Food-Cost Leakage Checklist for Owner-Operators

Use this checklist every week. If you cannot answer a line item quickly, that is where margin is leaking. - Are top-selling recipes updated with current supplier prices? - Is portion size standardized across shifts? - Are substitutions tracked and costed? - Do you count critical SKUs weekly? - Do you measure theoretical vs actual variance by location? - Are stockouts forcing emergency purchases? - Are invoice prices checked against prior 4-week averages? - Do you track frequent overpricing by SKU? - Is ordering centralized or random by shift manager? - Do managers review cost metrics every week? - Do you close variance actions in under 7 days? - Is someone clearly accountable for COGS performance? If you answer "no" to 3+ items, move to a structured cost-control workflow this month. Start with the [restaurant food cost software hub](/en/restaurant-food-cost-software/) and compare platforms: [Toast vs Tavola](/en/toast-vs-tavola/), [Gstock alternatives (includes MarketMan)](/en/gstock-alternatives/), and [MarginEdge vs Tavola](/en/marginedge-vs-tavola/).