Beverage inventory terms

19 terms

Actual usage

The quantity of inventory that records indicate left on-hand stock during a defined period, computed from opening count, receipts, transfers, and closing count.

Cost of goods used

The inventory cost attributed to product used during a defined period and scope, the dollar counterpart of actual usage when valued at your cost basis.

Counting cadence

The planned interval and scope for repeating physical inventory counts, weekly full counts, daily high-value cycle counts, or another documented rhythm.

Inventory period

The time between a defined opening inventory cutoff and closing inventory cutoff, the window every purchase, sale, transfer, and adjustment must share for a fair comparison.

Inventory variance

The difference between measured usage and recipe- or transaction-based expected usage for the same period and scope, an investigation queue, not a verdict.

Physical inventory

A point-in-time count or estimate of sellable product physically on hand, sealed units plus partial-container estimates in a consistent unit.

Pour cost percentage

Beverage cost used during a period expressed as a percentage of beverage sales for the same scope, the headline ratio for beverage margin health.

Recipe cost

The sum of ingredient costs for the quantities specified in one menu-item recipe, the build cost behind a cocktail, glass, or shot.

Projected usage

The quantity expected to be used based on recorded sales and defined recipe quantities, what should have left the shelf if every pour matched the build.

Par level

The target quantity of a product to have on hand at a defined point, usually just after delivery, sized for expected usage between orders plus a safety margin.

Shrinkage

Inventory that was purchased but cannot be matched to recorded sales, documented waste, or transfers for a defined period and scope, the residual after known movement.

Sitting inventory

The value or quantity of product on hand that is not yet needed to cover expected usage before the next delivery, cash parked on the shelf above working stock.

Inventory turnover

How many times average inventory is used and replaced during a period, a speedometer for how hard your beverage capital is working.

Depletion

The reduction of on-hand inventory attributed to sales, transfers, waste, or other recorded events during a period, the outbound side of the inventory story.

Perpetual inventory

A running estimate of on-hand quantity maintained by adjusting a starting count for every recorded receipt, sale, transfer, and adjustment between physical counts.

Dead stock

Inventory with no recorded POS sales over a defined trailing window, still carrying purchase cost on the shelf or in the cellar.

Price creep

A series of small supplier unit-price increases on the same SKU that accumulate over deliveries without an explicit renegotiation, margin death by a thousand invoices.

Pour cost band

A target range for pour cost percentage used to flag drinks or categories that need pricing or recipe attention, for example 18-24% on many cocktail programs.

What-if scenario

A deterministic simulation of a price, pour-size, or recipe-cost change that returns weekly, monthly, and annual margin impact at stated volume assumptions.