Daily Ingredient Stock and Sales for a Small Restaurant, Without the Spreadsheet

Here is one ordinary day at a small restaurant, told twice: first with the notebook and spreadsheet most places start with, then with the same work in Ambisius.

Morning prep: what do we actually have?

Before. The cook opens the cooler and counts by eye. The stock sheet on the office laptop says there are 6 kg of chicken, but that number is from Friday, and nobody wrote down the 3 kg used for Saturday's catering order. The owner calls the supplier and guesses.

After. The Ingredients table lists every ingredient once, with its unit and a minimum level. Deliveries go into Stock In and the kitchen's daily usage goes into Used, both linked to the ingredient. Two Rollups add them up, and a Formula in plain words does the rest: "Stock left is total in minus total used. If it's at or below the minimum, the status is Low, otherwise OK." The cook opens a saved view called "Low stock" on their phone and sees the three things to reorder. No counting from memory.

Lunch rush: sales from the floor

Before. Orders go on paper slips. At the end of the day someone types them into the sheet, and that's where it falls apart: the same dish gets typed two ways, a portion count is written as a word, and the price formula points at a row that was deleted last week.

Flip the switch to see the same sales as a spreadsheet and as linked records in Ambisius.

After. Each sale is a record with Line Items for the dishes in it, so one table's order can hold two fried rice, a grilled fish and four iced teas. Staff pick each dish from the Menu table instead of typing it, so the spelling and the price are always the same. A Rollup adds up price × portions for the sale's total. Because changes sync live, the owner sees sales come in on their own phone while they're out buying supplies.

Try it here. Tap a dish to sell one portion and watch the chart and the day's total move.

Closing count: the numbers you trust

Before. The owner stays late adding up slips, checks them against the cash drawer, and copies the total into another tab for the monthly report. The stock sheet doesn't get updated at all, because everyone is tired.

After. The day's sales are already in. A line chart of sales per day shows how this week compares with last week. Pin it, and the "Low stock" view, to the workspace's Dashboards page so they open in one tap. Before going home, the cook records what was used through a short form on the phone, and tomorrow's "Low stock" view is already correct.

What you'll set up

• Menu: each dish with its price and a category (Single Select), such as Rice, Soup or Drinks.
• Sales: one record per order, with the table or "Takeaway", the date and time, the staff member, and Line Items for the dishes. A Rollup gives the total.
• Ingredients: name, unit (kg, litre, pcs), a minimum level, Rollups for total in and total used, and a Formula for stock left and Low/OK.
• Stock In and Used: one record each time stock arrives or is used, linked to the ingredient, with an optional photo of the delivery note.

Sales and ingredient usage are logged separately on purpose. The kitchen counts what it really used, including waste and staff meals, so the stock number matches the cooler.

Staff on their phones

Waiters and kitchen staff join as Members, with no seat cost. On the phone they see cards and forms, not a grid. An Admin can make a short custom form for the floor, with Table required and the date filled in by default, and another for the kitchen's closing count. To keep prices safe, set the Menu table to Restricted and give staff Viewer access: they can pick dishes but can't change what they cost.

Questions people ask

Start from the Restaurant template: orders, menu, tables and staff already linked, ready for your own dishes and prices.