Inventory management FAQs in Poster

• I don't have an account yet. Where can I see how the section works?

Check out the management console in the demo account.
Login: try-demo
Password: demo

Or register your own account. The first two weeks are free — use this time to explore the main features and clear any test data if needed.

• What determines cost price?

The cost price of ingredients and products is calculated based on supplies using the weighted average cost method:

Total value of items in storage / Total quantity of items in storage.

• How do I change the cost price?

Poster calculates cost price automatically based on supplies and current stock balances.

To correct an incorrect cost price, edit the supplies within the current inventory period. The cost price will update with each new supply entry using the weighted average method.

📖  Read more about the change in cost of products sold in the article.

• How do I remove deleted supplies?

Deleted supplies remain in the management console and are highlighted in red. We keep them for safety so you always have a record.

To view only active supplies, use the filter. Select the Deleted filter and check No.

The same filter is available in the Suppliers and Stock deductions tabs.

• How do I add a case of drinks without entering each bottle separately?

Create a order unit in Inventory → Order units to speed up adding bulk supplies. For example, when receiving water in packs of 12, enter the number of packs and Poster will calculate the bottles automatically.

When adding a supply, enter the number of cases in the Quantity field and the case price in the Price per unit field. Save the supply and Poster will calculate the cost per bottle automatically.

• How do I set up low stock email notifications?

Set a stock limit above 0 in Inventory → Stock. Then enable Notify when selling in Settings → General to receive an email before an item runs out. This gives you time to restock before it's needed.

📖 Learn more about setting up low stock notifications.

• How do I check stock balances at the POS?

Use the Stock notifications integration — it lets you view stock balances directly at the POS. You can also enable notifications at the POS when an item is out of stock, or automatically hide it from sale.

Free to try for the first 7 days.

• Can waiters run an inventory check without access to the management console?

Yes. Once you open an inventory check in the management console, it becomes available at the Poster POS. Waiters can count stock and fill in theinventory sheet, or complete the inventory check in the app on a tablet or smartphone.

• How do I account for ingredients used in dish preparation during an inventory check?

If you have finished dishes or preparations at the time of the inventory check, enter their quantities in the Dishes and preparations tab.

Fill in the Actual balance column so Poster can convert the preparations and finished dishes back into ingredients and display their quantities in the Actual balance in dishes and preparations column.

• How does the inventory result affect reporting?

The inventory result affects your location's margin. The cost price of surpluses and shortages is calculated using theweighted average method. After completing an inventory check, the result appears in P&L under Cost of goods:

• The total shortages across all completed inventory checks for the period appear as Inventory shortages.

• The total surpluses appear as Inventory surpluses.

• How do I include manual stock deductions in P&L expenses?

By default, all manual stock deductions appear in P&L under Cost of goods.

To record them as expenses instead, edit the deduction reason. Go to Inventory → Stock deductions → Reasons and set the P&L block to Expenses. Use this to track spoilage costs or ingredient prep costs in the correct section of the report.

• Do I need to use manufacture?

Use manufacture in Poster if you prepare dishes in advance rather than to order.

Manufactured dishes appear in Inventory → Stock in units or kilograms. This helps you track the actual quantity of preparations like dough, sauces, or finished products. Manufacture is the right fit if you need to monitor finished product balances and move them between storage locations.

We examined examples of sauce and cake manufacturing.

• Do I need to use processing?

Use Butcheries to break one ingredient down into several others. For example, this feature lets you process a whole fish into portions, break down a carcass into fillets and soup cuts, turn day-old bread into croutons, or convert powdered sugar into syrup.

Processed items, their quantities, and cost prices appear in Inventory → Ingredients movement report. Butcheries is the right fit if you purchase an ingredient and break it down into others in your own kitchen.

• What's the difference between butcheries and manufacture?

Butcheries breaks one ingredient down into several others. Use it when, for example, you buy a whole chicken and use different parts in different dishes — process "Whole chicken" into breast, bones, thighs, wings, and drumsticks.

Manufacture, on the other hand, combines individual ingredients into a single entity. For example, if you manufacture bread, you track the quantity of finished bread in storage rather than the individual ingredients — flour, sourdough, and others.

• What's the difference between a preparations and manufacture?

Preparations are prepared components used in dishes, such as sauces or dough.

Manufacture is a feature that converts individual ingredient stock into a single recipe or preparations entity.

If you make prep items and use them the same day, you don't need manufacture. A preparations is enough. Without manufacture, you can always check the balances of the individual ingredients that make up the preparations.

• How do I write off an entire recipe?

If a product in storage has expired or needs to be written off for another reason, create a manual stock deduction in Inventory → Stock deductions. Select the recipe name from the list — all ingredients in its composition will be deducted.

• How do I reset stock balances to zero?

To reset all stock balances and start inventory tracking from scratch, run an inventory check and enter "0" in the Actual balance column for every item.

Then add a supply in Inventory → Supplies to bring in the current stock. If the items in the supply have already been paid for previously, don't select an account in the Payment field.

To correct balances for specific items only, run a partial inventory check.

• Are dish modifiers deducted in a manual stock deduction?

No. Modifiers are not deducted when you manually write off a recipe. Deduct the required modifiers separately.

• What's the difference between Inventory → Stock and Inventory → Ingredents movement report?

Inventory → Stock shows the current stock levels of ingredients and products at this moment.

Inventory → Ingredents movement  report lets you check balances for any time period and view incoming supplies, expenses, and average cost prices.

• What happens if I delete a storage location?

Deleting a storage location permanently removes all balances and supplies associated with it. The following tabs will no longer have any data for that storage:

• Inventory → Stock
• Inventory → Supplies
• Inventory → Ingredents movement report

Deleting a storage location does not affect receipts, statistics, or your location's revenue.

• How do I check the total stock value at sale prices?

1. In the management console, go to Inventory → Stock.
2. Click Columns in the top right corner.
3. Check Amount at selling prices.

A new column will appear showing the stock value at sale price for each item. This value is only shown for items that have a sale price set — products and manufactured dishes with a sale price. Manufactured preparations will show 0 since they don't have a sale price.