How to build a recipe and calculate your food cost

In InnoBooks, every dish is an item you can attach a recipe to: add its ingredients (other items) with their quantities, and the Recipe tab computes the total cost and the food cost percentage for you (food cost = ingredient cost ÷ selling price). No spreadsheet needed: each ingredient’s cost comes from its purchase price, and sub-recipes are pulled in automatically.

Recipe tab of an item in InnoBooks — The Recipe tab: ingredients, quantities, total cost and food cost percentage.

What you’ll need

The restaurant add-on active on your company.
Permission to edit recipes (items.recipe.update) — without it, the Recipe tab does not appear.
Your ingredients already created as items in Items & Services, ideally with a Last buying price so their cost shows up.
A sale price on the dish (Information tab) to get the Food cost as a percentage.

Steps

Open the dish’s Recipe tab
Go to Items & Services, open the dish you want to build, then click the Recipe tab. This tab only appears with the restaurant add-on and the required permission, and it is hidden while cloning an item (the copy gets its own recipe once saved).
Add an ingredient and its quantity
Click Add ingredient. In the Ingredient column, search for and select another item. The Unit and Unit cost fill in automatically from the chosen item. Enter the Quantity (decimals are allowed, e.g. 0.25): the Cost column then shows quantity × unit cost. Add a Note if needed. Repeat for each ingredient — the same item can only be added once, and the dish itself never appears in the list.
Reuse a sub-recipe (optional)
If the ingredient you pick has its own recipe (for example a house-made sauce or prep base), it is tagged Sub-recipe and its Unit cost comes from that recipe’s total cost rather than a purchase price. Loops are blocked: if the ingredient already uses this dish, InnoBooks shows This ingredient already uses this dish in its own recipe. and rejects the selection.
Spot missing costs
If an ingredient has no known cost (no purchase price on the item), an amber banner appears: Some ingredients have no known cost; the total is incomplete. That line’s cost stays blank (—). To complete the calculation, open the ingredient item and give it a buying price.
Read the total cost and the food cost %
At the bottom of the tab, Total recipe cost (Estimated) sums every line. On the right, Food cost (Estimated) shows the percentage: ingredient cost ÷ dish sale price × 100. The figure changes colour against your target (green, amber or red). Without a sale price the percentage is hidden and the message Set a sale price to see the food cost %. appears.
Save
The recipe is saved together with the item: click the save button in the dialog footer. In create mode, the item is saved first and the recipe follows automatically. Reopen the item any time to adjust its ingredients.

Tips & edge cases

The Unit cost can’t be edited inside the recipe: it comes from the ingredient item’s Last buying price (or the total cost of its recipe for a sub-recipe). To fix a cost, update the item’s buying price, not the recipe.
Food cost colour targets: green under 30%, amber 30–40%, red above 40% — the usual restaurant bands. The percentage is rounded to one decimal.
Quantities accept decimals: perfect for 0.25 kg, 0.05 L or a partial portion.
Packaging is handled on the same page, under Packaging, but stays Not included in the food cost %: there you see a packaging cost per serving, by service type (Counter, Dine-in, Delivery, Platform).

Frequently asked questions

How is the food cost percentage calculated?

Total ingredient cost ÷ dish sale price × 100, rounded to one decimal. The sale price is the item’s price (Information tab). Without a positive sale price, the percentage does not display.

Can I use one recipe inside another recipe?

Yes. If the ingredient item already has its own recipe, it becomes a Sub-recipe and its cost comes from that recipe’s total cost. Loops (a dish that uses itself, directly or indirectly) are blocked automatically.

Where is my margin shown?

The tab shows the Food cost as a percentage, not a margin amount. Your gross material margin is roughly 100% minus that percentage. Packaging costs are shown separately and are not part of the food cost.