A sales file answers one question: how many of each item you sold. It does not answer what left the storeroom. AKLI can take that file as a CSV or as a POS sales import, match rows to recipes by SKU, and use the quantities for theoretical food cost. The till can stay. Foodics, Oracle Simphony, Marn, and Sapaad are POS systems AKLI connects to, through its POS connector. See integrations.
What the file is for
Theoretical cost = Σ (recipe cost of the item × quantity sold)
Quantity sold has to come from somewhere. You can type it. You can import a CSV or Excel file. You can import a POS sales file. All three are optional. None of them is a requirement to change the till. The boundary is written on integrations and on POS import. A cost typed onto a menu button, with no stock behind it, is the comparison in AKLI versus POS-only costing.
Match the SKU, or do not match it
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The SKU on the sale and the SKU on the recipe are the same string. Spacing and a trailing letter count.
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A modifier that is not its own recipe (extra sauce, no onion) should not become a second depletion unless you have a recipe for it.
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A combo that rings as one SKU needs a recipe for that SKU, or a mapping you wrote down. Guessing the components at month end is not a match.
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An unmatched row stays unmatched. It is a list to fix. It is not theoretical cost and it does not deplete stock.
An illustration, not a result
A file for one day has three rows. These numbers are an illustration so the rule can be checked. They are not an AKLI customer.
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SKU BURGER-01, 40 sold, recipe cost SAR 8. Matched. Theoretical cost SAR 320. Stock depletes the burger recipe 40 times.
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SKU SOUP-02, 10 sold, recipe cost SAR 4. Matched. Theoretical cost SAR 40.
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SKU STAFF-MEAL, 6 sold, no recipe with that SKU. Unmatched. Theoretical cost SAR 0 from this row. Stock does not move because of it.
Theoretical cost from the file is SAR 360, not SAR 360 plus whatever you think the staff meal consumed. The six staff meals are still food that left the building if they were plated from stock. They show up in actual food cost, from the count, until someone maps the SKU or logs the consumption. That gap is theoretical versus actual food cost.
The file is not the close
Depletion explains what the recipes say you sold. Actual food cost is still opening inventory plus purchases minus closing inventory, divided by food sales for the same days. You can add the theoretical figure to the food cost calculator. You still have to count. The weekly order of operations is how to close food cost for the week. Food cost control is the product page for keeping both numbers, per branch.
Match a sales file to recipes
Turn a sales export into quantity sold against recipes, and keep the rows that do not match out of theoretical food cost.
- Export one period. Use the same start and end as the stock count and the invoices. A sales file that runs a day past the count is a different week from the food-cost close.
- Keep food sales separate from beverage. If the percentage is meant to manage the kitchen, do not let beverage sales into the denominator. Labor does not belong in the file at all.
- Match on SKU. Each sold row needs the same SKU as the recipe or the menu item that points at a recipe. A name that looks similar is not a match.
- Leave unmatched rows unmatched. An unmatched SKU does not deplete stock and does not enter theoretical cost. Mapping it to a nearby dish hides the gap.
- Read theoretical cost, not actual. Quantity sold times recipe cost is theoretical food cost. Actual food cost still comes from opening inventory, purchases, and closing inventory. The file does not replace the count.
Questions operators ask
What does a sales file tell you?
A sales file answers how many of each item you sold. It does not answer what left the storeroom. Quantity sold times recipe cost is theoretical food cost.
What happens to an unmatched SKU?
An unmatched SKU does not deplete stock and does not enter theoretical cost. Mapping it to a nearby dish hides the gap. A name that looks similar is not a match.
Does the sales file replace the stock count?
No. Actual food cost is still opening inventory plus purchases minus closing inventory, divided by food sales for the same days. Depletion explains what the recipes say you sold. You still have to count.