Food Stock-Take & Actual Food Cost Tracker
Excel (.xlsx) — also opens in Google Sheets & Numbers
A food stock take tells you your actual food cost: opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock is the food you used, and food used divided by sales for the same period is your real food cost %. This template does the sums in Excel or Google Sheets, compares the result with your target and puts a pound figure on the gap.
What's inside
- Actual vs theoretical food cost % in one view
- Shows the £ you're losing to waste, theft or portioning
- Quick weekly or monthly count
- Worked example built in — just type over it
What it does
A proper stock take, worked out for you: food used = opening stock + purchases − closing stock, turned into your REAL food cost percentage and compared against your target. The gap between actual and theoretical is where waste, portioning drift and theft hide — this sheet puts a £ figure on it.
It's built for a quick weekly or monthly count, with a worked example you type over.
Who it's for
Any kitchen that's ever been surprised by the month-end food cost. If your theoretical GP looks fine but the bank account disagrees, the stock take is where the answer lives.
Worked example: one period, four stock categories
The Stock Take tab opens with a period filled in, counted in pounds of stock value:
| Category | Opening | Purchases | Closing | Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meat & fish | £420 | £1,100 | £380 | £1,140 |
| Veg & fruit | £180 | £520 | £160 | £540 |
| Dry goods | £240 | £300 | £250 | £290 |
| Dairy | £90 | £260 | £95 | £255 |
| Total food used | £2,225 |
Against £5,200 of sales for the same period, £2,225 ÷ £5,200 = 42.8% actual food cost. The target in the sheet is 30%, so the variance is 12.8 percentage points, which the sheet turns into £665 lost to the variance in one period.
A gap that size points at something specific: waste, over-portioning, unrecorded staff food, theft, or prices on the menu that no longer match supplier prices. The sheet tells you how much; the category totals tell you where to look first (here, meat and fish is over half of all food used).
How to use it
- Count closing stock on the same day and time each week or month, and value it at what you paid.
- Enter opening stock (last count's closing figure), purchases from your invoices and the closing value for each category (up to 20 lines).
- Enter sales ex-VAT for exactly the same period.
- Set your target food cost % (your theoretical figure from costed recipes, or a benchmark) and read the variance and the £ lost.
What it does not do
It works on stock value, not item counts, so convert counts to value first (quantity × unit price). It does not calculate theoretical food cost from your recipes; get that from the Food Cost template or the free calculator. For a free single-period version, see the free stock take template.
Questions people ask
Is this a subscription?
No. It is a one-off £11.99, with no VAT charged: buy it once, download the file and it is yours to keep. It works offline.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the formulas carry over. It also opens in Apple Numbers.
Weekly or monthly?
Weekly if margins are tight or you have just changed the menu; monthly is enough once the gap is small and steady. Always compare like with like.
Should sales include VAT?
No. Food cost % is worked out on ex-VAT sales. Using VAT-inclusive takings makes your food cost look better than it is: a true 30% shows as 25% at 20% VAT.
Goes well with
Try the numbers first, free: the food cost & GP calculator and the recipe costing tool run in your browser.