What makes restaurant inventory different from a shop's is this: you sell a "Latte", but what leaves the store room is 18 grams of coffee, 220 ml of milk and a cup. So a restaurant tracks stock by ingredient, not by item count, and links every menu item to a recipe that says how much of each ingredient it uses.
In this article we explain the logic first, then which screen in Genu handles each step and how. By the end you will be ready to open your first stock card and enter your first goods receipt.
The five parts of inventory tracking
- Stock card: The record of each ingredient: name, unit, quantity on hand, cost.
- Recipe: How much is deducted from which stock card when a menu item sells.
- Goods receipt (stock in): Adding goods that arrive from a supplier.
- Deduction on sale: When a bill closes, the recipe's ingredients leave stock by themselves.
- Counts and waste: Comparing what is really on the shelf with the system, and recording goods that spoil, spill or are given away.
When the five work together, the answers to "what do I have, how much did I use, where is the leak" are on screen.
1. Turn on the stock module
The stock module is in Premium and higher plans and is off by default; until it is on, nothing is deducted on sale. The venue owner turns it on:
- In the panel, open Settings › Stock settings.
- Tick "Turn on the stock module" and save. A Stock page appears in the side menu under the Finance group.
- The same page has two more settings: a critical stock notification (one notification a day for ingredients below their critical level) and recording cash goods receipts as a till expense (cash purchases enter the end-of-day cash count as an expense).
If you turn the module off later, cards and movements are not deleted; only deduction on sale and new entries stop.
2. Open stock cards (with your starting stock)
On the Stock › Stock Cards tab, press "Card". The form fields:
- Name and category: For example "Coffee beans", category Food (the others are Beverage, Packaging, Cleaning, Other).
- Base unit: Quantity and cost are kept in this unit: g, kg, ml, l, piece, portion, pack, box or case. If your recipes use grams, choose g.
- Purchase unit and factor: If you buy in a different unit from the supplier, enter it here. For example purchase unit "case", "1 case = 24 pieces". When you enter "3 cases" on a goods receipt, 72 pieces go into stock.
- Critical level and target level: Below the critical level you get a warning; the order suggestion is calculated as "target level − quantity on hand".
- Supplier and stock code: Optional. You can add suppliers on the Suppliers tab; order suggestions are grouped by supplier.
- Opening quantity and unit cost: Only shown on a new card. Start by entering what is on the shelf now; no separate "opening" screen is needed.
A shortcut for bottled drinks: For items sold as they are, such as cola, water or mineral water, use "Start without recipes" on the Stock › Recipes tab to pick items from the menu in bulk. Each selected item gets a one-to-one stock card and a one-line recipe (1 piece).
3. Link recipes to menu items
Recipes are entered on the Stock › Recipes tab, not on the product edit screen. The list is grouped by menu category; the "Without recipe" filter shows items that do not have one yet.
- Click an item, use "Add ingredient" to pick each ingredient and enter its quantity and unit. For example Latte: 18 g coffee beans, 220 ml milk, 1 cup.
- The total cost and profit margin show at once on the bottom line. The recipe list also shows each item's margin percentage; low-margin items stand out by colour.
- If the item has options, define extra ingredients per option under "Option add-ons". For example, choosing "Extra cheese" deducts another 30 g of cheese. An option add-on is tied to the menu option: if you rename the option on the menu, deduction continues; if you remove the option from the menu, it shows in the recipe with a "not on the menu" warning and is not saved until you choose it again.
- Optionally tick mark the item "sold out" automatically when an ingredient runs out: when any ingredient in the recipe hits zero the item shows as sold out on the menu, and it comes back by itself when stock returns with a goods receipt.
We cover the finer points of building item cost in how to calculate food cost in a restaurant.
4. Stock in: goods receipt
When goods arrive from a supplier, press "New goods receipt" on the Stock › Goods Receipt tab.
- Header: Supplier, document number (delivery note or invoice), document date and payment type: Cash, Card, Bank transfer or Open (unpaid).
- Lines: On each line, the stock card, quantity, unit and unit price. If the card has a purchase unit, it is offered as the unit; line and receipt totals are calculated automatically. Continue with "Add line".
- For cash payments: if "Paid from the till (record as an end-of-day expense)" is ticked, the purchase enters the end-of-day cash count as an expense, so the missing cash in the till is accounted for.
When you save, stock goes up and the card's average cost is updated with the new purchase price. You do not delete a wrongly entered receipt; you open it from the history list, press "Cancel" and give a reason. The receipt is closed with a reversing entry and the record chain stays intact.
5. Deduction on sale: nothing for you to do
The moment a bill closes and payment is taken, the recipe's ingredients leave stock, whether it is table service, takeaway, pickup, delivery or counter sale; deduction also happens when a table is closed with "close table" instead of at the till, or marked "paid" from the venue panel. If the closing is undone, the deduction is reversed too.
Even if stock goes negative, sales do not stop; the system never blocks service, it just shows the negative card on the Overview. Either a goods receipt was forgotten or the recipe does not match reality; a count will show which.
6. Stock count
A count compares what the system says you "should have" with what is really on the shelf. A weekly count is a good start for most venues; counting expensive ingredients (meat, cheese, alcohol) more often catches leaks earlier.
- On the Stock › Count tab, give it a title (for example "Monday count"), optionally choose a single category, and press "Start count".
- Each line shows the expected quantity; enter what is on the shelf in the "Counted" box. The difference shows at once.
- "Fill with expected" fills empty lines with the expected quantity, so you only change the ones that differ.
- When you press "Close count", the differences are written to the ledger and the count appears in the history list with its difference amount. Clicking a closed count shows a table of expected, counted and difference, item by item.
7. Waste
Recording goods that spoil, spill or are given away shows where a count difference comes from. On the Stock › Waste tab, choose the stock card, the quantity and the reason: Spoiled / past expiry, Spilled / broken, On the house, Staff meal or Other. You can do the same with the "Record waste" button on a stock card's detail.
8. Keeping track: Overview, order suggestions and reports
- Overview: Stock value, today's cost (deducted from closed bills), today's waste and the number of critical items at a glance.
- Order suggestion: Ingredients below their critical level are grouped by supplier, with how much to buy written in your purchase unit (for example "3 cases").
- Critical stock notification: Once a day in the panel's notification centre, it tells the venue owner which cards are below their critical level.
- Reports: For today, 7 days, 30 days or this month: revenue, cost (as a share of revenue), waste, goods receipts and count differences; consumption by ingredient, waste by reason and spending by supplier.
Who does what?
The stock screen is for venue owners and managers. The owner does everything from the panel (app.genu.tr); turning the module on or off and its settings are owner-only. Managers open the same screen on their phones in the manager panel; they can record stock cards, recipes, goods receipts, counts and waste.
Frequently asked questions
How do I enter my stock when I first set up?
When opening each stock card, enter the quantity on the shelf in the "Opening quantity" and "Unit cost" fields. To correct it later, use "Adjustment" on the card's detail, or a count.
An item's stock looks wrong. What should I do?
Check the recipe first: are the quantity and unit right (mixing g and kg is the most common mistake)? Then count that card; the difference is written to the ledger and stock matches reality.
Can I load ingredients in bulk?
For items sold as they are (bottled drinks and so on), "Start without recipes" turns the menu items you pick into stock cards and recipes in one go. Ingredients of prepared items are opened as stock cards one by one; starting with the ingredients of your best sellers speeds things up.
Does selling stop when stock hits zero?
No. Stock can go negative; service is never cut. If you want the item removed from the menu, tick "sold out automatically" in its recipe.
In short
The value of inventory tracking shows at the first count: you see which ingredient disappears where, and which item earns less than you thought. Do not wait for the whole menu to start; enter recipes for your ten best sellers, then do your first goods receipt and your first count.
For all stock, recipe and cost features, see the inventory management page. Try Genu free for 30 days, no credit card needed; for plans, see the pricing page.