User Manual

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0.
Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison
License
You are issued a license to operate this software on one computer. You shall not decompile the
software, nor shall you distribute the software. This software is protected by International Conventions.
Now that the legal stuff is out of the way, thanks for downloading and installing Food Cost Studio. Food
Cost Studio focuses on one thing, your food cost. It does not do your schedules, inventory etc. . . Food
Cost Studio is highly focused on your costs.
If you are a paying customer, then you can contact us at anytime for full technical support. At this time
we cannot offer support to free users.
Simply read through the manual, it contains everything that you need to get started and be successful
with Food Cost Studio.
Best Regards
Andrew Harrison
FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison
Free Marketing Services

How would you like professional marketing services for your restaurant? What if these money-making
services could be free of charge?
All you need to do is have your supplier visit: http://www.foodcoststudio.com/supplierprogram.php
Your supplier can also receive the professional version of Food Cost Studio for free and then pass it
along to you.
Simply contact your supplier and have them visit the link. Hurry, we are only looking for a few select
suppliers and not every supplier qualifies.
The only way to find out if they qualify: http://www.foodcoststudio.com/supplierprogram.php
Getting Started
Foodcost Studio is simple to use and lightning fast. Its focus is to cost out your recipes, plates and
menus. This manual has been designed so that you the professional, will be up and running quickly.
The Suppliers Tab

Start the program and click the Suppliers tab.
Lets go over the features to see how Food Cost Studio Works.
This is the control for the entire database. You will be using it to scroll through the data, add records
delete records, edit records etc. . . When an item is greyed out. It means it is not accessible.
The Data Grid

Ingredient Name, is the name assigned by your supplier.
Short Name, is what you call the ingredient.
SKU, is supplier assigned, though in some cases you might know the SKU. You would then enter
UnKn###, You must ALWAYS have an SKU, even if it is unknown.
Pack Size, is the size of your item. For example: You might be ordering 6 1 KG boxes of sea salt from
your supplier. You would enter 6 for pack size. It is done this way so that the program can break down
the price into 100 Gram units. . Pack size is always the units that create one of something. Using the
scroll bar located at the bottom of the data grid, scroll over to the right.
Measure, can be KG, Litres, GR, ML, PCS. The software has been designed to work with weight. Food
Cost Studio does not work with volume measures. The volume measures included are so that you can
enter a volume measure, go weigh your item then come back and enter the weight. The PCS measure is
for takeout containers and that will be covered later.
Price, is the price you pay for one order of the item. If the pack size for salt is 6 X 1KG boxes, you
would enter the price for the six boxes. Food Cost Studio will break the price down to 100 GR units.
The Data Grid Continued

Per 100 AP, this is the price you pay BEFORE trimming, spillage etc. . . it is a read only field and
cannot be modified.
Measure. This will usually be Grams. The program does this automatically.
Loss, this is where you enter your loss factor. Every restaurant peels a carrot differently, and every
restaurant has a different loss factor for each ingredient. Even though you might not even think about
this, almost EVERY ingredient has a loss factor and when used properly, you can see your actual costs.
This field is optional, though it is strongly encouraged to figure out your loss factor for each ingredient.
Remember, this can include: peeling, theft, spillage etc. . .
Per 100 EP, This is the price after loss factor.
Edible Portion, This is the actual weight of product that will be used.
Location, This field is optional. You will use this field to specify ingredient locations for reports. You are
strongly encouraged to use this field. Here is how you do so.
Click in the Location Field. A dialogue box will appear.
You simply select your location, and click OK, or you can double click to close the dialogue.
5
Adding Ingredient Locations

If you wish to add a new location. Here is how you do it.
You will note that Ctrl + L will also bring up the dialogue box.
Setting Portion Sizes

Lets say that you have a pizza restaurant and you wish to set a standard size for an ingredient. This is
simple to do with Food Cost Studio. You click the
appear.
speed button and the following dialogue will
You simply enter your standard weight for the selected ingredient and and click OK. You can click
previous and next to scroll through the database. In this case simply enter: 160 GR. 160 Grams will be
our standard weight for the ingredient Instant Yeast. This can be modified as you work.
Using Supplier Portions In Recipes
You can see from the above image that all you need to do for commonly used measures is select X
Portion(s), where is x is a quantity. This makes it really simple and fast to work with ingredients. You
could have one portion of pickles, one portion of fries, one portion of chicken strips etc. . .
Reports In The Supplier Tab

Clicking the
speed button will allow you to print all suppliers in a formatted grid. You can laminate
this and keep it on your wall for quick reference.
In this case we only have one supplier entered, and Mother Nature entered.
Supplier Reports
When you click the
speed button a dialogue box will appear.
Printing The Supplier Report

Click the button to the right of Supplier. The following dialogue box appears.
This is where you select the supplier to print. This report will print all products for the selected supplier.
10

All products printed for selected supplier.
Entering a number into line separation will cause the products to be grouped. If you enter three, the
products will be grouped into three. There are also numerous options for sorting data.
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Nutritional Information
Customers these days are demanding to know the calories in their food choices. Adding this in does
not kill your sales, it increases them. Customers have a right to know what is in their food and by
including this information, you will be building trust with your customers.
Simply enter the information from your supplier. If your info sheets says, per 30 grams enter 30 into
the Per field box. The program will calculate the information for you. The green boxes are read only.
Additional Options In The Suppliers Fields

Hover your cursor over the supplier field and hold down the Ctrl key. You will see the link that
corresponds to the suppliers website. Left click your mouse as you hold the Ctrl key down and your
browser will be launched.
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Additional Options In The Suppliers Fields Continued. . .
The same holds true for email.
Hover your mouse over the field, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard. To launch your default email
client, simply hover, hold down the Ctrl key and left click with your mouse.
Searching The Suppliers Table

You can quickly find any ingredient.
You can search by SKU, Product Name, or Short Name. Simply set your search parameter and then
enter text into the Search Text box. The program will try to find the appropriate match as your enter
your search string.
13
The Recipes Tab

Food Cost Studio allows you to build recipes quickly and efficiently. This section of the user manual will
teach you all about the recipes tab.
You can build formulas for:

Baked Goods
Chocolates
Standard line items: Soups, stews, specials etc. . .
The fields marked in green are read only. Lets go over each field.
Yield: will be the total yield amount by weight. Remember, Food Cost Studio only works when weights
are entered. It does NOT calculate volume measures.
Total Cost: This is the total cost factor of your formula/recipe AND before a loss factor has been
applied.
14
The Recipes Tab Continued. . .

Loss: This is an innovative feature that allows you to zero in on your actual food cost. Most
formulas/recipes are going to have a loss factor. Lets say you have 1 KG of ganache and it is piped
through a piping bag. The Ganache that does not come out of the bag is loss. Another example would
be meat sauce, lets say you have an insert of sauce on your line. The night shift does not scrape the
insert on close. The sauce that is left and that goes down the drain is loss.
Almost everything has a loss factor and when you use this powerful feature, you will zero right in on
actual costs.
New Total Cost: This is your new total cost after loss factor has been applied.
Method Field
The field is where you enter your formula/recipe method. This field has rich editing features.
B: Bold.
I: Italics.
U Under line.
S Strikethrough.
15
Sectional Dividers
This is where you enter your formulas/recipes.

QTY: The weight quantity. It can be 1 for 1 Kilo or Gram, or .5 for half a Kilo, or 500 for 500 grams, or
500 Kilos.
Measure: You have several measures to choose from. Gram, Kilo, Portion, PCS, Your own pre-defined
measure.
Portion: This is used when you want to use a recipe as an ingredient. Food Cost Studio allows you
to create a formula/recipe, and then use it as an ingredient in another formula/recipe. You simply set
the portion size and Food Cost Studio will do the rest.
Your Own Pre-Defined Measure: Food Cost Studio allows you to define your own measures. For
example, you might enter that 1 egg = 60 grams.
To bring up the Measurement Aliasing dialogue. You will also note that Ctrl + M will achieve the same
result.
16
Using The Measurement Aliasing Dialogue
Alias Name: This is any name that you choose. Starter Caesar, 1 egg etc. . .
Alias Amount: Enter the weight of the alias amount.
Alias Measure: This is measure. It can be GR or KG.
Where Does An Aliased Measure Appear?

Your aliased measure will appear as a measure in your formulas/recipes.
How To Add A Section

17

Sometimes, you might have a complex formula/recipe or you might have to break the formula/recipe
down into simple steps. You can add a total of three sections. To do this you click the
button.
This is what happens when you add a section.
You can now add ingredients in.
Recipe Title
You enter your recipe titles into the title field. Please note that when you insert a new recipe, all fields
will zero. This is where you will delete the formula/recipe from. You MUST be in this field to delete the
entire formula/recipe.
Use Bakers %
This is an extremely powerful feauture. It enables you to rescale formulas and recipes within mere
seconds. Lets say you have a catering job and need to rescale a formula for buns. By using Use Bakers
Percent and then clicking the
button, you will bring up the calculator.

18
Bakers Percent Calculator
How To Use The Calculator

The fields marked in green are read only. When you enter the number of portions you require:
Food Cost Studio will calculate the new formula/recipe based on the number of portions. You can also
change Yield, and this will recalculate the formula/recipe based on yield amount.
19
Calculating Based On Quantity

You might only have x-amount of a given ingredient, in this case you can recalculate based on Qty.
Please note the 2000 GR. When you exit the field, it will change to 2 KG and the formula will recalculate.
20
Printing The Recalculated Formula/Recipe

Food Cost Studio, provides you with a mechanism to print your new formula/recipe. Simply click the
print button located in the dialogue box. You can also reset the formula/recipe. The calculator DOES
NOT edit the database. The changes you make in the calculator are not saved. Pressing Close will exit
the calculator.
Previewing Nutritional Information

You will note the set of speed buttons to right. They are located right beside Use Bakers %. These
speed buttons provide mechanisms to preview and print reports, set portion size, and preview
nutritional information.
The
speed button will bring up the nutritional info dialogue box.
Round Values: Use this to round off the values. This allows for my accuracy.
Show Atwater: Atwater is a formula that is used to calculate the correct Calories. The number in red
would be the actual calories. Sometimes, producers miscalculate because they were not provided with
the correct data. Use Atwater for accurate calories.
21
The Nutritional Information Error Message

You must have the nutritional information entered in the suppliers tab, if you do not, you will receive an
error.
Setting Portion Sizes

Setting portion sizes is quite simple. Simply click the
set portion dialogue box.
22
speed button. You will be presented with the
Setting Portion Sizes Continued. . .

Enter the number of portions that the formula/recipe makes in the Portions field. This will
automatically recalculate the Portion Size field. If you enter a new portion size, the Portions field will
recalculate. You can choose from GR or KG. The portion cost field is read only and cannot be modified.
Print Current Recipe

Food Cost Studio allows you print the current formula/recipe. To do this click the
dialogue box will appear.
Recipe: The current Formula/Recipe.

Print Ingredient Costs: You can choose to print your costs.
Print Portioning Information: You can print your portion information.
23
speed button. A
Print All Recipes

When you click the
speed button, you will be presented with a dialogue.
Print Ingredient Costs: This simply prints the costs into the cookbook.
Print Portioning Information: N/A for this dialogue.
24
Adding Take Out Containers To A Recipe

When you use the PCS measure, Food Cost Studio does not include this in nutritional information. The
PCS measure is used for take out containers, cups, forks etc. . .
You create a recipe that holds all of your take out items and then insert it as an ingredient into a plate.
Using Recipes As Ingredients

Food Cost Studio has the ability to use a recipe as an ingredient. This is especially handy when you are
costing out those items that might use several or more formulas/recipes.
25
To Add/Edit Recipe As Ingredient

First, you click the button that is to the left of Caesar Salad Dressing. A dialogue will appear.
You then click Recipes. This will bring up another dialogue.
You then select the recipe that you want to use as an ingredient. Doing this in a new formula/recipe is
the same. You simply click the button and the dialogue box will appear.
26
Building Plates
Building plates is simple and fast. You click the Plates tab.
You can quickly and easily try three different prices for your plates.
Food Cost Studio, will calculate the food cost for each price you enter. This allows you to see various
food costs and from this you can price out your menus, and specials etc. . .
Using Portions
When you are costing out a plate, you can choose X portions of a recipe. Food Cost Studio will calculate
the price. Setting portions for recipes was covered in the previous chapter. When you cost out your
plates this way, it also allows you to do half portions. This will be shown on the next page.
27
Using Half Portions
When you enter .X (X being half, three quarters etc. . .) for portion, Food Cost Studio will calculate the
cost for an X portion. This is a great tool for seniors meals, starter salads etc. . .
Nutritional Information
When you click the
speed button, the nutritional information dialogue appears.
28
Nutritional Information Continued. . .

Round Values: Use this to round off the values. This allows for accuracy.
Show Atwater: Atwater is a formula that is used to calculate the correct Calories. The number in red
would be the actual calories. Sometimes, producers miscalculate because they were not provided with
the correct data. Use Atwater for accurate calories.
Menu Sheets
Menu Sheets, are an intuitive way to instruct your line cooks how to prepare items. Simply print the
sheets off. Laminate and place into a binder. This is a great training tool.
29
Adding A Plate Picture

Click the Plate Pic tab.
You then click browse and select your picture. Be careful of file size. Your image should not be larger
than 735 Width x 465 Height.
30
Build Menu Tab

The build menu tab allows you to build sophisticated menus and cost them out.
Fields in green are read only.
Choosing A Menu Type

Food Cost Studio provides a way for you to choose what type of menu you are creating. Simply click the
down arrow when in the Menu Type field.
You can then select what type of menu you will be creating.
31
Adding A Menu Type

You can add your own menu types into Food Cost Studio.
You can also use Ctrl + T to bring up the menu type dialogue.
Simply enter or edit your menu type.
32
Viewing Menu Information

When you click the
speed button, you will bring up the menu statistics dialogue box. The fields in
this dialogue are read only.
Printing Menu Information

When you click the
speed button, you will bring up the menu reporting dialogue.
33

The menu reporting dialogue offers many options for printing menu reports.
34
The Menu Bar In Food Cost Studio

This section will cover the menu bar in Food Cost Studio.
Database path. Shortcut Ctrl + D This brings up the database path dialogue. You can specify
where your database is located. It can be on a network drive or local.
Ingredient Locations. Ctrl + L As previously shown, this is where you enter your ingredient
locations.
Measurement Aliasing. Ctrl + M The dialogue for the aliasing measurements.
Menu Type Ctrl + T Enter your menu types into this dialogue.
Compact Database - You do this once per week under normal operation.
Repair Database. This should be done monthly under normal operation.
35

Exit Program. Ctrl + Q This is how you exit Food Cost Studio.
Registering Food Cost Studio

When you are ready to purchase a user license you click Help|About. Ctrl + P.
36
How To Enter Data Into Food Cost Studio

This section will explain how to get the most out of Food Cost Studio. There are several things to keep
in mind as you enter data.
A When you are in a field that A denotes, you can delete entire records and insert new master records
for the corresponding item. For example, if you were to click Delete, the entire Salad Menu would be
removed from the database. If you were to click + Insert, a new blank record would be inserted.
B This is the data grid. When you click + Insert, a new record for the data grid will be inserted. When
you click Delete, the corresponding line item is removed. You can also use your down arrow key to
insert into a data grid.
C Fields marked in green are always read only. Read only means they cannot be edited by the user.
37

D This is the database navigation bar. You will notice that as you work, certain items become greyed
out. This all depends on what state the database is in and you the user need not be concerned with
this.
E The post button is used to post data into a record. Food Cost Studio does this automatically for you.
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FoodCost Studio Version 3.0.

Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Free Marketing Services

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

The Suppliers Tab

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

The Data Grid

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

The Data Grid Continued

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Adding Ingredient Locations

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Setting Portion Sizes

speed button and the following dialogue will

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Using Supplier Portions In Recipes

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Reports In The Supplier Tab

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

speed button a dialogue box will appear.

Printing The Supplier Report

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Additional Options In The Suppliers Fields

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Additional Options In The Suppliers Fields Continued. . .

The same holds true for email.

Searching The Suppliers Table

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

The Recipes Tab

You can build formulas for:

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

The Recipes Tab Continued. . .

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

This is where you enter your formulas/recipes.

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Using The Measurement Aliasing Dialogue

Where Does An Aliased Measure Appear?

How To Add A Section

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

This is what happens when you add a section.

You can now add ingredients in.

button, you will bring up the calculator.

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Bakers Percent Calculator

How To Use The Calculator

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Calculating Based On Quantity

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Printing The Recalculated Formula/Recipe

Previewing Nutritional Information

speed button will bring up the nutritional info dialogue box.

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

The Nutritional Information Error Message

Setting Portion Sizes

speed button. You will be presented with the

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Setting Portion Sizes Continued. . .

Print Current Recipe

Recipe: The current Formula/Recipe.

FoodCost Studio Version 3.0. Copyright 2013, Andrew Harrison

Print All Recipes

speed button, you will be presented with a dialogue.