FAQs: Can prepped items be tracked and counted in physical inventory?
Question:
Answer:
Yes. Yellow Dog Inventory can track prepped items and include them in Physical Inventory counts. To enable this, complete these three setup steps:
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Create the recipe.
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Create the inventory item.
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Connect the recipe to the item and set the recipe behavior.
A recipe defines the ingredients used to make a prepared item.
For example, a mashed-potatoes recipe might include potatoes, butter, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Building the recipe tells Yellow Dog which ingredients combine to form the finished product.
A recipe alone is not countable.
Create an inventory item that represents the final prepared product (such as “Mashed Potatoes”).
This item is what appears in Physical Inventories and Manual Adjustments.
After creating the recipe and item, link them and choose a recipe behavior.
Yellow Dog supports two behaviors: Production and Batch.
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The item does hold an on-hand quantity.
Each time you produce the item, you record a manual production adjustment:
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Ingredient quantities decrease.
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The finished item’s on-hand increases.
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After production is recorded, only the finished item’s on-hand is affected by future adjustments.
Best for teams that want clear visibility into prepared items and are comfortable with the extra steps.
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Ideal for: Grab-and-go items.
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The item does not hold an on-hand quantity.
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The system tracks only the ingredients’ on-hand values.
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The prepared item’s value is represented through its ingredients.
Best for teams that prefer fewer administrative steps.
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Ideal for: Sauces and component recipes.
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There is no universally “better” behavior. Select the one that fits your operational workflow:
| Use Case | Choose |
|---|---|
| You want direct on-hand tracking of the final prepared product and don’t mind recording production adjustments. | Production |
| You prefer minimal maintenance and are comfortable with tracking only ingredient usage and value. | Batch |
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Batch items do not carry on-hand quantities.
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Counts entered for Batch items are applied to the ingredient items.
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These appear in the Recipes Counted column.
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Production items carry an on-hand quantity.
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Because ingredients were already depleted during production adjustments, Physical Inventory counts apply directly to the finished item.
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