Portion: Rocks
Portion: Cocktail Short
Portion: Cocktail Tall
Take your pick 
In strictly Retail scenarios, you would probably use Method 3 since you can assign bar-codes only at the Product Level, and omit the last Product Definition “Rum Drink” altogether.
Even in Bar / Offsale scenarios, you might use Method 3 as well, and assign the Bottle Products to a separate Menu Category. That way, you simply choose the Offsale Category, then choose the size of the Bottle with a single touch as opposed to having to choose a Portion for them when making a quick sale.
##Inventory Item Definition
###Inventory Item Definition Method 1
Item: Rum
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: <blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Bottle 750, Multiplier: 750, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Bottle 1000, Multiplier: 1000, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Case 750, Multiplier: 16, Parent: Bottle 750
Additional Unit: Case 1000, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle 1000
###Inventory Item Definition Method 2
Item: Rum Bottle
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: <blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Bottle 750, Multiplier: 750, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Bottle 1000, Multiplier: 1000, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Case 750, Multiplier: 16, Parent: Bottle 750
Additional Unit: Case 1000, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle 1000
Item: Rum Drink
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: <blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Bottle 750, Multiplier: 750, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Bottle 1000, Multiplier: 1000, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Case 750, Multiplier: 16, Parent: Bottle 750
Additional Unit: Case 1000, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle 1000
###Inventory Item Definition Method 3
Item: Rum Bottle 750
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: Bottle, Multiplier: 750 (Bottle is Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 16, Parent: Bottle
Item: Rum Bottle 1000
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: Bottle, Multiplier: 1000 (Bottle is Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle
Item: Rum Drink
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: <blank>, Multiplier: 0 (mL is Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Bottle 750, Multiplier: 750, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Bottle 1000, Multiplier: 1000, Parent: mL
Additional Unit: Case 750, Multiplier: 16, Parent: Bottle 750
Additional Unit: Case 1000, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Bottle 1000
##Recipe Definition
###Recipe Definition Method 3
Erm, what about Method 1 and 2? LOL.
Recipe: Rum Bottle 750
Product: Rum Bottle 750
Portion: Bottle
Inventory Item: Rum Bottle 750, Multiplier: 750, Unit: mL
Recipe: Rum Bottle 1000
Product: Rum Bottle 1000
Portion: Bottle
Inventory Item: Rum Bottle 1000, Multiplier: 1000, Unit: mL
Recipe: Rum Drink.Shot
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Shot
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 30, Unit: mL
Recipe: Rum Drink.Rocks
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Rocks
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 89, Unit: mL
Recipe: Rum Drink.Cocktail Short
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Cocktail Short
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Recipe: Rum Drink.Cocktail Tall
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Cocktail Tall
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Notice the last 2 Recipes contain identical ingredients. As mentioned in Product Definition, we do this for the sake of the mixer (Juice, Soda, Water, etc.)
So let’s take a look at that next. We’ll use Soda as a example, but it could apply to nearly any mixer. …
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#Soda and Juice
We have Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, etc. Maybe we also have Juices in Orange, Pineapple, Cranberry. Depending on the Product, we might sell multiple Units (Portions), and in other cases, we have less Units (Portions) that we sell.
For example, we might sell Soda by the Can (355mL), Small Bottle (600mL), and larger Bottles of 1 L, 2 L, and 3 L, as well as using some for Drink Mixers (a short cocktail might use 60mL while a Tall cocktail might use 100mL). On the other hand, we might only sell Juices in small and large Glasses, and as a Drink Mixer, but not by the can, bottle or carton. So when you define the Products, you need to plan ahead and be aware of what you sell.
For this example, I will use Coke that is sold either by the Can, or as a mixer in a Cocktail. And I will concentrate on “Method 3” since it probably makes the most sense for this scenario.
##Product Definition
So we will only have a single Product Definition that looks like this:
Product: Coke
Portion: Can
##Order Tag Definition
Using Coke as a Cocktail Mixer should be defined as an Order Tag. We will use Order Tag Mappings in the Recipes - not in the Tag definitions - leave those blank. So you might have an Order Tag Group named Mixers Soda with Tags for different Sodas:
Order Tag Group: Mixers Soda
Tags:
Coke
Coke Light
Ginger Ale
Sprite
Club Soda
Tonic
Order Tag Group: Mixers Juice
Tags:
Orange Juice
Pineapple Juice
Cranberry Juice
Lime Juice
##Inventory Item Definition
Item: Coke
Base Unit: mL
Transaction Unit: Can, Multiplier: 355 (Can is the Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Pack 6, Multiplier: 6, Parent: Can
Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 24, Parent: Can
Again, we use mL as the smallest unit of measure because we will use this Item as a mixer, which is a fraction of a Can. If you don’t sell Coke as a Mixer, you could make your Base Unit the Can.
##Recipe Definitions (no Containers)
Recipe: Coke
Product: Coke
Portion: Can
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier:355, Unit: mL
That takes care of selling Coke by the Can. We can only use the Base Unit in Recipes, so we had to use 355 mL. The system will not let us choose Can as the Unit for the Inventory Item Recipe. But at least we defined the Item Transaction Unit as the Can, so our Reporting and Stock Counts will be based on the Can Unit, not the mL Unit.
Now let’s go back to the Rum Cocktail and make a modification… we don’t need to modify the Rum Shot or Rum Rocks Recipes since they don’t use Mixers, but the Short and Tall Cocktails need to be modified to include Mixers.
In this case (no Containers), we need to add each Soda a Juice to the Recipes, and map the Order Tag where applicable:
Recipe: Rum Drink.Cocktail Short
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Cocktail Short
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Ginger Ale, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Ginger Ale
Inventory Item: Sprite, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Sprite
Inventory Item: Orange Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Orange Juice
Inventory Item: Pineapple Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Pineapple Juice
Inventory Item: Cranberry Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Cranberry Juice
Recipe: Rum Drink.Cocktail Tall
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Cocktail Tall
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Ginger Ale, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Ginger Ale
Inventory Item: Sprite, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Sprite
Inventory Item: Orange Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Orange Juice
Inventory Item: Pineapple Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Pineapple Juice
Inventory Item: Cranberry Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Cranberry Juice
##Recipe Definitions (with Containers)
###Define Inventory Products for the Mixer Groups:
The Units in these Inventory Products will be referenced as a Portion in the corresponding Recipes.
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers
Unit: Short
Unit: Tall
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers
Unit: Short
Unit: Tall
###Define Recipes for the Inventory Product Containers
In this case (using Containers) we do our Order Tag Mappings in the Container Recipes. We will not use Order Tag Mappings in the “master” Recipes.
Recipe: Soda Mixers.Short
Product: Soda Mixers
Portion: Short (this is an Inventory Product “Container” Unit)
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 30, Unit: mL
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Ginger Ale, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Ginger Ale
Inventory Item: Sprite, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Sprite
… add more Sodas to the list …
Recipe: Soda Mixers.Tall
Product: Soda Mixers
Portion: Tall (this is an Inventory Product “Container” Unit)
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Ginger Ale, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Ginger Ale
Inventory Item: Sprite, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Sprite
… add more Sodas to the list …
Recipe: Juice Mixers.Short
Product: Juice Mixers
Portion: Short (this is an Inventory Product “Container” Unit)
Inventory Item: Orange Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Orange Juice
Inventory Item: Pineapple Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Pineapple Juice
Inventory Item: Cranberry Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Cranberry Juice
… add more Juices to the list …
Recipe: Juice Mixers.Tall
Product: Juice Mixers
Portion: Tall (this is an Inventory Product “Container” Unit)
Inventory Item: Orange Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Orange Juice
Inventory Item: Pineapple Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Pineapple Juice
Inventory Item: Cranberry Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Cranberry Juice
… add more Juices to the list …
###Modify the Rum Drink Recipes to use the Containers:
NOTE: the Order Tag Mappings are removed here in the “master” Recipes because we already mapped them in the Container Recipes.
Recipe: Rum Drink.Cocktail Short
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Cocktail Short
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Recipe: Rum Drink.Cocktail Tall
Product: Rum Drink
Portion: Cocktail Tall
Inventory Item: Rum Drink, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Tall
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Tall
Notice now our Rum Drink Recipes are much smaller and use only 3 “ingredients” which are a combination of 1 Inventory Item and 2 Inventory Products. Also, the Order Tags are removed - they were mapped instead within the Inventory Product “Container” Recipes.
The nice thing about using Containers is that when you add a new Soda Mixer or Juice Mixer, you edit the “Container” Recipes to include the new mixer, and leave the “master” Rum Drink Recipes untouched. This is especially useful when you have 3 types of Rum, 4 Types of Vodka, 2 Types of Whisky, etc. Without “Containers”, you would need to add a new Soda or Juice Mixer to 18 Recipes - Short and Tall for all types of Rum, Vodka, and Whisky, etc.
With Containers, you modify 2 Recipes: Juice Mixers Short and Juice Mixers Tall. The results (consumption) trickle through to the “master” Recipes automatically. For example, we now have Grapefruit Juice. Modify 2 Container Recipes to include the new Juice:
Recipe: Juice Mixers.Short
Product: Juice Mixers
Portion: Short (this is an Inventory Product “Container” Unit)
Inventory Item: Orange Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Orange Juice
Inventory Item: Pineapple Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Pineapple Juice
Inventory Item: Cranberry Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Cranberry Juice
Inventory Item: Grapefruit Juice, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Grapefruit Juice
^^^ the last Juice is NEW ^^^
Recipe: Juice Mixers.Tall
Product: Juice Mixers
Portion: Tall (this is an Inventory Product “Container” Unit)
Inventory Item: Orange Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Orange Juice
Inventory Item: Pineapple Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Pineapple Juice
Inventory Item: Cranberry Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Cranberry Juice
Inventory Item: Grapefruit Juice, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL, Order Tag: Grapefruit Juice
^^^ the last Juice is NEW ^^^
###Add a Vodka Recipe:
Recipe: Vodka Smirnoff.Shot
Product: Vodka Smirnoff
Portion: Shot
Inventory Item: Vodka Smirnoff, Multiplier: 30, Unit: mL
Recipe: Vodka Smirnoff.Rocks
Product: Vodka Smirnoff
Portion: Rocks
Inventory Item: Vodka Smirnoff, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL
Recipe: Vodka Smirnoff.Cocktail Short
Product: Vodka Smirnoff
Portion: Cocktail Short
Inventory Item: Vodka Smirnoff, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Recipe: Vodka Smirnoff.Cocktail Tall
Product: Vodka Smirnoff
Portion: Cocktail Tall
Inventory Item: Vodka Smirnoff, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Tall
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Tall
###Another Vodka:
Recipe: Vodka Skyy.Shot
Product: Vodka Skyy
Portion: Shot
Inventory Item: Vodka Skyy, Multiplier: 30, Unit: mL
Recipe: Vodka Skyy.Rocks
Product: Vodka Skyy
Portion: Rocks
Inventory Item: Vodka Skyy, Multiplier: 90, Unit: mL
Recipe: Vodka Skyy.Cocktail Short
Product: Vodka Skyy
Portion: Cocktail Short
Inventory Item: Vodka Skyy, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Recipe: Vodka Skyy.Cocktail Tall
Product: Vodka Skyy
Portion: Cocktail Tall
Inventory Item: Vodka Skyy, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
Inventory Product: Soda Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Tall
Inventory Product: Juice Mixers, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Tall
4 Likes
Truly amazing @QMcKay - this is the sort of guidance needed, just blown away with the detail and the time you provided to construct the reply!
I said it once, probably said it twice but will say it again, you are a beauty Mate 
Thank you.
Well thanks Paul. I thought twice about responding at all. I have written so many replies regarding Inventory that my head hurts. I really appreciate that you appreciate!
It really depends on the type of venue and the Top Considerations that I outlined, given the small/few limits:
- how do you sell the Product (Portions)
- how do you buy the Inventory Item
- how do you want Inventory reported (Consumption and Stock counts)
Inventory setup is the single most time-consuming exercise to do correctly an requires a lot of thought and careful planning. I only know this myself because I have been through it multiple times and spent literally days (weeks) revising things again and again to make it right, only to get it wrong again and again. I feel like I have spent more time (re)configuring Products, Inventory, and Recipes than anyone else…
A lot of it was trial and error, and a lot of help came from @emre and recent additions to the Inventory system which was “lacking” in V4.
Now that I look at my Bar, I see it is incomplete. The Cocktail Recipes are missing the Mixers, even though the Mixer Product Containers are defined, as are the Container Recipes. And I defined my Base Unit as the Can instead of mL. Good grief! That means my Mixer Container Recipes are using fractions of Cans rather than whole mLs …
Inventory Item: Coke
Base Unit: Can
Transaction Unit: <blank>, Multiplier: 0 (Can is the Reporting Unit)
Additional Unit: Case, Multiplier: 12, Parent: Can
Inventory Product: Mixers Soda
Unit: Short
Unit: Tall
Recipe: Mixers Soda.Short
Portion: Short
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 0.3, Unit: Can, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Ginger Ale, Multiplier: 0.3, Unit: Can, Order Tag: Ginger Ale
Recipe: Mixers Soda.Tall
Portion: Tall
Inventory Item: Coke, Multiplier: 0.6, Unit: Can, Order Tag: Coke
Inventory Item: Ginger Ale, Multiplier: 0.6, Unit: Can, Order Tag: Ginger Ale
… etc …
But to be honest, there isn’t really anything wrong with that. It is just different.
What bothers me is my “master” Recipes are missing the Mixers - I guess I got side-tracked and never got around to adding them in:
Recipe: Rum Flor de Cana 4.Short
Product: Rum Flor de Cana 4
Portion: Short
Inventory Item: Rum Flor de Cana 4, Multiplier: 60, Unit: mL
It should have these in addition:
Inventory Product: Mixers Soda, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
Inventory Product: Mixers Juice, Multiplier: 1, Unit: Short
3 Likes
Well I for one would of been devastated as I know you have been a pioneer with Inventory - so cannot thank you enough. In fact I have left pool side and family to right this note to you. I apologise for name calling but I am out of time on this and need a few miracles to fall my way…
If it is any consolation I have read just about every V5 post and today before you responded looking at V4 posts. So much has changed recently due to Emre desire to improve so got lost a little on the way 
Hopefully, in time, there will be hundreds of new users who will eventually follow this post and be thankful you responded in kind…
GREAT TUTORIAL!!!
thank!!!
G.
Why I can’t use additional Units on recipes. Sometimes, depending on the recipe you need to use different units. Example, I need to cook Red Sauce where I use 10Kg of tomatoes but when I cook a salad I use 10grms of tomato. It becomes pretty hard do the math on each recipe to the smallest unit, making two inventory products for tomatoes makes no sense, how can I manage this?
If I do grams for things I buy in Kg I need to be dividing the cost per item, am I doing something wrong or misunderstanding the whole concept?
Have you read this yet?
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Yes I did, and the Inventory implementation is not the big problem. I have configured products to be in grams (the smallest units) and set the transaction Units to Kg. Conversions when purchasing are great, I can buy a 5Kg bottle and it translates properly to the units.
My comment is, why I can’t do the same when building a recipe?
Example:
Tomato, Base Unit grm, Transaction Unit Kilogram (Multiplier 1000), other units 10Kg Bag (Multiplier 10000)
If I buy a 10Kg Bag it shows correctly 10 Kilograms on my inventory.
When I build a recipe would be great to have the option to select all the possible units instead of needing to do the math, example:
Red Sauce recipe:
Tomato 5Kg
Onion 250grm
Because I have configured grm as Base Unit then I need to do:
Red Sauce recipe:
Tomato 5000grm
Onion 250grm
Another recipe:
Salad
Tomato 10grm
Lettuce 10grm
Basically I have to do the math for each ingredient instead of having the system to do it
I do not use inventory so am no pro on that section but thought it was usual reconmendation to set the base unit as the smallest multiplier required as you have used grams…
Why?
As mentioned in the very Topic, this is a limitation of the system. You can only use the Base Unit in a Recipe.
Why does this limitation exist? I don’t know… maybe for ease of implementation.
Would it be “nice” to be able to use any defined Unit is a Recipe? Sure. Especially when talking about non-metric values like 16oz per Pound. “Doing the math” in metric (base 10) is simple for you and me, so the point is moot in that case, but when it comes to the “Imperial” system, conversion is more difficult, especially when converting between systems.
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