Why Track Your COGS?
Simply put, your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is how much you spend on ingredients and products to make what you sell. It is one of the most critical metrics for your business profitability.
Think of it this way: if you sell a coffee for £3 but the milk, beans, and cup cost £1.50, then your COGS is £1.50. The lower your COGS, the more profit you keep.
Tracking your COGS weekly helps you:
Spot waste before it kills your profits
Price items correctly so you're not losing money on every sale
Order smarter to avoid over-buying or running out
Catch problems early like portion sizes creeping up or ingredients going missing
This dashboard shows you exactly where your money is going, so you can fix problems fast and keep more profit in your pocket.
Dashboard Overview
Controls:
Date Selector: Choose your review period
Location Selector: Choose your site (note, you cannot view All Sites in the Weekly COGs view)
Report Switcher: Toggle between different COGS reports at the top
Warning Alerts ⚠️ -Red flags indicate data issues (like large differences in stocktakes) that may be affecting your calculations
Key Metrics Explained
Weekly COGS Summary
Total Net Sales: Your revenue for the period (toggle to view gross)
Theoretical COGS: What you should have spent based on sales and recipes
Actual COGS: What you actually spent, calculated as:
✏️ (Opening Stock + Purchases + Transfers In - Transfers Out - Waste) - Closing Stock = Actual Usage
Important - A large gap between Theoretical and Actual COGS often indicates waste issues, incorrect recipes, or POS Matching problems.
If you're unable to identify the issue yourself, please get in touch with our support team via LiveChat who will be able to assist you.
Category & Product Analysis
Use the bottom tables to drill down into your COGS performance:
Category COGS Breakdown (Class Level)
View performance by product class (Beverage, Food, Retail, Other) including:
Opening/closing stock values
Purchases and transfers
COGS percentage and gross margins
Category sales
Important: We do not calculate COGS for products in the 'Other' class such as these are items which have no respective sale. For example, cleaning products.
COGS Variance (Product Level)
Identify which specific products are over or under-performing:
Understanding Variances:
Negative variance (-): Using less than expected (check stocktakes)
Positive variance : Using more than expected (check for waste, spillage, over-portioning)
Key Fields:
Theoretical Usage: Expected usage based on sales (click to see breakdown)
Actual Usage: Real usage based on stocktakes and purchases
Variance: The % difference between theoretical and actual usage.
Variance Cost: Financial impact of the difference
Troubleshooting Variances
When you spot unusual variances, check these in order:
Recipe Accuracy: Click "Theoretical Usage" to verify correct quantities and units
Stocktake Accuracy: Were opening/closing counts correct?
Purchase Records: Are all deliveries recorded with correct dates?
Waste & Transfers: Are all movements properly logged?
Excluding Non-Food Items
Clean up your COGS calculations by excluding items that don't have theoretical usage (like cleaning products):
For Products:
Go to Supplier & Products > Suppliers > Products
Click Edit on the product
Tick Exclude from COGS calculations
For Recipes:
Go to Recipes > Edit
Tick Exclude from COGS calculations
These items will no longer appear in your category breakdown or your variance report.
Important Notes
All Sites View: Only available for Line Level COGS and Flash Reports (not Weekly COGS)
Price Changes: Historical stocktakes won't change, but theoretical costs will update retroactively
Data Issues: If numbers don't look right after checking the above, contact support via LiveChat
Detailed Field Explainers
Category Breakdown Fields
Field Name | Explainer |
Opening Stocktake | Total starting stock value for the category. |
Purchases & Transfers | Total new stock value added/transferred during the week. |
Closing Stocktake | Total remaining stock value at the end of the time period |
COGS (£) | Total calculated cost of goods sold for the class |
COGS (%) | Total cost of goods sold as a percentage of net sales for the category |
Gross Margin (%) | The profitability of the category |
Sales | The total revenue generated by the category |
COGs Variance Fields
Field Name | Explainer |
Product Name | The Line Level Item, such as "2L Whole Milk" or "Roasted Coffee Beans." |
Product Class | Categories - ie. Beverage, Food, Retail, and Other. |
Pack Type | The type of packaging the product is ordered by (ie. bottle, carton, case) |
Theoretical Usage | The amount of the product that should have been used based on your sales (dictated by the linked recipe/product created in Edify). |
Theoretical Cost | The expected cost of the theoretical usage |
Waste | The amount of the product that was discarded or spoiled during the period. |
Transfers | Tracks any stock that was moved to another site. Find out more here about how transfers are reported in COGs based on sent date. |
Purchases | The amount of the product ordered and received during the reporting period. |
Inventory Start | The quantity of the product in stock at the beginning of the period. |
Inventory End | The quantity of the product remaining in stock at the end of the period. |
Inventory Change (%): | The difference between your last two stocktakes. |
Actual Usage | The amount of the product that was actually used during the period, based on what you purchased, counted in your stocktakes and wasted. |
Actual Cost | The real cost incurred based on the actual usage. |
Variance: | The difference between theoretical and actual usage. A positive variance (+%) indicates overuse (possibly due to unlogged waste, spillages, or over-portioning). A negative variance (-%) suggests underuse (potentia |
Variance Cost (£) | This outlines the financial impact of the variance, showing how much extra the overuse or underuse has cost you. |
There's something wrong with the numbers on my report
COGS reports are generated using information from your Stocktakes, Recipes/Products and Sales Data. If you notice something doesn't look quite right with your report, make sure to check the following three things first:
Are my last Stocktakes accurate?
Have any items been counted incorrectly?
Is the product/recipe in Edify matched up to the item on your POS correctly?
Check your POS Dashboard and ensure the correct item and unit of measure have been linked
Are your Recipes set correctly in Edify?
Check the recipe ingredients and costs - has there been a mistake made?
If you've checked these and still can't identify the reason for the discrepancy, please reach out to our support team via LiveChat who will be able to assist.
Weekly COGS FAQs
Can you view 'all sites' for the Weekly COGS report?
No, currently it is not possible to select 'all sites' when viewing this report. It is only possible to select "All Sites" for the Line Level COGS and Flash Reports.
If I change the price of products in Edify, will this affect the historic reporting?
Historical Stocktakes, Purchases and Transfer records will not change. However, your "Theoretical" costings in your reports will change historically - (ie. the cost of your recipes will update!).
Can I exclude certain products or recipes from my COGs calculations?
Yes, it is possible to exclude products or recipes from your COGs calculations. These may be things such as cleaning products, which as they have no theoretical usage are skewing your Theoretical Vs Actual %s.
To exclude them head to Supplier & Products > Suppliers > Products Column > Edit and tick the 'Exclude from COGS calculations' field.
For recipes, head to Recipes > Edit and tick the 'Exclude from COGS calculations' field.
This product/recipe will no longer show in your COGs Variance report.