Tracking Inventory for Items with multiple Variations

[Dacre226]

The title of this thread has been edited by a Square Moderator from the original: Keeping track of inventory

I currently have a food based business.  How do I keep track of inventory where an item uses more than 1 other inventory item?  Example….  Loaded fries - different variation is used for size. However, both variations will use the stock item of ground beef and each size will take away from a different container size item. 

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Hi @Dacre226 - I see this is your first post in the Seller Community so I'd like to officially welcome you! 🎉👏

I'm going to tag in some of our Square Champions who also use Square for Restaurants to help answer this question for you by drawing on their own experience 🙂 @TheRealChipA @pigsnoseinn @Getonthebus @vinesandrushes 

[TheRealChipA · Accepted solution]

Hey there, @Dacre226 .  So, currently this is not completely possible in the Square ecosystem.  There are options, however.

First, there is an ingredient cost beta test being conducted.  The forum to join the test is located here.  It is in its very initial phases, which is important to know.  it has limitations.  For example, if you use modifier sets to change items it does not account for those.  Same goes for batch recipes — things like Chili, etc.  As long as your items have a standard, fixed recipe for all items sold then you could possibly use it.  Another current limitation is that it does not allow for variations to have different “recipes.”  So what you are wanting to do may not yet be available.  Hopefully the beta could work for you.  But if you decide to go that route, you’ll currently have to NOT use variations and have separate items for all of your sizes — items like “Loaded Fries Small,” “Loaded Fries Medium,” etc.

That brings us to the next suggestion.  In the Square App Marketplace, there are third-party applications that do the complicated task of restaurant/bar costing and inventory tracking.  Applications like Restoke, MarketMan, PeachWorks (and others) allow you to set this up and track it.  I’m familiar with Restoke because I’ve used it.  But it is only one of a few available.

A couple of things to be aware of:

• This sort of inventory/costing is very complex.  Setup takes a lot of time.  It is very computer-resource intensive.  It requires diligent maintenance and reviewing.
• This means that it will come with a monthly subscription cost.  That can not be avoided.  The folks that have tackled this issue put a lot of time and effort into it.  They acquired a lot of servers to accomplish it.  This is not a task that comes without significant costs, and if you want it done right, this cost can not be avoided.

From what I’ve seen and heard here on the boards and in other places, it is obvious to me that Square is heading in the direction of having their own solution, eventually.  But I can tell you as a former software engineer that since they are building their own solution from the ground up, this will not be completed any time soon.  It will come in pieces, adding new capabilities as time goes on.  If they have a complete solution before a few years I’ll be both highly impressed and highly surprised.  Like I said, this is not a task for the faint of heart.  I’ve known too many companies over the years that tried it and failed.  I have complete confidence that Square will eventually get there, but it will take time and when it is completed I would not expect to be much, if any, cheaper than the third party apps I mentioned earlier.

Sorry to not have an answer that will satisfy you.  But these are the cold, hard facts. 

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Thanks so much for sharing your expertise here, @TheRealChipA! Always appreciate you 🙏

[TheRealChipA]

@Dacre226 I’ll add another third-party app found in the Square Marketplace — BevSpot.  I mention it because I am doing a demo with them tomorrow since it looks very promising, both from a feature and a cost standpoint.  It’s still not cheap — especially as more complicated functionality is required — but it seems to be more reasonably priced than some of the other apps that do the same thing.  Time will tell.

Lastly, if you want to chat in more depth about third-party app options, or pick my brain about how they work, feel free to let me know.  We’d probably be better off scheduling a phone/Zoom chat since this stuff is very difficult to discuss in writing.  Tomorrow I’ll know for sure if BevSpot is as good as I think it is.