A supplier price that moves on Wednesday does two different jobs. It changes what you book as purchases, and it changes the recipe card if you receive at the new price. It does not, by itself, mean the kitchen wasted anything. AKLI costs recipes at weighted average cost: a new delivery at a new price is blended with the stock already on hand, so the average moves, including through sub-recipes. The card is that current average, not a stored price per sale. This page does not claim each sale keeps the price that was on the card at the minute it was rung.
Purchases and the card are not the same cell
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Purchases in the food-cost formula are the invoices for food that landed in the period, minus credit notes that correct this period, plus transfers in and minus transfers out if you treat transfers that way. The formula is how to calculate food cost percentage.
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The recipe card is weighted average cost on that branch, times the recipe quantity, after yield. A new delivery at a new price moves the average. Recipe costing for restaurant groups is the method. Recipe costing is the product page.
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Theoretical cost is recipe cost times quantity sold. If the card moved on Wednesday, the card at the close is the later price. Say so when you compare it with actual cost. Do not invent a per-sale price history this site does not publish.
An illustration, not a result
You order chicken at SAR 28 per kg. These figures are an illustration, not a customer and not a target. On Monday 10 kg arrive and you receive them at SAR 28. On Thursday 10 kg arrive invoiced at SAR 30, and all 10 kg are accepted. Booked at the price you will pay, Monday is 10 × 28 = SAR 280 and Thursday is 10 × 30 = SAR 300. Purchases for this item are SAR 580 if nothing is credited.
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Stock from these two receipts is 20 kg, if you started from zero and sold or transferred none of it yet. The close still counts whatever is left, at cost.
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Price variance on the Thursday receipt, against the order, is (30 − 28) × 10 = SAR 20. That is a purchasing difference. It is not a waste log entry.
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If both receipts are still on hand, the weighted average after Thursday is (10 × 28 + 10 × 30) ÷ 20 = SAR 29 per kg, not SAR 30. Dishes that use chicken recalculate off that average, including a sauce that contains chicken. They do not keep a second card at SAR 28 unless you maintain that history yourself.
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A credit note for the SAR 20, if the supplier agrees the Thursday price was wrong, belongs in this week’s purchases only if it corrects this week. Dated into next week, it leaves this week SAR 20 high.
The arithmetic of a short delivery (billed for more than arrived) is already in purchasing variance and goods received. The same rule applies here: the quantity you did not receive is not stock, and it is not waste. The place those records meet is purchasing and goods received. Procurement on the feature list is procurement.
What the weekly close should say
Actual food cost uses the week’s purchases, including both receipts if you booked them (SAR 580 in the illustration, before anything else that landed). Theoretical cost uses the recipe card at the close, which is the weighted average, times quantity sold. If both receipts are still on hand, that average is SAR 29 per kg, not the Thursday price of SAR 30. Kilograms you sold on Tuesday are in purchases at SAR 28 and are not stored on the card at the Tuesday price. Name that difference. Do not push the SAR 20 of price variance into the waste log so the two figures match. The order of the close is how to close food cost for the week. You can replay opening, purchases, closing, and sales in the food cost calculator. Nothing typed there is stored.
Record a supplier price change in the same period
Book the received price on the quantity you kept, let weighted average cost move with that delivery, and keep the credit note in the period it corrects.
- Receive the quantity you kept. Stock increases by what arrived and was accepted, at the price you will pay for those units. A kilogram that was invoiced and not delivered is not an ingredient.
- Put the received price on the card. AKLI costs recipes at weighted average cost. A new delivery at a new price is blended with stock on hand, and recipes that use the ingredient recalculate, including sub-recipes. The card is that average, not the latest receipt alone, and not a stored price per sale.
- Keep the credit note in its period. A credit that corrects this period’s invoice belongs in this period’s purchases. A credit dated into next week leaves this week’s purchases high.
- Do not call the difference waste. Price variance is the received price minus the ordered price, on the quantity you kept. Logged waste is food you threw away. They are different records.
- Say which price the close used. Actual food cost uses the period’s purchases. Theoretical cost uses the recipe card, which is the weighted average at the close. Do not describe that gap as a customer result or a target.
Questions operators ask
Does a mid-period price change mean the kitchen wasted food?
No. A supplier price that moves changes what you book as purchases, and it changes the recipe card if you receive at the new price. It does not, by itself, mean the kitchen wasted anything. Price variance is not a waste log entry.
Which price does the recipe card use?
AKLI costs recipes at weighted average cost on that branch. A new delivery at a new price moves the average: total value divided by total quantity. Recipes that use the ingredient recalculate, including sub-recipes. The card is that average, not a stored price per sale.
Where does a credit note belong?
A credit that corrects this period’s invoice belongs in this period’s purchases. A credit dated into next week leaves this week’s purchases high.