Restaurant inventory software that keeps food cost honest
Know what is in the walk-in, what expires this week, and what to order before service — at every site. Count on a phone, receive deliveries against purchase orders, and keep every movement on a ledger. Free to start.
Free plan: 1 user and 100 items, no time limit. Paid plans from $19/month.
Where restaurant food cost goes missing
Food cost rarely drifts in one big event. It goes in small pieces: a case that arrived short, a tray that expired at the back of the shelf, a count that never made it from the clipboard into the spreadsheet. By the time the month-end number looks wrong, nobody can say which week it went wrong.
Restaurant inventory software fixes that by recording each event when it happens — deliveries, transfers between sites, stock written off, counts — so the number on screen matches the shelf, and the value of what you hold is one report away instead of one weekend away.
Food cost from what you actually paid
Each receipt records the unit cost you paid. Stock is valued at weighted average or FIFO cost — your choice in settings — and the valuation report shows what you hold, by category, as of any date.
Par levels and low-stock alerts
Set a low-stock threshold and a maximum level for each item. A daily check sends an email and in-app alert for anything below threshold, and the reorder list turns shortfalls into draft purchase orders, one per supplier.
Expiry dates on perishables
Receive dairy, proteins, and produce by lot with an expiry date. The expiring list shows what is coming up, a daily alert covers the next 30 days, and pick lists suggest the lot that expires first.
Counts on a phone, one site at a time
Start a stock count for a single location and work through it on the mobile app. Blind counts hide the expected quantity, so staff record what is on the shelf. Completed counts post their variances to the ledger.
Every kitchen in one account
Keep a separate stock position for each kitchen, bar, or commissary. A transfer between sites is recorded out of one and into the other, with lot and expiry carried across.
Deliveries checked against the order
Order from suppliers with purchase orders, then receive on a phone by scanning carton barcodes. Short deliveries stay open for the rest, and the price paid is compared with the last one so increases are visible.
What to check before choosing restaurant inventory software
Most tools list the same features. The difference is whether they fit a kitchen: a count done between lunch and dinner, a delivery checked at the back door, a batch of cream that expires on Thursday. Four things to check:
Where counting happens
Watch for: Tools that only count at a desk push counts onto a clipboard and into a spreadsheet later.
How we do it: Counts run on the phone in the walk-in; results post to the ledger when the count is completed.
Expiry as an afterthought
Watch for: Generic tools track how much you have but not which batch expires when.
How we do it: Lots carry an expiry date from the moment they are received, and the expiry check runs every day.
Write-offs without a reason
Watch for: Waste recorded as a bare quantity change tells you nothing next month.
How we do it: Stock written off carries a reason — damaged, expired, theft, sample — plus an optional note.
Cost that matches the invoices
Watch for: A single “current cost” field over- or under-states what the shelf is worth.
How we do it: Average or FIFO costing built from actual receipts, valued as of any date you choose.
Every movement leaves a record
Receipts, transfers, picks, counts, and write-offs are all ledger entries with a time, a quantity, a location, and the person who recorded them. When food cost moves, you can find the week, the item, and the reason.
Start free, add sites as you grow
- Free — 1 user, 100 items, 1 location.
- Starter $19/mo — 3 users, 1,000 items, 1 location. Suppliers, purchase orders, low-stock alerts.
- Pro $59/mo — 8 users, 5,000 items, 3 locations. Adds stock counts, pick lists, and partial receiving.
- Business $159/mo — 12 users, 20,000 items, 10 locations.
Frequently asked questions
- What should restaurant inventory software track?
- At minimum: quantity on hand at each site, what each item cost when it arrived, and when perishable lots expire. InventoryFlo also tracks suppliers, purchase orders, transfers between sites, write-offs with a reason, and stock counts, so food cost comes from recorded movements rather than estimates.
- How do par levels and low-stock alerts work?
- Each item has a low-stock threshold and an optional maximum stock level. When stock falls below the threshold it is flagged as low, a daily alert goes out by email and in-app notification, and the item appears on the reorder list, which can generate draft purchase orders for each supplier.
- Can staff count stock on their phones?
- Yes. The iOS and Android app runs stock counts for a chosen location, including blind counts that hide the expected quantity until the count is done. Stock counts are included from the Pro plan.
- Can I track expiry dates on perishables?
- Yes. Turn on lot and expiry tracking, then record a batch number and expiry date when stock is received. The expiring list and a daily alert cover lots expiring in the next 30 days, and pick lists suggest the earliest-expiring lot first.
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