Displaying Costs on a Menu
Menu costs can be displayed both on the Week-at-a-Glance view and the Menu Day view. To display costs in either menu view, open the Display Options and select the Display Cost option.
Week-at-a-Glance (WaaG) View - What Costs are Displayed?
Regardless if the WaaG is sorted by menu category or sorted by choice (via the display options), the costs that are displayed are the same, and explained as follows:
- Cost range for the day, explained as follows: Choice 1 selections across the meal periods are summed together and choice 2 selections across the meal periods are summed together. The lower sum is displayed on the left in the range (e.g., choice 2 selections) and the higher sum is displayed on the right in the range (e.g., choice 1 selections).
- By hovering your cursor over the cost range, the cost range for each meal period is displayed, explained as follows: Items in the choice 1 selection in the meal period are summed and items in the choice 2 selection in the meal period are summed. The lower sum (e.g., choice 2 selection) is displayed on left in the range and the higher sum is displayed on right in the range (e.g., choice 1 selection).
- Note that if snacks are being displayed on the WaaG (via the Display Options), then these are included in the cost range. As such, the cost range will increase when snacks are displayed on the WaaG (first screenshot below). Hovering over the cost range displays the individual cost range for each meal period and snack time (second screenshot below).
Menu Day View - What Costs are Displayed?
Regardless if the menu day view is sorted by menu category or sorted by choice (via the display options), the costs that are displayed are the same, and explained as follows:
- Cost of each item.
- Cost range for meal period, explained as follows: Items in the choice 1 selection in the meal periods are summed and items in the choice 2 selection in the meal period are summed. The lower sum (e.g., choice 2 selection) is displayed on left in the range and the higher sum is displayed on right in the range (e.g., choice 1 selection).
- Cost range for the day, explained as follows: Choice 1 selections across the meal periods are summed together and choice 2 selections across the meal periods are summed together. The lower sum is displayed on the left in the range (e.g., choice 2 selections) and the higher sum is displayed on the right in the range (e.g., choice 1 selections).
Note: Snack times are not displayed on the menu day view, and as such the cost range for the day only consists of meal period costs (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
Cost Icons for Items on Menu Day View
On the menu day view, when costs are displayed, an item presents with the cost per serving, along with an associated icon: The icons are described as follows:
- indicates true cost of the item because all ingredients are linked with a vendor product.
- indicates estimated cost of an item because all ingredients are not linked with a vendor product. Hovering your cursor over the icon states "Estimated cost due to missing vendor product" (second screenshot below). To troubleshoot a menu item with an estimated cost see Resolving Menu Item with Too High (or Too Low) a Cost.
Calculation Example for the Cost Range for the Day
For the cost range for the day an example of the calculation range is as follows:
Breakfast:
- Total Choice 1: $2.12
- Total Choice 2: $2.02
Lunch:
- Total Choice 1: $3.80
- Total Choice 2: $4.96
Dinner:
- Total Choice 1: $6.44
- Total Choice 2: $5.63
Total of Choice 1 is the sum of the three meals: $2.12 (breakfast) + $3.80 (lunch) + $6.44 (dinner) = $12.36 (least expensive)
Total of Choice 2 is the sum of the three meals: $2.02 (breakfast) + $4.96 (lunch) + $5.63 (dinner) = $12.61 (most expensive)
FAQs
What is the source of costs on a menu?
The pricing on the vendor products that are selected for the ingredients are the source of menu costs. The vendor products that are selected for ingredients (i.e., food items) can be viewed on the Vendor Product Selection screen; see Working in the Vendor Product Selection Screen (aka Buying Preferences Screen). Note that if you are a parent account viewing the vendor products selected for food items in a child account, the products and their pricing will be specific to each child account (based on their distribution centre (DC) ).
How a recipe cost per serving is calculated based on the vendor products for its ingredients is explained in the following article: Understanding Cost per Serving for a Recipe (i.e., Ingredient Costs).
As a parent account, can I view the menu costing for one of my child accounts?
Yes. If you open a menu owned by a child account (you can find a child account menu via the Owner filter from the Menus Listing screen), you will see the account-specific costing on that menu. Ensure the Display Costs option is selected from the Display Options (as described above in this article).