Updated August 7th, 2023
Time is money, so having the right time-saving systems in place for your restaurant can mean greater profits for your business. For a restaurant to run smoothly, you need to manage your inventory needs, as well as store and share recipes. The right technology can help you do it all (and do more) in less time.
Based on our findings, here are the best technology options to consider for your inventory management needs.
Jump to:
Best all-in-one system
Best embedded accounting feature
Best platform with flexible pricing
Best budget option
Best for recipe management
Best for beverage management
MarginEdge
Best all-in-one system
Who it’s best for
Restaurants who want a premium management solution with high-end inventory data and recipe organization features.
Things to consider
The platform is not ideal for restaurants with under $1 million in annual revenue given the monthly price tag. For those who can afford MarginEdge, there is a amount of effort that goes into the onboarding process, but our experts have seen it save an average of 8 hours per week in back office administrative tasks.
Note: MarginEdge has set pricing per month per location.
Where it excels
The information provided by this platform helps restaurants make better decisions, using real-time costing data and menu insights. What truly sets MarginEdge apart, however, is its invoice capture. It harnesses the expertise of real people with restaurant industry backgrounds to look at the invoices scanned in by operators to convert them into line items of data that match with their ingredients from an inventory and recipe standpoint.
Feature overview
Submit and process invoices within 24-48 hours and sync them directly with your accounting system
Get daily profit insights, real-time budget visualization, and daily P&Ls with 60+ POS system integration options
Streamline your inventory process and analyze your food usage with automatic product price updates, customizable count sheets, and theoretical food usage reporting
Create a centralized solution for recipe management that calculates plate costs, auto-updates ingredient prices, and provides a single shared playbook across multiple locations
Order products from any vendor through the software, and transfer products and recipes between locations
Support
MarginEdge provides unlimited email support and assistance from a dedicated customer service team. They also have a comprehensive Resource Library that includes videos and blog articles to help you better understand the platform.
Pricing
$10/day for each location when paid annually (a 10% discount from the monthly option). No setup fees or contracts to sign.
Restaurant365
Best embedded accounting feature
Who it’s best for
Enterprise-level restaurants, including franchises and multi-unit operators looking to merge their accounting and operational tools to one comprehensive platform.
Things to consider
Although it has the potential to handle lots of tasks and operations all in one place, it remains much more expensive than other options, especially since the add-ons are not included in the base cost. While it can be more rigid to setup (because it’s an accounting system – as opposed to MarginEdge being just a data cube), this same rigidity can be helpful for larger groups to track their costs.
Note: Restaurant 365 is an accounting system first, which means operators must commit to using it as a bookkeeping service.
Where it excels
Restaurant365 is an all-in-one restaurant management software for accounting and store operations, but primarily functions as a standalone accounting system. They promote themselves as the “industry’s only Restaurant Enterprise Management platform” and promise seamless integration with your POS, banks, vendors, and more.
Feature overview
Drive growth with POS integration, AP automation, and real-time reporting
Improve operational profit margins and drive sales with scheduling and inventory insights
Modernize your workforce solution for hiring, payroll, benefits, and labor cost analyses
Gain real-time insights, data visualization, benchmarking, and collaborative reports with easy-to-use data dashboards
Support
Access a variety of customer service functions including chat and phone support. Join a community of experts and peers using their resources, including their blog, dedicated guides, and webinars.
Pricing
Business: Ideal for restaurants with up to 50 locations. Standard packages include accounting and operations features, with the ability to add on workforce and data intelligence features. Both options are billed quarterly.
Essential $435/month, per location
Professional $635/month, per location
Enterprise: Invest in a built-to-fit solution for enterprise organizations that come equipped with accounting, operations, workforce, and data intelligence features. Add-ons are available for enhanced intelligence, billing and reporting, and commissary features.
MarketMan
Best platform with flexible pricing
Who it’s best for
Great for multi-units and chains looking for tiered pricing options. Added bonus for those already using Lightspeed POS who want flexibility with an inventory integration.
Things to consider
While MarketMan offers food cost management tools, its reporting cannot handle labor management. There is also a charge for each invoice processed, which can limit operators with high volume of invoices.
Where it excels
MarketMan offers a complete cloud-based Restaurant Management System to simplify order management, eliminate waste, and jump-start profitability. It also provides operators with the ability to compare products across vendors.
Feature overview
Streamline procurement, delivery, and restaurant accounting with cloud-based inventory management
Automate accounts payable and easily scan invoices
Identify ways to reduce food cost with a complete breakdown for each item on your menu
Make better decisions more quickly with advanced analytics based on sales, expenses, purchasing, and menu reporting
Support
Support is included in the software subscription, giving you access to real, U.S.-based employees via phone, email, and web 24/7.
Pricing
Operator $179/month
Placing and receiving purchase orders
Inventory counting and transfers
Accounts payable management
POS & accounting software Integrations
COGs and purchasing reporting
20 invoice scans per month
Professional $249/month
Includes everything in Operator plan, plus:
Supplier order automation and approvals
Inventory waste tracking
Recipe costing and digital cookbook
Advanced profitability reporting
Actual vs. theoretical reporting
API access
100 invoice scans per month
Ultimate $399/month
Includes everything in Professional plan, plus:
2 included vendor integrations
300 invoice scans per month
Add-ons
$50 for every 50 invoice scans
$25/month per vendor integration
$50/month per location for a commissary module
Note: Monthly plans are charged a one-time $500 setup fee
Avero
Best budget option
Who it’s best for
SMBs that are operating on small budgets and legacy POS systems.
Things to consider
Their starter package is free (yes, free!) and does have some common POS integrations. If you’re looking for real-time data or labor insights, you’ll have to pay for this platform.
Where it excels
Avero helps restaurants on a budget streamline operations for better demand forecasting, simple food cost management, and optimized menu performance.
Feature overview
Monitor real-time performance on any web-enabled device
Use historical data to help predict what will sell and when to control costs
Easily mix and match POS systems without losing functionality or data
Help kitchen staff prep and set up their kitchen line based on recent sales trends
Compare the performance of multiple locations with a single login
Analyze every menu item to gauge popularity and maximize profits
Support
You can submit a request by opening a ticket through their customer service portal on their website, which promises to “resolve your issue as quickly as possible.”
Pricing
|
Tier |
Who it’s best for |
Price |
|---|---|---|
|
Starter |
Best for any size F&B operator looking to get started quickly. Save time on repetitive tasks, improve communication with your team, and get insights that drive sales and profitability. |
$0/month |
|
Essentials |
Best for restaurants (QSR, FSR), bars and smaller groups. Empower your operators to make great decisions. Reveal server, cashier, and bartender performance and labor spend. |
$300/location/year |
|
Professional |
Best for hotels, casinos, nightlife and larger groups. With the right insights, the sky’s the limit. Empower your team to find the next idea to optimize your operations at scale. |
$600/location/year |
Bonus: meez
Best for recipe management
Who it’s best for
Chefs looking to dial-in their recipes and training, or multi-units in need of a solution to scaling and standardizing recipes across locations.
Things to consider
meez is a simple, powerful recipe tool to create/scale/document recipes, but it lacks comprehensive features like POS/accounting or real inventory integrations.
Where it excels
This all-in-one recipe tool allows you to easily create and test new recipes, cost and scale recipes, and register allergen information. Additionally, it can import recipes from other documents or by taking a photo of handwritten recipes.
Feature overview
Quickly cost recipes and determine optimal sale price using 2500+ system ingredients with yield, prep loss, and unit of measurement equivalencies built in
Update costs in real-time by connecting invoices to products
Maintain consistency by turning recipes into digital training materials with photos, videos, and documents
Develop, organize and distribute content from one place
Easily scale recipes by using individual ingredient quantity as the scaling factor
Create a restaurant database the team can access anywhere, and notify staff on recipe changes automatically by sending real-time recipe updates
Standardize your culinary IP by organizing and categorizing recipes
Support
In addition to customer support that can be submitted via a contact form on their website, meez also has a comprehensive Help Center so you can troubleshoot as issues arise.
Pricing
|
Tier |
Who it’s best for |
Price |
|---|---|---|
|
Personal |
Food & beverage pros that want to store their personal recipes, or single-person businesses who don’t need costing features quite yet |
$0/month |
|
Business (Single contributor) |
For single-location businesses who need to manage recipes and basic costing |
$25/month |
|
Business (Premium) |
Multi-contributor businesses who want to automate their costing, see nutrition analysis, or need access to other advanced functionality |
$89/month |
|
Business (Premium Plus) |
Multi-contributor businesses who want continuous support with their costing and nutrition audits, or more in-depth consultative services from meez experts |
$239/month |
Bonus: Provi
Best for beverage management
Who it’s best for
Restaurants looking for an efficient (and free!) way to manage their beverage inventory.
Where it excels
Provi is a single marketplace where you can search through a reliable database of over 750,000 product portfolios to find accurate pricing and brand details and submit orders directly to sales reps.
Feature overview
Search a database of over 750,000 products and 1,400 distributor profiles–complete with robust search filters, pricing, and product details
Manage ordering across multiple distributors and chat with assigned reps directly through the platform
Order beverages online, view your online ordering history, and easily reorder from multiple distributors with the press of a button
Support
Contact the Provi team via the form on their website, or search for what you need in their Help Center, where you can also submit a ticket to their customer service team.
Pricing
Free! Yes, it’s really free to use (and also incredibly efficient).
We’ve developed a process to find the best inventory and recipe management systems for restaurants to keep things running smoothly. Here’s how we did it.
We conducted surveys and gathered feedback from operators and employees across different service models and segments with experience using these systems on a day-to-day basis.
We also gained insights from our staff of experts who have years of experience in the industry and with restaurant technology.
All of this was supplemented with our own research and participation in product overviews and training sessions with vendors on their products and services.
