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The culinary business, combining restaurant and catering operations, presents a fascinating challenge for enterprise systems due to its high-transaction volume, perishable inventory, and the need to cost complex “recipes” instead of simple items. Here is a design for the standard modules of a culinary business, followed by a dedicated design for a COGS calculation module.

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Core Business Flow

  • Restaurant: Customer Order (POS) -> Kitchen Production (KDS) -> Service -> Payment
  • Catering: Client Inquiry -> Event Proposal -> Confirmed Booking (BEO) -> Bulk Procurement & Prep -> Event Execution -> Invoicing
  • Backend (Universal): Recipe Costing -> Menu Engineering -> Inventory & Purchasing -> Financials

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Standard Modules for a Culinary Business

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1. Module: Recipe & Menu Management

Purpose: This is the Bill of Materials (BOM) for the culinary world and the absolute foundation of cost control. It breaks down every menu item into its precise ingredients, calculates its cost, and manages menu offerings. Key Forms / Processes:
  • Recipe Card: Defines a single dish or component.
  • Menu Engineering: Analyzing the profitability and popularity of menu items.

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Form Layout: Recipe Card

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                RECIPE CARD                               |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| -- General Information --                                                |
|   Recipe Name: Classic Beef Burger      Final Menu Item: [X] Yes [ ] No  |
|   Recipe Code: DISH-BURG-01             Category: [ Main Courses ]         |
|   Portion Size: 1 Burger                Menu Price: $15.99                 |
|                                                                          |
| -- Ingredients (Sub-Recipes & Raw Materials) --                          |
|   Item Code      | Description          | Qty   | UOM   | Unit Cost | Line Cost |
|   ---------------|----------------------|-------|-------|-----------|-----------|
|   SUB-PATTY-01   | 6oz Beef Patty       | 1     | Each  | $2.10     | $2.10     |
|   ING-BUN-BRIOCHE| Brioche Bun          | 1     | Each  | $0.55     | $0.55     |
|   ING-CHE-CHEDD  | Cheddar Cheese Slice | 1     | Slice | $0.20     | $0.20     |
|   ING-VEG-LETTUCE| Lettuce Leaf         | 20    | grams | $10/kg    | $0.20     |
|   ING-VEG-TOMATO | Tomato Slice         | 25    | grams | $8/kg     | $0.20     |
|   SUB-SAUCE-SPEC | Special Burger Sauce | 30    | ml    | $15/L     | $0.45     |
|                                                                          |
| -- Preparation Instructions --                                           |
|   1. Toast the brioche bun.                                              |
|   2. Grill beef patty to medium, melting cheese on top in the last minute.|
|   3. ...                                                                 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                  THEORETICAL COST: | $3.70                |
|                                  FOOD COST %:      | 23.1% (=3.70/15.99)  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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2. Module: Inventory Management

Purpose: To track all food and beverage stock in real-time. This is critical due to perishability. The module must handle multiple units of measure (e.g., buying potatoes by the 50kg bag, but using them in recipes by the gram). Key Forms / Processes:
  • Item Master: Master record for each ingredient.
  • Stock Count Sheet: For performing physical inventory counts.
  • Wastage Log: To record spoiled, dropped, or expired items.

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Form Layout: Inventory Item Master

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          INVENTORY ITEM MASTER                           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Item Code: ING-VEG-LETTUCE          Description: Romaine Lettuce       |
|   Category: [ Produce ]               Status: [ Active ]                 |
|                                                                          |
| -- Units of Measure (UOM) --                                             |
|   Storage/Recipe UOM: Grams (g)                                          |
|   Purchase UOM: Kilograms (kg)      Conversion: 1 kg = 1000 g            |
|   Purchase UOM 2: Case (cs)           Conversion: 1 cs = 10 kg           |
|                                                                          |
| -- Supplier & Cost --                                                    |
|   Primary Supplier: [ Fresh Produce Co. ] Last Cost: $10.00 / kg         |
|                                                                          |
| -- On Hand Levels --                                                     |
|   Current Qty On Hand: 5,600 g (5.6 kg)                                  |
|   Par Level (Reorder Point): 2,000 g                                     |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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3. Module: Point of Sale (POS) - For Restaurant Operations

Purpose: The front-of-house system for taking customer orders, processing payments, and managing tables. It’s the primary source of sales data. This is a user interface, not a traditional form. When an order is placed:
  1. It sends the order to the Kitchen Display System (KDS).
  2. It creates a sales transaction record in the background.
  3. Upon payment, it finalizes the transaction, which is then sent to the General Ledger.

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4. Module: Event & Catering Management

Purpose: To manage the entire lifecycle of a catering event, from initial quote to final invoice. This acts as the CRM and Project Management hub for the catering side of the business. Key Forms / Processes:
  • Banquet Event Order (BEO): The master document for a confirmed catering event.
  • Catering Invoice: The final bill sent to the client.

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Form Layout: Banquet Event Order (BEO)

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                         BANQUET EVENT ORDER (BEO)                          |
|                                                                          |
| BEO #: BEO-23-45                            Event: Annual Gala 2023        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| -- Client & Event Details --                                             |
|   Client: Acme Corporation                Contact: John Doe                |
|   Event Date: Nov 25, 2023                Guest Count (Guaranteed): 200    |
|   Venue: Grand Ballroom                   Time: 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM         |
|                                                                          |
| -- Menu Selection (Links to Recipe Module) --                            |
|   - Passed Appetizers: Mini Quiche (250 units), Bruschetta (250 units)   |
|   - Main Course (Plated): Choice of Beef Tenderloin (120) or Salmon (80) |
|   - Beverage Package: Premium Open Bar                                   |
|                                                                          |
| -- Staffing & Rentals --                                                 |
|   - Chefs: 3, Servers: 10, Bartenders: 2                                 |
|   - Rentals: Linen Tablecloths (20), China Settings (200)                |
|                                                                          |
| -- Financial Summary --                                                  |
|   Food Subtotal: $15,000      Beverage Subtotal: $8,000                  |
|   Staffing: $3,500            Service Charge (20%): $5,300               |
|   TOTAL ESTIMATE: $31,800     Deposit Received: $15,900                  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
(Purchasing, AP, AR, and GL modules are also required and function as previously described.)

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Module Design: Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Calculation

Purpose: This is one of the most critical modules for a culinary business. Its purpose is to calculate the actual cost of ingredients consumed to generate revenue. It provides the data needed to analyze profitability, identify waste, and make pricing decisions. Core Logic: The module works by comparing Theoretical COGS (what you should have used based on sales and recipes) with Actual COGS (what you actually used based on inventory counts). The difference is Variance, which highlights problems like waste, theft, or incorrect portioning.

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Process Flow for COGS Calculation (Typically run weekly or monthly)

  1. Data Capture (Automated):
  • The module continuously pulls sales data from the POS and Catering modules. It knows exactly how many “Classic Beef Burgers” were sold.
  • It pulls purchase data from the Procurement module.
  • It knows the cost of each ingredient from the Inventory module and the composition of each dish from the Recipe module.
  1. Calculate Theoretical COGS:
  • The system multiplies the number of units sold for each menu item by the theoretical cost on its Recipe Card.
  • Example: 150 Burgers Sold * $3.70/burger = $555 in theoretical COGS for that item.
  • It sums this up for all items sold during the period.
  1. Physical Inventory Count (Manual Task, System-Assisted):
  • A manager uses a tablet or count sheet generated by the system to perform a physical count of all inventory.
  • They enter the final counts into the system to establish the Ending Inventory value.
  1. Calculate Actual COGS:
  • The system uses the classic accounting formula: Actual COGS = Beginning Inventory + Purchases - Ending Inventory
  • Beginning Inventory is simply last period’s Ending Inventory.
  1. Generate Variance Report:
  • The system presents the final, actionable report comparing the two COGS figures.

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Report Layout: COGS & Variance Analysis Report

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       COGS & VARIANCE ANALYSIS REPORT                      |
|                       For Period: Oct 01, 2023 - Oct 31, 2023              |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Category: Food                                                           |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| -- Actual COGS Calculation --        | -- Theoretical COGS Calculation --|
|   Beginning Inventory:   $15,000.00  |   Total Food Sales:    $100,000.00  |
|   + Purchases:            $25,000.00  |                                   |
|   - Ending Inventory:    ($12,000.00) |   Theoretical Food Cost %: 27.5%    |
|   ---------------------------------- |   (From all recipe cards)         |
|   ACTUAL COGS:            $28,000.00  |   THEORETICAL COGS:    $27,500.00  |
|                                      |   (= $100k * 27.5%)               |
|   ACTUAL Food Cost %: 28.0%          |                                   |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| -- Variance Analysis --                                                  |
|   Variance ($):   $500.00  (Actual - Theoretical)                         |
|   Variance (%):    0.5%                                                   |
|                                                                          |
| -- Top Variance Items (Ingredient Level) --                              |
|   Item               | Theoretical Usage | Actual Usage | Variance ($)   |
|   -------------------|-------------------|--------------|----------------|
|   Beef, Ground 80/20 | 120 kg            | 125 kg       | $75.00         |
|   Avocados           | 50 kg             | 58 kg        | $96.00         |
|   ...                | ...               | ...          | ...            |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Interpretation: The total variance of $500 (0.5%) indicates a slight     |
| over-consumption. The item-level detail suggests potential issues with   |
| over-portioning of beef patties and spoilage/waste of avocados.          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+