Live costing
Know the true cost of every dish or drink the moment a supplier price changes - no spreadsheets, no manual recalculation.
Your costs change every week. Your menu doesn't know.
Supplier prices move constantly, but most kitchens and bars cost a dish or drink once - in a spreadsheet - and never revisit it. By the time you notice a dish or drink has slipped underwater, it's already been on the menu for a month. Manual recosting is slow, so it doesn't happen. The result is a menu priced on numbers that were true six months ago.
Costing by spreadsheet
- Recalculate by hand every time a price changes
- Find out a dish or drink is unprofitable at month-end
- Numbers out of date the day you save them
- Wastage and yields ignored, so costs read low
Live costing in Chefy
- Every dish or drink re-costs automatically as prices move
- Spot margin drift the day it starts
- Cost, margin and cost % always current
- Wastage and yields built into the true cost
Costs flow supplier → recipe → menu
Live costing connects every price you pay to every dish or drink you sell. Add your products and their prices once, build recipes from them, and turn those recipes into menu items. From then on, the moment a supplier price changes, Chefy cascades it through every recipe and sub-recipe into your menu-item costs - no spreadsheet, no manual recalculation.
- Supplier prices update product costs
- Recipes re-cost instantly, including nesting and wastage
- Menu items show live cost, margin and cost %
Built on recipes that mirror your kitchen or bar
Costs are only as good as the recipes under them, so live costing is built on nested recipes with wastage and yields baked in. A sauce inside a dish or drink inside a set menu costs correctly end to end, and the number reflects what actually ends up on the plate or glass - not just the raw ingredient price.
- Nested sub-recipes to any depth
- Wastage and yields factored into every line
- Change a prep once and every dish or drink re-costs
Targets and alerts that protect margin
Set the food and pour cost % you need and let Chefy watch it for you. When a dish or drink drifts past its target - because a key ingredient jumped - you get alerted while you can still do something about it, instead of finding out in next month's P&L.
- Set a target food and pour cost % per item or venue
- Get alerted when a dish or drink breaches its target
- See which items win or lose money at a glance
What teams see once costing is live
2–5%
Lower food and pour cost
Typical drop once every dish or drink is costed live
~3 hrs
Saved each week
No more rebuilding cost spreadsheets
Real-time
Re-costing
Price changes cascade the moment they land
Who it's for
Live costing earns its keep for everyone who touches the menu - from the pass to the P&L.
Head chefs and bartenders
You cost a dish or drink once, then prices move and the number is wrong by next week.
Every recipe re-costs itself, so the cost in front of you is always real - no rebuilding sheets.
Venue managers
You find out a dish or drink lost money at month-end, when it's too late to act.
Live margins and target alerts flag drift the day it starts, while you can still fix it.
Owners & operators
You're flying blind on which dishes and drinks actually make money.
See cost, margin and cost % on every item at a glance, and price with confidence.
Multi-venue groups
Costs and recipes drift out of sync across sites.
Standard products keep costing consistent everywhere, with per-venue visibility.
Everything live costing does
The detail under the hood - every part of costing stays connected and current.
Automatic cost cascade
A supplier price change flows through every recipe, sub-recipe and menu item instantly.
Wastage & yields built in
Costs reflect what you actually use, not just the raw ingredient price.
Nested sub-recipes
Cost preps inside dishes and drinks inside set menus - the maths rolls all the way up.
Live margin & cost %
See sell price, cost, margin and food and pour cost % on every menu item.
Target cost % alerts
Set the margin you need and get told the moment a dish or drink breaches it.
Per-venue costing
Track cost by venue while standard products keep pricing consistent.
Live costing FAQ
Do I have to recalculate costs manually?
No. When a supplier price changes, every affected recipe and menu item re-costs automatically - there's nothing to rebuild.
Does live costing account for wastage and yields?
Yes. Wastage and yields are built into each recipe, so the cost reflects what you actually use, not just the raw ingredient price.
Does it work across multiple venues?
Yes. Costs are tracked per venue, and standard products keep pricing consistent across all your sites.
See live costing on your menu
Book a 30-minute demo and we'll cost your dishes and drinks live, with your real supplier prices.