Recipes that use up stock: every dish you sell takes its ingredients off your stock.
Give each dish a recipe once. Every bill takes the rice, the chicken and the spices out of stock, so you know what the kitchen has left before the rush.
Free plan. No credit card needed.
Chicken fried riceRecipe, 1 plate
What is recipe-based stock?
A recipe is the list of ingredients one dish uses, and how much of each. You write it once for every dish on your menu.
After that, Bills & Books does the counting. Sell a fried rice and the rice and chicken go down on their own. Kitchen stock sits in the same low stock list as everything else, so tomorrow’s buying is not a guess.
What you can do
The kitchen keeps cooking. The stock keeps itself up to date.
How recipes use up stock
Four steps, from the first recipe to the next delivery from your vendor.
Add your ingredients
Add rice, chicken, oil and the rest as stock items, with the unit you buy in, the unit you use and the cost.
Write the recipe
Open a dish and add each ingredient with how much one plate uses. Do it once for each dish.
Sell as usual
Bill at the counter or the table. Every bill takes the ingredients out of stock on its own.
Buy in time
Chicken is low, so it shows on the low stock list. Raise a purchase order, record the vendor’s bill and stock goes back up.
What the kitchen sees, and what you set
Recipes work behind the counter. Your guests just get their food; your team and your books get the numbers.
Bill as usual, stock moves by itself
Nobody in the kitchen weighs out a report at closing. The cashier bills the dish, and the ingredients come off. The low stock list shows what to order before the rush.
Recipes, units and vendors
You set each dish’s recipe, how each ingredient is bought and used, and which vendor supplies it. Every dollar spent on stock is recorded, so profit is real and not a guess.
What you can set
What you control for recipes and the stock behind them.
| Setting | What it does and the options |
|---|---|
| Stock items | Each ingredient you keep: rice, chicken, oil, spices, packing boxes. |
| Storage unit | The unit you buy in, such as a 5 kg bag, a 1 L pack or a tray. |
| Usage unit | The unit a recipe uses, such as grams, millilitres or pieces. |
| Cost per item | What each item costs you, so purchases land in profit and loss. |
| Recipe lines | For each dish, every ingredient and how much one serving uses. |
| Low stock list | See what is running low across kitchen stock and packed goods. |
| Vendors and purchase orders | Who supplies what. Raise a purchase order and send it from the low stock list. |
| Purchase invoices and payments | Record the vendor’s bill so stock goes up, then record what you paid, in full or in parts. |
| Wastage | Write off what spoiled, so the count matches the shelf. |
| Recounts | Correct the count after a stock take. |
| Batches and expiry | Keep batches and expiry dates, with alerts before stock goes bad. |
| Warehouses and branches | Each warehouse and branch keeps its own count. Send stock across with a transfer. |
How it plays out in a real kitchen
Three kitchens, with the numbers worked out.
Chicken runs low before Saturday
Kofi’s restaurant sells 40 plates of chicken fried rice on Friday. Each uses 180 g rice and 150 g chicken. He started with 8 kg of chicken.
Coffee powder and milk by the cup
Grace’s cafe makes cappuccino with 15 g powder and 120 ml milk a cup. She buys milk in 1 L packs and uses it in millilitres.
One store room, two outlets
A cloud kitchen keeps rice in its main warehouse and sends some to its second outlet. Each outlet’s recipes take stock from its own count.
What happens when...
Real kitchens spill, spoil and miscount. This is how the stock stays honest.
Who uses recipes
Kitchens that turn raw ingredients into dishes and want to know what is left.
Bills & Books, with tax billing, stock and reports, is on every plan, including Free. Plan details for recipes and stock add-ons are on the pricing page.
Recipe and stock questions, answered
The list of ingredients one dish uses and how much of each. You set it once per dish.
At every bill. Sell a chicken fried rice and its rice, chicken and spices come off stock.
Yes. Each stock item has a storage unit, a usage unit and a cost per item.
Yes. Kitchen stock shows in the same low stock list as everything else.
Yes. Raise a purchase order and send it to your vendor. Record their bill and stock goes up.
Record it as wastage, so your count matches the shelf.
Yes. Batches and expiry are kept, with alerts before stock goes bad.
Yes. Each branch and warehouse keeps its own count, and you can transfer stock between them. See multi branch.
Bill It keeps billing on your shop network and syncs when the internet is back.
Recipes come with Bills & Books for restaurants. See pricing for plan details.