Write-offs
Spoilage, breakage, recipe testing, treating a guest: how to enter a write-off, what reasons there are and how it shows in reports.
A write-off is a document for what went somewhere other than a sale: spoiled, broke, went into testing a recipe or a treat.
How to enter it
Choose the store, add the items with quantities and give a reason. The reason is required: without it write-offs blend into one mass and you cannot tell what is going on.
Typical reasons
- spoilage and expired shelf life;
- broken dishes and containers;
- testing a new dish;
- treating a guest to a product (not a finished dish — for that there is a zero receipt);
- staff meals, if they are not recorded as a sale.
What shows in reports
Write-offs are collected into the stock report: how much of what went over the period, in money and by reason. This is the second place after stock counts where the kitchen’s real losses are visible.
Once a month it is useful to look not at the total but at the structure: if “spoilage” keeps growing for one product, the cause is usually buying too large a pack size, not the cooks.
What not to do
Do not use a write-off to “adjust” a balance to reality — that is what a stock count is for. A write-off answers the question “where did it go”, a stock count answers “how much is there”.