Food cost %
The industry target is 28–35%. Most operators only measure this monthly. TheMenuScan shows it per order, per item, per day — so corrective action happens before the month closes.
Inventory cost analytics
Know the real cost of every order, automatically
Most restaurants know their revenue. Very few know their actual ingredient cost per order. TheMenuScan calculates gross profit and margin for every completed order in real time — linked to your live inventory and recipes.
RevenueOrdersSpeedGuests
The problem
Revenue is visible. Profit is invisible.
You can see how much you sold today. But do you know which dishes are actually costing you money? Without linking orders to ingredient costs, managers make pricing and menu decisions in the dark — often discovering margin problems only at month-end.
Connected modules
Orders
Recipes
Inventory
Menu
Modifiers
Analytics
Why it matters
The numbers most operators are missing
Gross profit per order
Revenue minus ingredient cost, calculated automatically the moment an order completes — no manual exports, no end-of-day reconciliation, no guessing.
Modifier cost leakage
Add-ons and modifiers are often priced to cover ingredient use — but rarely tracked. TheMenuScan maps each modifier to an inventory item so the cost is never hidden.
How it works
Cost flows automatically from recipe to order to report
Link recipes to menu items
Each menu item gets a recipe that maps ingredients and quantities from your live inventory.
Map modifier costs
Add-ons and modifiers are mapped to inventory items so their cost is captured per order.
Order completes
When an order is marked delivered, TheMenuScan calculates the total ingredient cost for every line item.
Cost snapshot generated
A cost snapshot records revenue, ingredient cost, gross profit, and margin percentage for the order.
Analytics surface insights
Owners see cost KPIs on the orders page, and the full cost analytics dashboard shows trends by period.
Capabilities
What owners and managers can do
Per-order cost dashboard
See revenue, ingredient cost, gross profit, and margin for every completed order in a filterable table.
Owner and manager onlyOrder detail cost breakdown
Drill into any order to see the ingredient cost per line item, including modifier contributions.
Owner and manager onlyModifier cost mapping
Map order add-ons to specific inventory items so their real cost is tracked — not estimated.
Connects to inventoryRecalculate on demand
Re-run cost calculations when recipe or inventory costs change to keep margin data current.
Connects to recipesMulti-currency support
Cost analytics respects the business currency locked at tenant setup — no mixed-currency confusion.
Connects to tenant settingsOwner-only visibility
Ingredient cost, gross profit, and margin are hidden from staff and customers by default.
Uses Financials.View permissionRoles and access
Cost data stays with the people who need it
Inventory cost and margin information is visible only to business owners and managers. Staff and customers see order and item data — not financial margins. TheMenuScan's permission model keeps sensitive data where it belongs.
Business owner
Manager
Business outcomes
What improves
- Menu pricing decisions backed by real ingredient cost data
- Loss-making dishes identified before they drain the business
- Modifier add-ons priced to actually cover their inventory cost
- Food cost percentage tracked daily, not just at month-end
- Gross profit visible per order, per period, and across currencies
- No manual spreadsheets or end-of-day reconciliation
See your real margins
Book a demo to see cost analytics on your own menu data
Bring your current menu and we'll show you what your ingredient cost and gross profit look like in TheMenuScan — before you commit to anything.