Recording wastage

Wastage is stock that left the shelf without being sold: food that spoiled or expired, a tray that was dropped, extra that was over-prepped, a dish sent back, or staff meals. Recording it the same day keeps your stock levels right and shows you what is being lost and why. Wastage is recorded on the Inventory page by owners and managers (a kitchen lead can tell a manager what to record).

Wastage is part of Inventory & recipe costing, included in the Growth plan and above, and in the free trial.

How to record wastage

1. Go to Inventory → Stock.
2. Find the ingredient and open its ⋯ menu → Record wastage.
3. Enter the Quantity wasted in the ingredient's unit (for example 0.5 kg).
4. Pick a reason, or type your own in Reason (see below). A reason is required.
5. Check the preview, which shows what the wastage is worth and how much will be left, for example "Worth about ₹150 · 2.5 kg left".
6. Tap Record wastage. You'll see Wastage recorded.

Wastage is recorded per ingredient. If a whole dish was wasted, record each main ingredient, or at least the expensive ones.

Wastage reasons

The Record wastage dialog offers quick reasons you can tap:

• Spoiled
• Expired
• Dropped or spilled
• Over-prepped
• Returned by guest

For anything else, type it into Reason, for example "Staff meal", "Tasting for new menu" or "Power cut, freezer". Use the same words each time (always "Staff meal", not a mix of spellings) so you can search for them later.

What wastage does to stock and cost

Recording wastage takes the quantity off the shelf at the current outlet straight away, valued at the ingredient's current cost. It does not change the ingredient's cost per unit or any dish costs.

If you record more than the system thinks you have, the quantity can go below zero. That usually means a purchase wasn't recorded. Record the missing purchase, or do a Stock count to set the real quantity (see Inventory basics).

Wastage is recorded automatically in one case: when a ready takeaway or online order is marked Not collected (no-show), the food was already made, so its ingredients are booked as wastage with the note "Not collected (no-show)" instead of being put back on the shelf.

Seeing wastage later (Movements tab)

Every wastage entry appears on Inventory → Movements with a red Wastage badge, the quantity, its value, the reason and who recorded it.

1. Open Inventory → Movements.
2. In the type filter, choose Wastage.
3. To see one reason, type it in Search ingredient or note, for example "Staff meal" or "Spoiled".

The Movements tab shows the latest 200 movements at the current outlet. Review wastage weekly: the same ingredient spoiling again and again usually means you are ordering too much of it or storing it badly.

Wastage compared with stock counts and voids

• Wastage: you know what was lost and why. Use Record wastage.
• Stock count: you counted the shelf and it didn't match, and you don't know why. Use Stock count. The difference is recorded as a count, not wastage.
• Voided or cancelled items on an order: the stock goes back automatically, because the dish wasn't made. If the dish was made and then thrown away, void it on the order and record the ingredients as wastage with the reason Returned by guest or Dropped or spilled.

Troubleshooting wastage

• The Record wastage button is greyed out: enter a quantity and a reason of at least two characters.
• "Enter the quantity wasted": the quantity must be more than zero.
• Recorded the wrong amount: wastage entries can't be edited or deleted. Do a Stock count with the real shelf quantity to correct the stock level, and add a note explaining why.
• Can't find Record wastage: it is in the ⋯ menu on each ingredient row of the Stock tab, for owners and managers on the Growth plan or above.