Restaurant Stock Take Template: Free Sheet, Process and Variance Calculation

A restaurant stock take is a physical count of everything you hold, valued at cost, so that you can work out what you actually used: opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock. Compare that with what your sales say you should have used and the difference is your variance. This guide gives you the step-by-step process, a copyable stocktake sheet and a variance sheet as markdown tables, plus the rules for valuing stock in the UK.

Why a stock take matters

You cannot know your true food cost percentage or GP without a closing stock figure. Without one, you are dividing your purchases by your sales, and any stock you built up or ran down is counted as cost or profit by mistake. A stock take also shows:

• Which items are drifting away from what recipes say they should use (over-portioning, waste, theft, mistakes).
• Dead stock you have over-bought and that is tying up cash.
• Where prices have crept up, because you value stock at current cost.

How often to count

There is no legal requirement for a set frequency. A pattern that works for most restaurants:

• Weekly: full count of high-value items (meat, fish, spirits, wine, cheese) and a quick count of everything perishable.
• Monthly: full count of every storage area, tied to your month-end accounts.
• Daily: a 5-minute spot check of your most expensive and highest-risk lines, such as steaks, spirits and shellfish.

Count at the same time each period, ideally after close or before opening, so no stock moves while you count.

Step-by-step stock take process

1. Set a cut-off. Decide the exact time of the count. Record all deliveries, transfers between sites and waste up to that time, and none after it.
2. Use two people. One counts, one records. Neither should be the only person who orders that stock.
3. Count blind. Do not show the counter the expected figure.
4. Work by storage area. Count each fridge, freezer, dry store, bar and cellar in the order the shelves are laid out, and list items in that same order on the sheet. A sheet that matches the shelf order prevents misses.
5. Count in your standard unit. Pick one unit per item (bottle, kg, portion, case) and stick to it. Record opened packs and part bottles as fractions: weigh, or estimate to the nearest tenth for spirits and wine.
6. Count prep as well as raw. Stocks, sauces, marinades and portioned proteins are stock. Count them in the unit you cost them in, or exclude them consistently every time.
7. Remove what cannot be sold. Out-of-date, damaged or recalled items are waste. Log them separately.
8. Value the stock. Multiply each count by the unit cost excluding VAT (see below).
9. Recount the big variances. Any line with a difference over a threshold you choose (for example £20 or 5%) should be counted again before you accept it.
10. Update your records. Reset your opening stock to the counted figure and record the cause of any large variances.

Stocktake sheet template (copy this)

Download the stocktake sheet as a CSV file. It calculates usage and closing value for each line in Excel or Google Sheets.

Copy the table into a spreadsheet or document. Fill in the opening quantity from last count, purchases from invoices, and the closing quantity from this count. "Used" and "Closing value" are calculated.

Closing value = closing qty × unit cost. Total closing stock = the sum of the closing value column. Subtotal by category (food, drink, consumables) so you can calculate food and drink margins separately.

A filled-in example

This is illustrative. All figures are invented and exclude VAT.

Variance: actual use against theoretical use

The count tells you what you used. Your POS tells you what you sold, and the recipes tell you what that should have used. The difference is variance.

Variance (quantity) = actual used − theoretical used. Variance (£) = variance quantity × unit cost. Variance % = variance quantity ÷ theoretical used × 100.

Use this second sheet:

Using the example above:

Twelve missing steaks are worth £81.60 in one period. The question is why: over-portioning, a comp not rung through, a wrong recipe, a sale rung as a different item, a supplier short delivery, or theft. A positive variance means you used more than sales explain. A negative one suggests the count or the recipe is wrong, or items were rung as the wrong product. Investigate both.

To get your period cost of goods sold: opening stock value + purchases − closing stock value. Divide that by net sales for the period to get actual food cost or wet cost.

How to value stock

• Use cost excluding VAT if you are VAT-registered and reclaim input VAT, because VAT is not a cost to you.
• Use your latest invoice price per unit as the simplest practical method. Work out the unit price from the pack price, for example a £48 case of 6 × 75cl bottles is £8.00 per bottle.
• Weighted average cost smooths price swings if prices change a lot during the month.
• FIFO (first in, first out) assumes the oldest stock is used first, which suits perishables. HMRC's Business Income Manual (BIM33100) says LIFO is not an allowable method for valuing stock for tax purposes.
• Lower of cost and net realisable value. For accounts and tax, stock is valued at the lower of what you paid and what you could sell it for. Write down or remove spoiled, expired or unsellable items.

Whichever method you choose, apply it the same way every time, or your costs will move for reasons that have nothing to do with the kitchen. Ask your accountant which method they use for your year-end accounts.

Tracking waste and reacting to price changes

Add a simple waste log beside the stock sheet with columns for date, item, quantity, reason (spoilage, prep error, returned dish, expired, staff meal, comp) and who recorded it. Review it weekly alongside your variance figures. Waste that is logged is explained variance. Waste that is not logged looks like theft.

When a supplier price changes, update unit cost on your sheet and recost the recipes that use it. Otherwise, your closing stock value and your theoretical cost will both be wrong.

TablePort's stock module (£149 per location per month ex VAT) handles the counts, recipe costing and supplier prices in one place, with par levels that draft purchase orders when stock runs low, and shows variance against sales so you do not need to build the second sheet by hand. If you have fewer than a couple of hundred lines, the template above in a spreadsheet will do the job. Once your GP targets are set, the stock take is how you check you are hitting them.

This guide is general information, not tax or accounting advice; ask your accountant which stock valuation method suits your business.